Psalms 107:17

THE METAPHOR OF FOLLY AND SIN-SICKNESS

"Fools because of their transgression,

And because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

Their soul abhorreth all manner of food;

And they draw near unto the gates of death.

Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble,

And he saveth them out of their distresses.

He sendeth his word and healeth them,

And delivereth them from their destructions.

Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his lovingkindness,

And for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And declare his works with singing."

The first word, "fools," is the key to this paragraph. The "sickness" here referred to is a moral and ethical sickness resulting from the consummate wickedness of the Chosen People which led to God's consigning them to captivity.

"Fools" (Psalms 107:17). "This refers not to intellectual feebleness, but to moral perversity. All sin is folly; and nothing is so insane as to do wrong."[10]

The metaphor here is that of a sick person, Israel being the patient, but the emphasis is not upon the nature of the sickness; "It is upon the cause of it, which is sin."[11] A sick man compared to one in health is an apt figure indeed of the weak, captive, humiliated, suffering Israel as contrasted with the 600,000 fighting men that came out of Egypt. "The propriety of this comparison can scarcely be questioned."[12]

Psalms 107:19,21 are another recurrence of the double refrain as in Psalms 107:6 and Psalms 107:8; Psalms 107:13 and Psalms 107:15, and in Psalms 107:28 and Psalms 107:31. Also, there is the declaration that stands between them.

"He sendeth his word and healeth them, and delivereth them from their destructions" (Psalms 107:20). This is the declaration mentioned above. Not that God's Word was designed to cure them from some disease, but for the purpose of saving the people from being destroyed in Babylon.

"And let them offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing." The great factor in these stanzas is that of sin. "These stanzas define sin as disobedience (Psalms 107:11,17) and show its temporal (Psalms 107:10), personal (Psalms 107:12) and eternal (Psalms 107:18) results."[13] The offering of sacrifice, as commanded here, is related to this, "Because only in connection with redemption from sin does the psalm enjoin sacrifice."[14] In the New Testament, we are told what such a sacrifice is. "It is the fruit of our lips which make confession to his name" (Hebrews 13:15); also our sacrifices are called the "calves of our lips" (Hosea 14:2).