Give Thanks
He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell. Psalm 107:36 · Berean Standard Bible
In this restored land, God settles hungry people who then build cities and establish homes for themselves and their families.
Notice the psalmist doesn't just describe beautiful landscape—he describes human flourishing. Hungry people find abundance. Refugees find home. They don't just survive; they put down roots, establish community, create permanence. God's restoration is always for human beings to thrive in it.
The psalmist, describing the human and social blessing that flows from God's restoration.
This connects to God's original intention for humanity—to cultivate the land, to dwell in community, to multiply and have dominion. When God restores, He's not just fixing nature; He's restoring the conditions for human life to flourish as it was meant to.
On this miraculously restored land, God permits the hungry to settle and establish permanent cities, transforming desolation into habitation and civilization.
The phrase 'causes the hungry to settle there' (וַיַּשְׁכֵּן־שָׁם רְעֵבִים, vayasken-sham re'evim) uses the hiphil of שׁכן (shakan—'to dwell'), suggesting God's active establishment of human settlement. The progression from ecological miracle to social reconstruction reflects covenantal thinking—God's redemptive work encompasses both creation and human community. This resonates with the post-exilic context, where returnees literally resettled abandoned Judean territory.
The psalmist, extending ecological miracle into sociological transformation
This embodies the Abrahamic promise—land grant coupled with population increase—now reimagined for the restoration period, where returned exiles repopulate devastated territory.
34and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
35He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.
36He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell.
37They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest.
38He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
Read all of Psalm 107 — Four stories of people in trouble — lost, imprisoned, sick, storm-tossed. Each time they cry out. Each time God delivers. Let the redeemed say so.
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