What is the meaning of Psalm 107:39? When they are decreased The psalmist first points out that the people experience a literal shrinking—loss of numbers, strength, and influence. Scripture often links this kind of decrease to wandering from God’s ways. In Judges 6:6 the Israelites were “greatly impoverished” by Midian until they cried out to the LORD. Psalm 107 has traced the same pattern: blessing, drifting, discipline, and then deliverance when hearts turn back. In His covenant faithfulness, God sometimes withdraws prosperity so His people will recognize their need and return (Deuteronomy 8:3). and humbled Decrease alone might breed resentment, but God’s aim is humility. He allows circumstances that press pride out of us, the way He “humbled” Israel in the wilderness to “know what was in your heart” (Deuteronomy 8:2). Proverbs 29:23 reminds us, “A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit obtains honor.” Humbled hearts are soft soil for grace; James 4:6 reiterates that the Lord “gives grace to the humble.” by oppression The instrument God sometimes uses is human oppression. Whether under Pharaoh (Exodus 3:7), Babylon (Psalm 137:1), or local enemies in Judges, His people have felt the heavy hand of others. Oppression is never excused, but God sovereignly bends it to discipline and ultimately rescue. As in Judges 2:18, He responds with deliverers when His people, crushed by oppressors, cry out to Him. evil Oppression often springs from outright wickedness—evil systems, evil leaders, even the people’s own evil choices. Isaiah 5:20 warns against calling evil good; Romans 1:24-25 shows how God “gave them over” when they persisted in it. Psalm 107’s cycle demonstrates that evil is self-destructive; God’s people cannot dabble in it without experiencing loss. and sorrow Inevitable sorrow follows: emotional, relational, national. Psalm 31:10 laments, “My strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.” Yet sorrow is also the birthplace of repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). In Psalm 107 the tears of sorrow become the very cries God answers, turning deserts into streams (v. 35) and lifting the needy “out of their affliction” (v. 41). summary Psalm 107:39 captures one link in the psalm’s repeating chain: God’s people drift, God reduces and humbles them through oppression, evil, and sorrow, and then—when they acknowledge their need—He rescues. The verse warns against complacency, explains hardship as purposeful discipline, and assures that humility before God is the doorstep to renewal. |
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