Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psalm 107:17 begins the third of four great cases of distress in this psalm. The first group wandered in a wilderness (vv.4-9); the second sat in darkness and bondage because they rebelled against God’s words (vv.10-16); now fools suffer affliction brought upon them by their own sin; and a fourth group will go down to the sea in ships (vv.23-32). The fools’ condition becomes so severe that they abhor all manner of meat and draw near unto the gates of death (v.18). Yet when they cry unto the LORD, He saves them, sends His word, heals them, and delivers them (vv.19-20). Verse 17 begins with guilt before it reaches mercy.
“Fools.” Scripture defines folly by a man’s relation to God and His commandments. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). A fool may possess intelligence, education, experience, money, or ability while living contrary to divine wisdom. His folly is practical. He knows enough to obey God but chooses another course. “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour” (Proverbs 14:9). What begins as amusement, appetite, or careless choice may end in severe affliction.
Folly refuses to connect present misery with former conduct. Men blame circumstances, other people, bad luck, family, temptation, or God while ignoring the choices that produced the trouble. Scripture is more honest. “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD” (Proverbs 19:3). A man may wreck his own way and then resent God for the wreckage. The fools of Psalm 107 are not victims of circumstances alone; their suffering has a moral history.
“Because of their transgression.” The affliction has a cause. Transgression is crossing God’s commandment, going beyond the boundary He established. The fools did not make an unfortunate calculation; they violated divine rule. God’s commandments are not obstacles to happiness. They protect men from paths that destroy. Samson played with forbidden desire until the Philistines put out his eyes and he did grind in the prison house (Judges 16:21). Gehazi pursued dishonest gain and went out from Elisha’s presence a leper as white as snow (II Kings 5:27). “Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard” (Proverbs 13:15).
The transgression is theirs. These fools own the conduct that brought the affliction. Repentance begins when a man stops talking chiefly about what happened to him and starts admitting what he did. When Nathan confronted David, “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD” (II Samuel 12:13). Honest confession does not blame the road after choosing it.
“And because of their iniquities.” Iniquity is unrighteousness, man turning from God’s way to his own: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). It is the opposite of righteousness, for Paul sets yielding the members to iniquity against yielding them servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:19). It proceeds from the heart before it shows itself in deeds. The fool may cherish inward rebellion long before affliction exposes where it leads. God sees the whole course.
The plural iniquities also warns that sin multiplies. One sin often requires another. Lust may require deceit; deceit may require more lies; covetousness may lead to fraud; pride may produce anger when corrected. Men imagine they can manage one favored sin, but sin does not stay within the limits assigned to it. “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins” (Proverbs 5:22).
“Are afflicted.” Here is the consequence. Affliction means pain, trouble, weakness, distress, or chastening brought upon them. The next verse shows the severity: their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death (v.18). Sin has moved from desire to conduct to misery. God may use bodily affliction as chastening for particular sins. Paul told the Corinthians concerning their profaning of the Lord’s supper, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (I Corinthians 11:30). The apostle gives the cause. God makes sin bitter in experience because men refused to believe His warning beforehand.
But this verse must not be abused to conclude that every sickness or affliction proves some particular sin. Jesus rejected that reasoning concerning the man born blind: “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). Job’s friends reasoned badly when they treated extraordinary suffering as proof of extraordinary wickedness. Scripture sometimes reveals a direct connection between sin and affliction; where it does not, men should not invent one.
The proper use of the verse is self-examination, not suspicious judgment of sufferers. When trouble comes, it is wise to ask whether folly or sin brought it. “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD” (Lamentations 3:40). If God exposes a transgression, confess it. If conduct must change, change it. Do not waste affliction by defending the very folly God is using to correct you.
The mercy of Psalm 107 is that fools are not left in the destruction they caused. They cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saves them out of their distresses (v.19). He sends His word, heals them, and delivers them from their destructions (v.20). Jesus Christ had no transgression or iniquity of His own, yet Peter writes of Him, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). Folly does not make mercy deserved, but confessed sin is not beyond the saving power of God.
Do not mock sin because its consequences are delayed. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). If affliction has exposed folly, stop defending the path that produced it. Confess the transgression, forsake the iniquity, cry unto the LORD, and praise Him when He delivers.
