◄ Psalm 107:3 ►
and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Study Bible
and gathered from the lands
This phrase reflects the theme of God's redemptive work in bringing His people back from various lands. Historically, this can be seen in the context of the Babylonian exile, where the Israelites were scattered and later returned to their homeland. The gathering signifies God's faithfulness to His covenant promises, as seen in Deuteronomy 30:3-4, where God promises to restore His people from captivity. This gathering also prefigures the ultimate gathering of believers from all nations, as seen in Revelation 7:9, where a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language stands before the throne of God.

from east and west
The mention of "east and west" indicates the vastness of God's reach and the inclusivity of His salvation. In biblical geography, the east often refers to regions like Babylon and Persia, while the west could refer to areas like Egypt and the Mediterranean. This phrase emphasizes that no matter how far God's people have been scattered, His power and grace are sufficient to bring them back. It also foreshadows the global nature of the Gospel, as Jesus commands His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

from north and south
The inclusion of "north and south" completes the compass directions, symbolizing the totality of God's gathering work. The north could refer to areas like Assyria, while the south might include regions like Cush or Egypt. This comprehensive gathering is a testament to God's sovereignty over all the earth and His ability to fulfill His promises despite geographical and political barriers. It also points to the eschatological hope found in Isaiah 43:5-6, where God promises to bring His sons and daughters from the ends of the earth, highlighting the ultimate restoration and unity of His people.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Israelites
The primary audience of this Psalm, representing God's chosen people who have experienced exile and return.

2. The Lands
Refers to the various regions from which God gathers His people, symbolizing the dispersion and subsequent regathering of the Israelites.

3. East, West, North, South
Cardinal directions indicating the comprehensive nature of God's gathering, emphasizing His sovereignty over all the earth.

4. Exile and Return
The historical context of the Israelites being scattered due to disobedience and then regathered by God's mercy.

5. God's Deliverance
The overarching theme of the Psalm, highlighting God's power and faithfulness in rescuing His people.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty and Faithfulness
God is sovereign over all the earth and faithful to His promises, gathering His people from every corner of the world.

The Inclusivity of God's Call
The gathering from all directions signifies the inclusivity of God's call, extending His grace to all who will come to Him.

Hope in Times of Dispersion
Just as God gathered the Israelites, He offers hope and restoration to those who feel scattered or distant from Him today.

The Church's Mission
The church is called to participate in God's gathering work, reaching out to all nations with the gospel message.

Personal Reflection on God's Deliverance
Reflect on personal experiences of feeling lost or scattered and how God has worked to bring you back to Himself.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the historical context of Israel's exile and return enhance our understanding of Psalm 107:3?

2. In what ways can we see God's faithfulness in gathering His people reflected in our own lives today?

3. How do the themes of gathering and deliverance in Psalm 107:3 connect with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20?

4. What practical steps can we take to participate in God's mission of gathering people from all nations?

5. How can reflecting on God's past deliverance in your life encourage you in current or future challenges?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 30:3-4
This passage speaks of God's promise to gather His people from all the nations where they have been scattered, reinforcing the theme of divine regathering.

Isaiah 43:5-6
God commands His people not to fear, promising to bring their offspring from the east and gather them from the west, echoing the comprehensive gathering in Psalm 107:3.

Ezekiel 11:17
God promises to gather the Israelites from the nations and bring them back to their land, illustrating His faithfulness.

Matthew 24:31
Jesus speaks of sending His angels to gather His elect from the four winds, connecting the Old Testament theme of gathering with New Testament eschatology.

Revelation 7:9
A vision of a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne, symbolizing the ultimate gathering of God's people.
Sermons
Men and MercyHomilistPsalm 107:1-31
God's Watchful CareC. Short Psalm 107:1-43
Wherefore Men Should Praise the LordS. Conway Psalm 107:1-43
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Countries, East, Gathered, Lands, Making, North, South, West
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 107:3

     4821   east

Psalm 107:1-3

     1050   God, goodness of

Psalm 107:1-43

     5831   depression

Psalm 107:2-3

     1305   God, activity of

Library
March 12. "They Wandered in the Wilderness in a Solitary Way" (Ps. Cvii. 4).
"They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way" (Ps. cvii. 4). All who fight the Lord's battles must be content to die to all the favorable opinions of men and all the flattery of human praise. You cannot make an exception in favor of the good opinions of the children of God. It is very easy for the insidious adversary to make this also all appeal to the flesh. It is all right when God sends us the approval of our fellow men, but we must never make it a motive in our life, but be content with …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Prayer and Science
(Preached at St. Olave's Church, Hart Street, before the Honourable Corporation of the Trinity House, 1866.) PSALM cvii. 23, 24, 28. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. These are days in which there is much dispute about religion and science--how far they agree with each other; whether they contradict or interfere …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

