Psalm 107:21 calls on people to praise the LORD for two things: his loving kindness and the wonderful things he does for human beings. The verse is a summons to thankful speech, a reminder that rescue from trouble is a reason to worship. The psalm is traditionally attributed to David or to a later worship leader, and it is spoken by the psalmist, who speaks to a gathered community of people who have been delivered from danger and want to respond with gratitude.
Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
Psalm 107:21 (WEB)
What Psalm 107:21 Means
The verse begins with an invitation, “Let them praise the LORD,” which means the psalmist is not only thanking God personally but calling others to join in. Praise here is open, spoken and sung gratitude. The psalmist wants the people to say out loud what God has done, so that the rescue is remembered rather than quietly forgotten.
The reason for praise is given in two parts. The first is God’s “loving kindness,” a word that points to faithful, covenant love that holds firm when people do not deserve it. The second is his “wonderful deeds to the children of men,” which means the concrete acts of rescue and provision that people have actually experienced. The verse ties God’s character to visible action in ordinary human lives.
What the verse does not promise is that every trouble will be instantly lifted or that praise will make hardship disappear. It is a call to gratitude for God’s faithfulness as it has been shown, not a formula that guarantees outcomes. The psalm recognizes real danger and real suffering, and the praise grows out of having been brought through them.
The Context of Psalm 107:21
Psalm 107 belongs to the fifth book of the Psalter and opens a collection of thanksgiving psalms. It describes several groups who were lost or in distress, including travelers in a desert, prisoners, the sick and sailors on stormy seas, and it repeats a pattern: they cry out to the LORD, and he delivers them. The audience is the community of Israel, and the psalm is written to be sung or recited by those who have come through such experiences.
The verses just before the focal verse describe the sick, who have lost their appetite and drawn near to death, and who cry out and are healed when God sends his word. Verse 21 follows directly from that healing, so the praise it calls for is a response to a specific rescue. The verses after it, which speak of sacrifices of thanksgiving and of sailors who see God’s wonders in the deep, show the same pattern of gratitude spreading into daily life. This setting makes the verse read as a sincere reply to deliverance rather than an abstract command to be cheerful.
Key Phrases in Psalm 107:21
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
(WEB)
This verse opens a long litany that repeats the call to give thanks because God’s steadfast love endures forever. Reading it alongside Psalm 107:21 shows that the same grateful response to God’s loving kindness runs throughout Israel’s worship, and that thanks is a settled posture rather than an occasional mood.
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
(WEB)
This verse opens the same psalm and gives the reason for its whole theme: God is good and his love endures. Reading it just before verse 21 helps you see that the call to praise is grounded in God’s goodness from the very start of the psalm, not added as an afterthought.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 107:21
Lord, you have shown me your loving kindness in ways I can name and in ways I have only begun to notice. Help me to stop and speak your praise out loud, not only in my thoughts but with my voice and with the people around me. Remind me of the wonderful things you have done, the rescues I have forgotten and the quiet provisions I have taken for granted. Let my gratitude grow into a habit that carries me through hard days and bright ones alike. Teach me to see your faithful love in every season and to tell others about it. Amen.
