Welcome to Day 2782 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Day 2782 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 107:33-43 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2782

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day two thousand seven hundred eighty-two of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.  

The title for today’s Wisdom-Trek is: The Great Reversal – When Princes Wander and the Poor Become Princes

Today, we reach the summit of Psalm One Hundred Seven. We are exploring the final section, verses thirty-three through forty-three, in the New Living Translation.  

In our previous treks through this magnificent psalm, we listened to the testimonies of the redeemed. We stood in the congregation of the faithful and heard four distinct groups shout, "Let them praise the Lord for his great love!"  

We heard the Wanderers who found a city.   We heard the Prisoners whose chains were snapped.   We heard the Fools who were healed by God's sent Word.   And we heard the Sailors who saw the storm turned into a whisper.  

All of these stories had a common plotline: Human desperation meets Divine Intervention. They were stories of rescue.  

But as we enter the final movement of the psalm today, the camera angle changes. The psalmist stops telling individual stories and begins to describe the cosmic principles behind those stories. He moves from biography to theology.  

He shows us that the God of Israel is the God of the Great Reversal. He is a God who does not just maintain the status quo; He actively flips the world upside down. He turns gardens into deserts and deserts into gardens. He throws princes into the mud and lifts the beggar to the throne.  

This section reveals Yahweh’s absolute sovereignty over Cosmic Geography and Political Power. It teaches us that our environment—whether we are in a season of drought or abundance—is not accidental. It is governed by the hand of the King.  

And finally, the psalm ends with a challenge to the "Wise." It asks us if we have the eyes to see the patterns of God’s love in the chaos of history.  

So, let us open our eyes to the reversals of God.  

The first segment is: The Sovereignty Over Geography: The Curse of the Salt.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses thirty-three through thirty-four.  

He turns rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,  and fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there.

The psalmist begins by asserting God’s power to de-create.  

"He turns rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground..."  

In the Ancient Israelite worldview, water was life. A land with rivers and springs was a land blessed by God—it was Edenic. But here, the psalmist says that God has the authority to withdraw that life. He can turn a paradise into a "desert" (midbar).  

This is not just climate change; it is judgment.  

"...and fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there."  

The imagery of "salty wastelands" (or "salt marsh") evokes the memory of Sodom and Gomorrah. Those cities were once located in a well-watered plain, "like the garden of the Lord" (Genesis Thirteen). But because of their wickedness, God rained down judgment, and the region became the Dead Sea—a place of salt where nothing grows.  

This teaches us a terrifying truth about Moral Ecology. The land itself reacts to the behavior of its inhabitants. When a culture is filled with wickedness—injustice, idolatry, and violence—the land vomits them out (Leviticus Eighteen). God turns the fruitfulness into sterility. He allows the "rivers" of prosperity to dry up to get our attention.  

In the Divine Council worldview, this is God reclaiming territory that has been corrupted by chaos. Rather than letting wickedness flourish in a garden, He turns it into a wasteland to strip away the illusion of independence.  

The second segment is: The Sovereignty Over Geography: The Blessing of the Springs.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses thirty-five through thirty-eight.  

He turns the wilderness into pools of water and dry ground into flowing springs.  He brings the hungry to settle there and to build their own cities.  They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest a bumper crop.  How he blesses them! They raise large families there, and their herds of livestock increase.

But the God who can dry up the river can also make the desert bloom. This is the Reversal.  

"He turns the wilderness into pools of water and dry ground into flowing springs."  

This uses the same language as Isaiah Chapter Forty-one. God takes the "wilderness"—the place of chaos, demons, and death—and transforms it into an oasis. He re-creates Eden in the middle of the wasteland.  

And look who He invites to live there: "He brings the hungry to settle there and to build their own cities."  

Remember the Wanderers from verses four through nine? The hungry and homeless? God takes the people who were rejected by the world and gives them prime real estate.  

He doesn't just give them a campsite; He empowers them to build a "city" (ir moshav—a city of habitation). A city represents permanence, order, security, and culture. God takes the refugees and turns them into citizens.  

Then comes the restoration of productivity: "They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest a bumper crop."  

The curse of the salt is gone. Now, there is sowing and reaping. There is the joy of wine (vineyards) and the sustenance of grain.  

And finally, the blessing of multiplication: "How he blesses them! They raise large families there, and their herds of livestock increase."  

"He blesses them, and they multiply greatly." This echoes the Abrahamic Promise and the Creation Mandate ("Be fruitful and multiply").  

This is a picture of total restoration. God takes a barren place and a barren people, and He combines them to create a flourishing kingdom. This is the story of Israel returning from Exile, but it is also the story of the Church—a people called out of the wilderness of sin to become a fruitful vine in God’s Kingdom.  

