Psalms 107:4–9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 107:4–9
Let the redeemed tell four rescue stories: Wanderers brought to a city
The first rescue is hunger on an empty road
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
The poem's first panel is not a battle. It is disorientation: no city, no water, a fainting soul. Right way here is the path that actually arrives, not a theory of guidance. City of habitation is the opposite of solitary wandering: a place where people can live.
The refrain first lands on a filled longing
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Each of the four stories will pause for this summons to praise. Here the wonder is not spectacle. It is food, drink, and a town. The stanza does not say every hunger is a spiritual metaphor, and it does not treat every traveler as guilty. Some later panels will name rebellion; this one names need.
How this should shape us
When someone is lost, thirsty, or without a place to live, the first faithfulness is a way and a table, not a lecture. If you have been led to habitation, praise the One who fills hungry people, and help the next person find a city.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 107:4–9 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 107 and Book V, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
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Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 107:4–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 107:4–9
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 107:4–9.
Official NET Bible Psalm 107 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 107:4–9
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres, parallelism, and forms; Theological Themes: Torah and human response; applied to Psalms 107:4–9
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 107 for Psalms 107:4–9
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 107:4–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 107:4–9
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 107:4–9.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 107 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 107:4–9
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres, parallelism, and forms; Theological Themes: Torah and human response; applied to Psalms 107:4–9
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 107 for Psalms 107:4–9
Open NETS Psalms ↗