Psalms 107:20

Study note

Setting — The psalmist recounts, for a congregation, what the LORD did for a group of sick people who were wasting away and cried out in verse 19. The "they" are the sick; the speaker is the one directing them to give thanks (v. 21).

The words — דָּבָר (dāḇār) is not a general "word" but a spoken decree or command; the healing follows the sending of that word as if it were a dispatched messenger. שְׁחִיתוֹת (šəḥîṯôṯ) is the plural of "destruction" or "pit," suggesting not one low point but repeated depths of ruin from which rescue came.

The thread — The centurion in Matthew 8:8 trusts that the same "word" will reach his servant at a distance, and Psalm 103:3 pairs healing with forgiveness as a standing attribute of the LORD. Psalm 147:15 uses the same verb "sends forth" with "command," reinforcing the image of God's speech as an active, mobile force.

Why it lands — The verse presents healing not as a gradual process but as the immediate result of one spoken act, which means the reader's prayer is not a request to be processed but an appeal to a God who already acts by word. It asks the reader to name their own "pit" concretely rather than vaguely, since the text specifies a real depth from which rescue came.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.