Psalms 107:35

Psa 107:35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

Ver. 35. He turneth the wilderness, &c.] Some places, again, God (to show his power and providence) of sterile maketh to become fertile; Polonia, for instance, and other northern countries. Germany and France were of old full of woods and lakes, as Caesar and Tacitus testify; now it is otherwise. So in America to this day. So various desert places of Egypt and Ethiopia, when once they became Christians, became fruitful.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35. (Psa 107:35) He turns a desert to a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of water. This is the reverse of the description in Psa 107:33, to which the terms are studiously conformed. In both cases the first verb literally means he sets or puts, and the noun translated springs means issues or places where the waters issue. Compare Isa 35:7; Isa 41:18; Isa 43:20.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the love that he beareth to his Church, he changeth the order of nature for their commodity.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

35. He turneth the desert into a pool of water This change, in contrast with the former, places the miraculous power of God in a more luminous position. Because, were the fields ceasing to be so productive as in former times, men of the world, as was common of old, would attribute this to the frequent crops which exhausted their productive power. But whence is it that parched grounds become so fruitful, that one would almost say that the atmosphere, as well as the nature of the soil, had undergone a change, unless it be that God hath there put forth a wonderful display of his power and goodness? Wherefore, the prophet very justly says, that the deserts were turned into pools of water, so that populous cities may rise up in waste and uncultivated places, where once there was not a single cottage. For it is as improbable that the nature of the soil is changed, as that the course of the sun and stars is changed. The clause, the hungry are filled, may mean, either that they themselves, after considerable privations, have got what may supply their need, or that those poor persons, living in a country where they cannot longer find daily bread, being constrained to leave it, and to seek a new place of abode, are there bountifully supplied by God. I am rather disposed to think, that this clause refers to what frequently occurs, namely, that the famishing, whose wants the world refuses to supply, and who are expatriated, are comfortably accommodated in these desert places, where God blesses them with abundance. The passage which I have translated, fruit of the increase, is, by not a few Hebrew expositors, considered as a repetition of two synonymous terms, and are for supplying a copulative conjunction, making it, fruit and increase But it was rather the intention of the prophet to refer to fruit yielded annually; as if he said, the fertility of these regions is not temporary, or only for a few years, it is perennial. For תבואות, tebuaoth, is the term which, in the Hebrew, denotes full-grown fruit annually produced by the earth. And when he says, that the new settlers sow and plant, he gives us to understand, that, prior to their arrival, cultivation was unknown in these places, and, consequently, in becoming so unusually fertile, they assumed a totally different aspect. And, in fine, he adds, that it was entirely owing to the Divine blessing that those who were once oppressed with poverty and want are now daily increasing in the good things of this life.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(35) Standing water.—Or, a pool of water. (See Isa_35:7; Isa_41:18-19; Isa_42:15.)

The dependence of this psalm on these passages in Isaiah is indubitable. But the images are employed in a different manner. The prophet only thinks of the joy of returning Israel (Psa_107:39-41). But here the thought is that in the reverses of fortune, which even the chosen nation must be prepared for, God will intervene to protect and save. But the construction is very awkward, owing to the mode in which, in Psa_107:40, two clauses from Job_12:21; Job_12:24 are introduced.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35. He hath turned a wilderness into a pool of water, and a dry land into watersprings:

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly,.... Not only their fields and vineyards are blessed with an increase, but these husbandmen themselves; as man at his first creation was bid to do, being blessed of God; and as the Israelites were in Egypt, Gen 1:28 and which may spiritually denote the great number of converts to Christian churches, especially in the latter day, Jer 30:19.

And suffereth not their cattle to decrease; their sheep and oxen, which is reckoned a great temporal happiness, Psa 144:13, and may signify that God does and will give a sufficient number of Gospel ministers, comparable to oxen for their laboriousness, that shall in all ages minister to his churches; see Co1 9:9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water - A pool; a lake. See the notes at Isa 35:6-7.

And dry ground into water-springs - Not merely watering it with rain from heaven, but causing gushing fountains to break forth, and to flow continually, diffusing fertility and beauty everywhere.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Into a standing water; into a well-watered and fruitful land.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 35. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water. With another turn of his hand he more than restores that which in judgment he took away. He does his work of mercy on a royal scale, for a deep lake is seen where before there was only a sandy waste. It is not by natural laws, working by some innate force, that this wonder is wrought, but by himselfHE TURNETH.

And dry ground into watersprings. Continuance, abundance, and perpetual freshness are all implied in watersprings, and these are created where all was dry. This wonder of mercy is the precise reversal of the deed of judgment, and wrought by the selfsame hand. Even thus in the church, and in each individual saint, the mercy of the Lord soon works wonderful changes where restoring and renewing grace begin their benign work. O that we might see this verse fulfilled in all around us, and within our own hearts: then would these words serve us for an exclamation of grateful astonishment, and a song of well deserved praise.

Ver. 35. Dry ground into watersprings. If God afflict, his justice findeth the cause of it in man; but if he do good to any man, it is of his own good pleasure, without any cause in man: therefore no reason is given here of this change, as was of the former, but simply, "He turneth dry ground into watersprings." David Dickson.

Ver. 35. Hope for decayed churches lies in God; he can work a marvellous change, he does do it"turneth": he will do it when the cause of barrenness is removed by repentance.

Ver. 35-38. Here the scene again changes. The springs again gush forth, calm lakes again repose in the midst of foliage and flowers, the hills are clothed with luxuriant vines, and the fields are covered with corn; plenty abounds both in town and country, and men and cattle increase. This picture, too, has its counterpart in experimental godliness. "Instead of the thorn shall come up", etc., "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them", etc. The one scene precedes prayer, the other follows it. A desolate wilderness before, the garden of Eden behind. G.R.

Psalms 107:36*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water; rather, a wilderness. (comp. Isa_35:7 Isa_41:18) And dry ground into water springs. The entire verse is antithetical to ver. 33.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Water - Into a well-watered and fruitful land.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He makes a desert into a pool of water He makes a ruined settlement into a building and restores it to its original state.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.