God's Great Deliverance of his People. --Ps. Cvii.
God's great Deliverance of His People.--Ps. cvii. part I.--The Wilderness. part II.--From Captivity. part III. From Malignant Disease. part IV. Perils on the Deep. Thank and praise Jehovah's name For his mercies firm and sure, From eternity the same, To eternity endure. Let the ransom'd thus rejoice, Gather'd out of every land; As the people of his choice, Pluck'd from the destroyer's hand. In the wilderness astray, Hither, thither, while they roam, Hungry, fainting by the way, Far from refuge, …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Thankfulness for Mercies Received, a Necessary Duty
Numberless marks does man bear in his soul, that he is fallen and estranged from God; but nothing gives a greater proof thereof, than that backwardness, which every one finds within himself, to the duty of praise and thanksgiving. When God placed the first man in paradise, his soul no doubt was so filled with a sense of the riches of the divine love, that he was continually employing that breath of life, which the Almighty had not long before breathed into him, in blessing and magnifying that all-bountiful, …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

He Accuses Abaelard for Preferring his Own Opinions and Even Fancies to the Unanimous Consent of the Fathers, Especially Where He Declares that Christ did Not
He accuses Abaelard for preferring his own opinions and even fancies to the unanimous consent of the Fathers, especially where he declares that Christ did not become incarnate in order to save man from the power of the devil. 11. I find in a book of his sentences, and also in an exposition of his of the Epistle to the Romans, that this rash inquirer into the Divine Majesty attacks the mystery of our Redemption. He admits in the very beginning of his disputation that there has never been but one conclusion …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Spiritual Hunger Shall be Satisfied
They shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 I proceed now to the second part of the text. A promise annexed. They shall be filled'. A Christian fighting with sin is not like one that beats the air' (1 Corinthians 9:26), and his hungering after righteousness is not like one that sucks in only air, Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled.' Those that hunger after righteousness shall be filled. God never bids us seek him in vain' (Isaiah 45:19). Here is an honeycomb dropping into the mouths of …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

How those are to be Admonished with whom Everything Succeeds According to their Wish, and those with whom Nothing Does.
(Admonition 27.) Differently to be admonished are those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters, and those who covet indeed the things that are of this world, but yet are wearied with the labour of adversity. For those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters are to be admonished, when all things answer to their wishes, lest, through fixing their heart on what is given, they neglect to seek the giver; lest they love their pilgrimage instead of their country; lest they turn …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

"But if the Spirit of Him that Raised up Jesus from the Dead Dwell in You, He that Raised up Christ from the Dead, Shall Also
Rom. viii. 11.--"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." As there is a twofold death,--the death of the soul, and the death of the body--so there is a double resurrection, the resurrection of the soul from the power of sin, and the resurrection of the body from the grave. As the first death is that which is spiritual, then that which is bodily, so …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Concerning the Lord's Supper
There are two passages which treat in the clearest manner of this subject, and at which we shall look,--the statements in the Gospels respecting the Lord's Supper, and the words of Paul. (1 Cor. xi.) Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree that Christ gave the whole sacrament to all His disciples; and that Paul taught both parts of it is so certain, that no one has yet been shameless enough to assert the contrary. Add to this, that according to the relation of Matthew, Christ did not say concerning the bread, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Effects of Messiah's Appearance
The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. H ow beautiful and magnificent is the imagery, by which the Prophet, in this chapter, represents the effects of MESSIAH'S appearance! The scene, proposed to our view, is a barren and desolate wilderness. But when He, who in the beginning said, Let there be light, and there was light, condescends to visit this wilderness, the face of nature is …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Concerning Christian Liberty
Christian faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation; while he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—Concerning Christian Liberty

Effectual Calling
THE second qualification of the persons to whom this privilege in the text belongs, is, They are the called of God. All things work for good "to them who are called." Though this word called is placed in order after loving of God, yet in nature it goes before it. Love is first named, but not first wrought; we must be called of God, before we can love God. Calling is made (Rom. viii. 30) the middle link of the golden chain of salvation. It is placed between predestination and glorification; and if …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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