Psalm 107:40 means that God humbles people who hold power and abuse it, pouring contempt on rulers so that they lose their footing and wander aimlessly. The verse describes divine judgment on the proud and the powerful who oppress others, and it reminds readers that no earthly authority is beyond God’s reach. The psalm is an anonymous hymn of thanksgiving, sung by people who have been rescued by the LORD and who look back on how He has acted in history.
He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
Psalm 107:40 (WEB)
What Psalm 107:40 Means
The verse begins with “He pours contempt on princes.” The image is of something poured out, a heavy and deliberate act. In the ancient world, princes were the people who seemed untouchable, the ones with armies, courts and the power to decide who lived or died. The psalmist says that God can pour out disgrace on exactly those people, stripping away the respect their position was supposed to guarantee.
The second half, “and causes them to wander in a trackless waste,” pictures a leader who has lost the road. A trackless waste is a desert with no path, no landmarks and no water in sight. The rulers who once directed others now have no direction themselves. The verse does not promise that every powerful person will suffer this fate in this life, and it does not reduce God’s justice to a simple formula. What it affirms is that human power is never the final word, and that God is able to bring down those who build their lives on oppression.
The Context of Psalm 107:40
Psalm 107 is one of the psalms of thanksgiving, and it is often read as a collection of short testimonies. Verses 4 through 32 describe four groups of people who cried out to the LORD in trouble and were delivered: wanderers in the desert, prisoners, the sick, and sailors caught in storms. Each group has its own refrain of thanks. The psalm is traditionally associated with the postexilic period, when the people of Israel were returning from captivity and needed to remember that God still acts in the world.
The verses just before and after verse 40 make its meaning clearer. In verses 37 and 38, the LORD blesses the land and its people so that they multiply and prosper. In verse 41, He lifts the needy out of affliction and makes their families grow like a flock. Verse 40 sits in the middle as the counterpart to that blessing: the same God who raises up the humble is also the one who brings down the proud. The verse is not a random note of anger but part of a balanced picture of God’s justice, which lifts up the afflicted and humbles those who oppress them.
Key Phrases in Psalm 107:40
Psalm 75:7
But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.
(WEB)
This verse picks up the same theme of God as the one who judges and exalts. It says that God puts down one and lifts up another, which shows that the shifting of human fortunes is in His hands and not in the hands of the powerful.
Luke 1:52
He has put down princes from their thrones. And has exalted the lowly.
(WEB)
Mary’s song in Luke connects directly to Psalm 107:40 by celebrating how God brings down the proud and raises up the humble. It shows that the same pattern of divine reversal runs through both the Psalms and the New Testament.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 107:40
Lord, You see the rulers of this world and the ways they use their power. Some of them frighten people, and some of them forget that they answer to You. I ask You to keep my heart from envy and bitterness when I see the proud prospering. Help me to trust that You are the one who lifts the needy and humbles the arrogant. Give me the courage to do what is right without fear of those who think they are untouchable, and remind me that You are still in control when the road ahead looks empty. Amen.
