What is the meaning of Psalm 107:18? They loathed all food • The verse pictures people so crushed by affliction that even the basic desire to eat disappears. This is not poetic exaggeration; Scripture presents a literal physical response to deep spiritual and moral failure (Psalm 107:17). • Job echoes the same reality: “his soul loathes the choicest meals” (Job 33:19-20). When rebellion meets God’s corrective hand, appetite can vanish. • Israel experienced this in the wilderness: “we detest this wretched food!” (Numbers 21:5). Sin changed manna—God’s provision—into something repulsive. • The psalmist shows that unchecked sin can touch every part of life: – Body: strength fades, hunger leaves (Psalm 102:4). – Mind: joy is replaced with dread. – Spirit: fellowship with God feels distant until repentance comes (Psalm 51:8-12). • Practical takeaway: when a believer notices a growing distaste for the “daily bread” of God’s Word or even physical nourishment, it is wise to examine the heart and return quickly to the Lord (Lamentations 3:40-41). and drew near to the gates of death • “Gates” in Scripture mark an entry point. Here they represent the brink between life and the grave (Job 38:17). The sufferers are literally close to dying. • The progression is clear: – Sin leads to affliction (Psalm 107:17). – Affliction left unresolved leads to physical collapse (v. 18a). – Collapse, if unchecked, ends in death (v. 18b). • Other voices in Scripture confirm this sequence: – Psalm 9:13: “lift me up from the gates of death.” – Isaiah 38:10: “I... must go through the gates of Sheol.” – Jonah 2:5-6: Jonah feels the bars of the realm of the dead closing around him before God intervenes. • Yet death’s gates are not final for those who call on the Lord. The very next verses in the psalm announce deliverance: “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress” (Psalm 107:19). • New-Testament fulfillment: Jesus declares, “I hold the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18), guaranteeing that those who trust Him need not fear the gates of death. summary Psalm 107:18 paints a sober picture of sin’s trajectory: rebellion produces misery so intense that life’s necessities lose their appeal and the grave looms close. The verse stands as a loving warning and an invitation. When chastening exposes our need, God waits to heal, restore appetite for His goodness, and pull us back from the very threshold of death. |
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