Psalm 107:36 means that God gives food and life to people who have been hungry and displaced, so that they can settle down and build a community where they can live. The verse describes a turning point: people who were wandering in want are brought to a place of security, and then they are able to build a city to live in. The psalm speaks of God’s deliverance of his people, a theme that runs through the whole chapter.
There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in…
Psalm 107:36 (WEB)
What Psalm 107:36 Means
The verse begins with “There he makes the hungry live.” The Hebrew word for “makes live” points to God giving life and sustenance where there was only lack. The people in view are not merely fed for a day. They are restored to the point of being able to plan for the future. The hunger is real, and the answer is real: God meets it.
The next phrase, “that they may prepare a city to live in,” shows the purpose of that provision. A city in the ancient world was more than houses. It was a settled community with streets, walls, trade, and shared life. The psalm is describing people moving from survival to a stable home where they can raise families and work the land. The following verse makes this concrete, speaking of sowing fields and planting vineyards.
What the verse does not promise is that every hungry person will instantly become prosperous, or that hardship will vanish from life. The psalmist is describing God’s pattern of restoration across the story of his people, not issuing a guarantee for each individual circumstance. It affirms God’s active care for those in need, and his willingness to bring them into lasting security.
The Context of Psalm 107:36
Psalm 107 belongs to the Psalter, the Old Testament collection of songs and prayers, and it is traditionally associated with David, though its author is not named in the text itself. It is a psalm of thanksgiving, calling on “those whom the LORD has redeemed” to give thanks for his steadfast love. The psalm moves through several pictures of people in distress: wanderers lost in the desert, prisoners, the sick, and sailors caught in storms. In each case they cry out, and God delivers them.
Just before verse 36, the psalm describes God turning rivers into deserts and fruitful land into salt waste because of human wickedness, then reversing the process by turning deserts into pools of water. Verse 36 belongs to that reversal. Read in this setting, the hungry are not simply unlucky. Their condition is part of a larger story of judgment and mercy, and God’s power to reverse the land’s fortunes is the same power that brings them to a settled home.
Key Phrases in Psalm 107:36
Psalm 145:15-16
15 The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
(WEB)
This passage also describes God as the one who feeds all living things and satisfies the desire of every living thing. Read alongside Psalm 107:36, it reinforces the idea that God’s provision is steady and generous, not occasional, and that he meets the needs of ordinary people in their daily lives.
Isaiah 58:10-11
10 And if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday; 11 and the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters don’t fail.
(WEB)
Isaiah connects satisfying the hungry with rebuilding ruined places and becoming like a watered garden. This pairing mirrors the movement of Psalm 107:36, where provision leads to restored communities, and it shows that God’s care for the hungry often flows through people who are willing to share what they have.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 107:36
Lord, you see the hunger that people carry, whether it is hunger for bread, for rest, for hope, or for a place to belong. Thank you that you do not leave us to die in the wilderness but bring us back to life. Help me to notice where you have sustained me, and give me wisdom to build something good with what you have given. Make my home and my community places where others can find rest and safety. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
