Psalms 107:40

Psa 107:40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, [where there is] no way.

Ver. 40. He poureth contempt, &c.] See Job 12:21; Job 12:24, {See Trapp on "Job 12:21"} {See Trapp on "Job 12:24"} Poena tyrannorum est contemptus, exilium, nex, saith Genebrard. All the policy or king craft cannot save them.

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.

Psa 107:40. He poureth contempt upon princes — Even princes and kings cannot secure to themselves and their posterity the continuance of their dignity, glory, and authority. Though they might be honourable, adored like gods by their people, and terrible to their enemies, when God frowns upon them for their transgressions, their honour and power vanish away; they become despicable in the eyes of their own subjects, and of other nations. He causeth them to wander in the wilderness, &c. — Those that exalt themselves God abases; and in order thereto infatuates; he gives them up to foolish and pernicious counsels, by which they are exposed to contempt, and brought to their wit’s end, not knowing what course to take: or, he baffles those counsels by which they thought to support their pomp and power, so that they issue in their ruin. Or, the sense is, he deprives them of their crowns and kingdoms, banishes them from their courts, and forces them to flee into desolate wildernesses for shelter and subsistence. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction — At the same time that he bringeth down great potentates, he advances those that were obscure and contemptible; and maketh him families like a flock — Which increase very much in a little time. “Let not those, then, who have received the largest share of Heaven’s favours, boast and presume. The continuance of those favours depends upon the continuance of their fidelity and obedience. Mighty empires, with their princes, have, for their wickedness, been brought low by the arm of Jehovah, and laid in the dust; while nations, poor and feeble, and never thought of, have been taken from thence, and exalted over them. What revolutions have, in like manner, happened, and probably are still to happen in the church! Jerusalem is fallen through unbelief; and the Gentile Church stands only by faith, from which if she depart, vengeance will be executed on her likewise. Yet, even in the worst of times, there is a promise that the poor in spirit, the faithful and humble disciples of the holy Jesus, shall be preserved from the evil, and set on high from affliction; yea, that they shall be multiplied like a flock, under the care of the good Shepherd, to preserve his name, and to continue a church upon earth until he shall return again.” — Horne.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40. (Psa 107:40) Pouring contempt on princes—and he has made them wander in a waste (where there is) no way. From the exiles he reverts to their Deliverer, and describes him as spurning the most lordly of their persecutors—nay, as making them take the place of those whom they oppressed, which idea is conveyed by the figure before used of wanderers in a pathless desert. See above, on Psa 107:4, and compare Job 12:21; Job 12:24. The word for waste or void is one of those used in Gen 1:2, to describe the original condition of the earth.

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

107:40 In his contempt for human rulers, the Lord rectifies their corruption on earth.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For their wickedness and tyranny he causeth the people and subjects to contemn them.

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

Verse 40. He poureth contempt upon princes] How many have lately been raised from nothing, and set upon thrones! And how many have been cast down from thrones, and reduced to nothing! And where are now those mighty troublers of the earth? On both sides they are in general gone to give an account of themselves to God. And what an account!

Where there is no way.] Who can consider the fate of the late emperor of the French, Napoleon, without seeing the hand of God in his downfall! All the powers of Europe were leagued against him in vain; they were as stubble to his bow. "HE came, HE saw, and HE conquered" almost every where, till God, by a Russian FROST, destroyed his tens of thousands of veteran troops. And afterwards his armies of raw conscripts would have over-matched the world had not a particular providence intervened at Waterloo, when all the skill and valour of his opponents had been nearly reduced to nothing. How terrible art thou, O Lord, in thy judgments! Thou art fearful in praises, doing wonders.

The dreary rock of St. Helena, where there was no way, saw a period to the mighty conqueror, who had strode over all the countries of Europe!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

40. “He poureth contempt upon princes,

And maketh them wander in a wayless waste,”

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.

Whoso is wise,.... Or as it may be read interrogatively, "who is wise?" as in Jer 9:12, that is, spiritually wise, wise unto salvation; who is made to know wisdom in the hidden part; for not such as are possessed of natural wisdom, or worldly wise men, much less who are wise to do evil, are here meant.

And will observe these things; the remarkable appearances of divine Providence to persons in distress; the various changes and vicissitudes in the world; the several afflictions of God's people, and their deliverances out of them; the wonderful works of God in nature, providence, and grace; these will be observed, taken notice of, laid up in the mind, and kept by such who are truly wise, who know how to make a right use and proper improvement of them.

