Psalms 107:4

Psalm 107:4-7 . They wandered in the wilderness — Where there was no trodden path, no company, but a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in — Or rather, no inhabited city, or town, no lodging; no conveniences, no accommodations where they might have refreshment. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted, &c. — Spent with the fatigues of their journey, and ready to drop down for want of support. This may refer, 1st, To the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years, when God led them about, ( Deuteronomy 32:10 ,) instructed them, and kept them as the apple of his eye. It may refer, 2d, To poor travellers in general, those particularly whose way lay through the wilds of Arabia, where, we may suppose, they were often at a loss; and yet many in that distress were wonderfully relieved, so that few perished. It is applicable, 3d, To our condition in this world; we are here as in a wilderness, have here no continuing city, but dwell in tents as strangers and pilgrims; but we are under the conduct of his wise and good providence, to which if we commit ourselves, we shall be led, in the right way, to the city that hath foundations. They cried unto the Lord in their trouble — Earnestly implored his help in their distress and misery; and he delivered them — In answer to their prayers, he mercifully extricated them out of their difficulties, and freed them from all their anxieties.

And he led them forth — Out of the wilderness, where they had lost their way; that they might go to a city of habitation — To a place inhabited, where they might find relief for their necessities. “Fervent and importunate prayer to the God of our salvation will procure, from above, knowledge to dispel our ignorance, and grace to help our infirmities; the former will discover to us our road, the latter will enable us to walk in it, and both together will carry us, in due time, to the city of our eternal habitation.” — Horne.

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. 7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:4 "They wandered in the wilderness." They wandered, for the track was lost, no vestige of a road remained; worse still, they wandered in a wilderness, where all around was burning sand. They were lost in the worst possible place, even as the sinner is who is lost in sin; they wandered up and down in vain searches and researches as a sinner does when he is awakened and sees his lost estate; but it ended in nothing, for they still continued in the wilderness, though they had hoped to escape from it. "In a solitary way." No dwelling of man was near, and no other company of travellers passed within hail. Solitude is a great intensifier of misery. The loneliness of a desert has a most depressing influence upon the man who is lost in the boundless waste. The traveller's way in the wilderness is a waste way, and when he leaves even that poor, barren trail, to get utterly beyond the path of man, he is in a wretched plight indeed.

A soul without sympathy is on the borders of hell: a solitary way is the way of despair. "They found no city to dwell in." How could they? There was none. Israel in the wilderness abode under canvas, and enjoyed none of the comforts of settled life; wanderers in the Sahara find no town or village. Men when under distress of soul find nothing to rest upon, no comfort and no peace; their efforts after salvation are many, weary, and disappointing, and the dread solitude of their hearts fills them with dire distress. Psalm 107:5 "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them." The spirits sink when the bodily frame becomes exhausted by long privations. Who can keep his courage up when he is ready to fall to the ground at every step through utter exhaustion? The supply of food is all eaten, the water is spent in the bottles, and there are neither fields nor streams in the desert, the heart therefore sinks in dire despair. Such is the condition of an awakened conscience before it knows the Lord Jesus; it is full of unsatisfied cravings, painful needs, and heavy fears. It is utterly spent and without strength, and there is nothing in the whole creation which can minister to its refreshment. Psalm 107:6 "Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble." Not till they were in extremities did they pray, but the mercy is that they prayed then, and prayed in the right manner, with a cry, and to the right person, even to the Lord.

(4-9) The wanderers. (4) They.—It seems more natural to understand the subject of the verb wandered from the preceding clauses, than to supply a general subject, they; but this is by no means a certain interpretation. It depends on the view we take of the poem. (See Introduction.) A solitary way.—Better, in a desert track. (Comp. Acts 8:26.) There is a grammatical difficulty, but this does not affect the general intention of the verse. Whether it represents an historical fact, or merely draws an imaginary picture, the reference to the dangers of Eastern travel is equally clear and distinct. City to dwell in.—Literally, city of habitation, as rendered in Psalm 107:7. “Boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”—SHELLEY.

Verses 4-9. - The form is historical, but the intention is to describe a recurrent event. Men from time to time wander - lose their way - either literally, or in the wilderness of life, grow faint and weary, and are ready to perish. But if they cry to God, God gives them aid, succors them, saves them. Then let them praise and thank him. Verse 4. - They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in . It is, perhaps, best to divide this verse as was done by the LXX., who attached דרך , "way," to the latter clause. So Cheyne, who translates, "They wandered in the wilderness, yea, in the desert; they found no road to a city of habitation." So also Rosenmüller. Psalm 107:4

They wandered in the wilderness; mistaking their way, which they might easily do in the vast and sandy deserts of Arabia. No city to dwell in; or rather, no city or town inhabited , where they might refresh themselves, as travellers used to do; for they did not go into the wilderness to seek for a city or habitation there, but only intended to pass through it, as appears by the context, and by the nature of the thing.

4 . They wandered &c.] The subject of the verb is to be supplied, according to a common Hebrew idiom, from the verb itself. We might paraphrase the words ‘There were travellers who had lost their way in the desert.’ The absence of any expressed subject has led some commentators to connect Psalm 107:2-3 with Psalm 107:4 . But this ruins the symmetry of the Psalm. If Psalm 107:1-3 are regarded as a general introduction, each stanza will begin with a description of the plight of the sufferers whose deliverance is subsequently described. in a solitary way ] R.V. in a desert way. But the phrase is a questionable one; and it is preferable to follow the LXX[61] and Syr. in reading, They wandered in the wilderness, in the desert; the way to a city of habitation they found not . [61] ὁδὸν πόλεως κατοικητηρίου οὐχ εὖρον , א c.a. ART Vg.: the singular reading of א ὁδὸν πόλιν printed in Swete’s edition (B is here wanting) may however be held to support the Mass. text, if ὁδόν is transferred to the previous line. no city to dwell in ] Lit. no city of habitation, a phrase peculiar to this Psalms , vv7, 36; no inhabited city where they might obtain food and shelter. 4–9 . First example of Jehovah’s lovingkindness to men: the deliverance of travellers who had lost their way in the desert and were on the point of perishing, doubtless a common experience. Cp. Job 6:18-20 .