Psalm 107:1 (KJV)

What does this mean?

This psalm opens a song about people God has rescued — wanderers lost in the desert, prisoners in chains, the sick, and sailors caught in a storm. Before any of their stories are told, the psalm calls everyone to thank the Lord for his goodness. The old word for his goodness that lasts is mercy, which here means his loyal, faithful love that never runs out.

What does this teach us?

Thankfulness starts with who God is, not with how good life feels. The psalm does not wait for the trouble to be over before it gives thanks; it begins with God's goodness and his love that lasts, and the rescue stories follow.

How can we apply this?

Start your thanks with God himself, not with your circumstances. Name one thing about him that is true today — he is good, his love lasts — and then name one rescue, big or small, that you have already seen.

Related KJV passages

• “O give thanks unto the LORD ; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

  1 Chronicles 16:34

• “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

  Psalm 100:4

• “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

  Psalm 118:24