Even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord; everyone of the wise men; they will perceive the kindness of God unto all men, in the several dispensations of his providence towards them, and his special love and kindness towards his own people, even in all their afflictions; they will perceive this to be at the bottom of every mercy and blessing; they will understand more of the nature and excellency of it, and know more of the love of God and Christ, which passeth knowledge. Or "the kindnesses of the Lord shall be understood": that is, by wise men; so R. Moses in Aben Ezra renders the words.

Next: Psalms Chapter 108

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

He poureth contempt upon princes - He treats them as if they were common people; he pays no regard in his providence to their station and rank. They are subjected to the same needs as others; they meet with reverses like others; they become captives like others; they sicken and die like others; they are laid in the grave like others; and, with the same offensiveness, they turn back to dust. Between monarchs and their subjects, masters and their slaves, mistresses and their handmaidens, rich men and poor men, beauty and deformity, there is no distinction in the pains of sickness, in the pangs of dying, in the loathsomeness of the grave. The process of corruption goes on in the most splendid coffin, and beneath the most costly monument which art and wealth can rear, as well as in the plainest coffin, and in the grave marked by no stone or memorial. What can more strikingly show “contempt” for the trappings of royalty, for the adornings of wealth, for the stars and garters of nobility, for coronets and crowns, for the diamonds, the pearls, and the gold that decorate beauty, than that which occurs “in a grave!” The very language used here, alike in the Hebrew and in our translation, is found in Job 12:21. The word rendered “princes” properly means “willing, voluntary, prompt;” and is then applied to the generous, to the noble-minded, to those who give liberally. It then denotes one of noble rank, as the idea of rank in the mind of the Orientals was closely connected with the notion of liberality in giving. Thus it comes to demote one of noble birth, and might be applied to any of exalted rank.

And causeth them to wander in the wilderness - Margin, “void place.” The Hebrew word - תהו tôhû - means properly wasteness, desolateness; emptiness, vanity. See Gen 1:2; Job 26:7; Isa 41:29; Isa 44:9; Isa 49:4. Here it means an empty, uninhabited place; a place where there is no path to guide; a land of desolation. The reference seems to be to the world beyond the grave; the land of shadows and night. Compare the notes at Job 10:21-22.

Where there is no way - literally, “no way.” That is, no well-trodden path. All must soon go to that pathless world.

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

He poureth contempt upon princes; those who were honourable and adored like gods by their people, and terrible to all their enemies, he renders them despicable to their own subjects, and to other nations; and this he doth suddenly, abundantly, and unavoidably, as this phrase of pouring it out upon them seems to imply. To wander in the wilderness, where there is no way; either,

1. He giveth them up to foolish and pernicious counsels, by which they are exposed to contempt, and brought to their wit’s end, not knowing what course to take. Or,

2. He banished them from their own courts and kingdoms, and forced them to flee into desolate wildernesses for shelter and subsistence.

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

Ver. 40-41. In these two verses we see how the Lord at will turns the wheel of providence. Paying no respect to man's imaginary grandeur, he puts princes down and makes them wander in banishment as they had made their captives wander when they drove them from land to land: at the same time, having ever a tender regard for the poor and needy, the Lord delivers the distressed and sets them in a position of comfort and happiness. This is to be seen upon the roll of history again and again, and in spiritual experience we remark its counterpart: the self sufficient are made to despise themselves and search in vain for help in the wilderness of their nature, while poor convicted souls are added to the Lord's family and dwell in safety as the sheep of his fold.

Ver. 40. He poureth contempt upon princes. Mighty potentates, who have been the terror and dread of the whole world, when once denuded of their dignity and power, have become the sport even of their own dependants. John Calvin.

Ver. 40. Princes. Persons of high rank are the most exempt, in ordinary times, from destitution and want, and misery must reach a great height when it invades them. No part of the world probably has witnessed so many and great reverses of this kind as the regions and countries of the East. William Walford.

Psalms 107:41*

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

40. No way—No prepared road; a quotation from Job_12:21; Job_12:24

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He poureth contempt upon princes. A direct quotation from Job_12:21, but not therefore to be regarded as spurious, since the sacred writers often quote one another, and the psalmists especially are very much in the habit of citing, or referring to Job (see, in this very psalm, besides the present passage, vers. 10, 18 (bis), 20, 34, 41, and 42). And causeth them to wander in the wilderness; rather, a wilderness. (comp. Job_12:24) Where there is no way. "Wandering in a wilderness without a way denotes helpless embarrassment" (Hengstenberg).

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

Contempt - Renders them despicable. Wander - Banishes them from their own courts and kingdoms, and forces them to flee into desolate wildernesses for shelter.

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