The third segment is: The Sovereignty Over Society: The Humbling of the High.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses thirty-nine through forty.  

When they decrease in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,  God pours contempt on princes and causes them to wander in trackless wastelands.

The psalmist now shifts from geography to sociology—to the structures of power. He acknowledges that life is not a straight line of ascent.  

"When they decrease in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and sorrow..."  

Sometimes, God’s people are crushed. They are diminished by tyrants ("oppression").  

But how does God respond to the tyrants?  

"God pours contempt on princes and causes them to wander in trackless wastelands."  

This is a shocking statement. "Princes" (nadiv) are the nobles, the generous ones, the people with power and status. In the ancient world, these people were untouchable. They were often viewed as the sons of the gods.  

But Yahweh treats them with "contempt" (buz). He pours scorn on them. He strips them of their dignity.  

And notice the punishment: He causes them to "wander" (ta'ah) in a "trackless wasteland" (tohu).  

The word tohu is the same word used in Genesis One, verse two—"the earth was without form and void." It represents absolute chaos.  

God takes the men who thought they ruled the world—who drew the maps and built the roads—and He throws them into the void. He makes them wanderers. He effectively says, "You tried to make my people homeless (verse 4); now you will be homeless. You tried to act like gods; now you will wander like lost sheep."  

This is a warning to every ruler, every politician, and every CEO. Power is a loan from God. If you use it for oppression, the Owner will foreclose, and you will find yourself wandering in a wasteland of your own making.  

The fourth segment is: The Sovereignty Over Society: The Exaltation of the Low.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses forty-one through forty-two.  

But he rescues the poor from trouble and increases their families like flocks of sheep.  The godly will see these things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent.

Here is the flip side of the reversal. While the princes are wandering in the void, where are the poor?  

"But he rescues the poor from trouble..."  

The word "rescues" is literally "sets on high" (sagab). He lifts the needy (ebyon) out of the misery zone and places them in a high fortress, out of reach of the oppressors.  

"...and increases their families like flocks of sheep."  

While the princes are solitary and lost, the poor are given community. They are given "families like a flock." This implies warmth, safety, and abundance. God builds a dynasty out of the destitute.  

Then, the psalmist calls the courtroom to order to hear the verdict:  

"The godly will see these things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent."  

The "godly" (or upright) act as the witnesses. They observe this great reversal—the princes falling, the poor rising, the desert blooming—and they rejoice. They see that the universe is moral. They see that justice eventually wins.  

But the "wicked" (literally, "all iniquity") shuts its mouth.  

This is the silence of a defendant who has no defense. When faced with the undeniable evidence of God’s sovereignty—His ability to flip the script of history—evil has nothing left to say. The arrogance of the oppressor is silenced by the vindication of the victim.  

The fifth segment is: The Conclusion: The School of Wisdom.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verse forty-three.  

Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.

We arrive at the final verse, which serves as the key to the entire psalm.  

"Those who are wise will take all this to heart..."  

Literally, "Who is wise? Let him observe these things."  

This turns the psalm into a Wisdom Text. It is not enough just to sing the songs of rescue; we must study them. We must observe the patterns.  

What does a wise person observe?  

They observe that rebellion leads to chains, but crying out leads to freedom.

They observe that God can dry up a river of prosperity if it is polluted with sin.

They observe that God can turn a desert of hopelessness into a city of joy.

They observe that the proud are eventually humbled, and the humble are eventually exalted.

And the ultimate conclusion of this observation is this: "...they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord."  

The Hebrew simply says, "Let them consider the Hesed of Yahweh."  

The Unfailing Love (Hesed) of God is not a sentimental feeling. It is a rugged, historical force. It is the driving engine of the universe. It is the force that pursues the wanderer, breaks the prison bars, heals the fool, calms the storm, and topples the tyrant.  

To be "Wise" is to look at the chaos of your life—or the chaos of the world—and find the thread of Hesed woven through it.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven challenges us to become observers of Providence.  

Do not just live your life; watch it. Watch how God responds to your cry. Watch how He disciplines and how He delivers.  

If you are in a "salty wasteland" right now, ask yourself: Is there something God is trying to dry up in my life?   If you are wandering, take heart: God specializes in building cities for the homeless.  

The Great Reversal is coming. The Princes of this world will wander, but the children of God will be set on high.  

So today, as you walk your trek, be wise. Keep your eyes open. And look for the Unfailing Love that is rewriting your story even now.  

If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of, ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’  

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.   As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly.   Love Unconditionally.   Listen Intentionally.   Learn Continuously.   Lend to others Generously.   Lead with Integrity.   Leave a Living Legacy Each Day.  

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!