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psalm 107:17 begins the third of four great cases of distress in this psalm. The first group wandered in a wilderness (vv.4-9); the second sat in darkness and bondage because they rebelled against God’s words (vv.10-16); now fools suffer affliction brought upon them by their own sin; and a fourth group will go down to the sea in ships (vv.23-32). The fools’ condition becomes so severe that they abhor all manner of meat and draw near unto the gates of death (v.18). Yet when they cry unto the LORD, He saves them, sends His word, heals them, and delivers them (vv.19-20). Verse 17 begins with guilt before it reaches mercy.
“Fools.” Scripture defines folly by a man’s relation to God and His commandments. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). A fool may possess intelligence, education, experience, money, or ability while living contrary to divine wisdom. His folly is practical. He knows enough to obey God but chooses another course. “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour” (Proverbs 14:9). What begins as amusement, appetite, or careless choice may end in severe affliction.
Folly refuses to connect present misery with former conduct. Men blame circumstances, other people, bad luck, family, temptation, or God while ignoring the choices that produced the trouble. Scripture is more honest. “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD” (Proverbs 19:3). A man may wreck his own way and then resent God for the wreckage. The fools of Psalm 107 are not victims of circumstances alone; their suffering has a moral history.
“Because of their transgression.” The affliction has a cause. Transgression is crossing God’s commandment, going beyond the boundary He established. The fools did not make an unfortunate calculation; they violated divine rule. God’s commandments are not obstacles to happiness. They protect men from paths that destroy. Samson played with forbidden desire until the Philistines put out his eyes and he did grind in the prison house (Judges 16:21). Gehazi pursued dishonest gain and went out from Elisha’s presence a leper as white as snow (II Kings 5:27). “Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard” (Proverbs 13:15).
The transgression is theirs. These fools own the conduct that brought the affliction. Repentance begins when a man stops talking chiefly about what happened to him and starts admitting what he did. When Nathan confronted David, “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD” (II Samuel 12:13). Honest confession does not blame the road after choosing it.
“And because of their iniquities.” Iniquity is unrighteousness, man turning from God’s way to his own: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). It is the opposite of righteousness, for Paul sets yielding the members to iniquity against yielding them servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:19). It proceeds from the heart before it shows itself in deeds. The fool may cherish inward rebellion long before affliction exposes where it leads. God sees the whole course.
The plural iniquities also warns that sin multiplies. One sin often requires another. Lust may require deceit; deceit may require more lies; covetousness may lead to fraud; pride may produce anger when corrected. Men imagine they can manage one favored sin, but sin does not stay within the limits assigned to it. “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins” (Proverbs 5:22).
“Are afflicted.” Here is the consequence. Affliction means pain, trouble, weakness, distress, or chastening brought upon them. The next verse shows the severity: their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death (v.18). Sin has moved from desire to conduct to misery. God may use bodily affliction as chastening for particular sins. Paul told the Corinthians concerning their profaning of the Lord’s supper, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (I Corinthians 11:30). The apostle gives the cause. God makes sin bitter in experience because men refused to believe His warning beforehand.
But this verse must not be abused to conclude that every sickness or affliction proves some particular sin. Jesus rejected that reasoning concerning the man born blind: “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). Job’s friends reasoned badly when they treated extraordinary suffering as proof of extraordinary wickedness. Scripture sometimes reveals a direct connection between sin and affliction; where it does not, men should not invent one.
The proper use of the verse is self-examination, not suspicious judgment of sufferers. When trouble comes, it is wise to ask whether folly or sin brought it. “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD” (Lamentations 3:40). If God exposes a transgression, confess it. If conduct must change, change it. Do not waste affliction by defending the very folly God is using to correct you.
The mercy of Psalm 107 is that fools are not left in the destruction they caused. They cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saves them out of their distresses (v.19). He sends His word, heals them, and delivers them from their destructions (v.20). Jesus Christ had no transgression or iniquity of His own, yet Peter writes of Him, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). Folly does not make mercy deserved, but confessed sin is not beyond the saving power of God.
Do not mock sin because its consequences are delayed. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). If affliction has exposed folly, stop defending the path that produced it. Confess the transgression, forsake the iniquity, cry unto the LORD, and praise Him when He delivers.