Psalm 107:35 means that God has the power to transform barren, lifeless places into places full of water and life. The verse is a statement of God’s sovereign ability to reverse what seems hopeless, turning a parched desert into a pool and dry ground into flowing springs. It is spoken by the psalmist, a songwriter in ancient Israel, who is praising the Lord for His faithful acts of deliverance toward His people.
He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.
Psalm 107:35 (WEB)
What Psalm 107:35 Means
The verse begins with the picture of God turning a desert into a pool of water. A desert is the most unforgiving landscape a person can imagine: no shade, no drink, no harvest. Yet the psalmist says God can make that same ground hold a pool of water. The image is deliberately striking, because it describes something no human could accomplish by effort alone.
The second half of the verse widens the picture. Dry land becomes a source of springs, meaning ground that once cracked under the sun now bubbles up with fresh water that keeps flowing. The two images work together to describe a complete reversal, from scarcity to abundance, from death to life.
It is important to read the verse for what it does and does not promise. It does not promise that every difficult season will end on schedule, or that believers will never walk through a literal wilderness. What it affirms is God’s character: He is able to bring life where none appears to exist, and He does so in the lives of people who call on Him in trouble.
The Context of Psalm 107:35
Psalm 107 belongs to the collection of songs known as the Psalter, and it is traditionally associated with King David, though the author is not named in the text itself. It is a psalm of thanksgiving addressed to the community, calling those who have been redeemed by the Lord to speak out their gratitude. Its audience is the assembled people of God, and its structure moves through several scenes of distress, each followed by a cry to the Lord and a deliverance.
The verses just before and after Psalm 107:35 describe God turning rivers into desert and fruitful land into salt waste because of human wickedness, and then restoring life to the hungry. Read in that setting, the desert-to-pool imagery is not random poetry. It is the mirror image of judgment: the same God who can drain a land can also refill it, and the psalm invites the reader to trust both His justice and His mercy.
Key Phrases in Psalm 107:35
Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
(WEB)
This verse also speaks of God making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert, using nearly the same imagery. Reading it alongside Psalm 107:35 shows that the promise of renewal in barren places runs through the prophets as well as the psalms, and that God announces His new work before it appears.
Psalm 46:4
There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
(WEB)
Here the psalmist describes a river whose streams make glad the city of God, a picture of life-giving water flowing where it is most needed. Together with Psalm 107:35, it shows the steady, faithful provision of God for His people in every kind of season.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 107:35
Lord, You are able to turn deserts into pools and dry ground into springs of water. Where I see only dryness in my life, I ask You to bring Your refreshing power. Make a way where I see no way, and let Your life flow into the places that feel empty. Teach me to trust Your character when I cannot see the change yet, and help me to thank You for every spring You bring. Amen.
