“Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 107:43 Mean?
Psalm 107 ends with this verse — a wisdom saying that serves as both conclusion and invitation. "Whoso is wise" — chakam — is the person who has the capacity to observe patterns, draw correct conclusions, and live accordingly. "And will observe these things" — yishm'ru (guard, keep, pay attention to) eleh (these things) — points back to everything the psalm has described: the four scenarios of distress, the four deliverances, the four refusals to praise.
The promise is that careful observation of God's pattern of rescue will produce understanding of His chesed — His lovingkindness, His covenant loyalty. The Hebrew yavin (understand, discern) isn't surface-level comprehension. It's the deep, experiential knowledge that comes from paying attention over time. You don't understand God's lovingkindness by reading a definition. You understand it by observing it across enough situations that the pattern becomes undeniable.
The verse implies that many people will not be wise, will not observe, and therefore will not understand. The lovingkindness of the LORD is available to be understood by anyone — but only those who pay attention will actually grasp it. The evidence is everywhere. The understanding requires eyes that are looking.
Reflection Questions
- 1.If you traced God's faithfulness across your life, what pattern would emerge?
- 2.Are you living too fast to observe what God is doing — moving from crisis to crisis without stopping to see the through-line?
- 3.What's the difference between experiencing God's goodness and understanding His lovingkindness?
- 4.What would it look like to become a 'student of your own history with God' — to catalog and observe rather than just receive and forget?
Devotional
"Whoso is wise, and will observe these things." The psalm doesn't end with a command. It ends with a conditional: whoever has the wisdom to pay attention will understand something profound about God. The lovingkindness is there. The pattern is there. The evidence is scattered across the psalm and across your life. But understanding requires observation, and observation requires intention. You have to choose to look.
Most of us live too fast to observe. The rescue happens and we sprint to the next crisis. The provision comes and we're already anxious about the next need. The pattern of God's faithfulness plays out across years, but if you never stop to trace the lines — to connect this deliverance to that one, to see that the same God who met you in 2019 is the same God who carried you through 2024 — you'll miss the lovingkindness that ties it all together.
This verse is an invitation to become a student of your own history with God. Not just a person who has experienced God's goodness, but a person who has observed it, cataloged it, and drawn conclusions from it. The wise person doesn't just have stories. They have patterns. They've watched God long enough to recognize His signature across different seasons, different crises, different decades. And what they understand — what the observing produces — is the lovingkindness of the LORD. Not as a word. As a reality they can point to with the weight of accumulated evidence.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Whoso is wise - All who are truly wise. That is, all who have a proper understanding of things, or who are disposed to…
The psalmist, having given God the glory of the providential reliefs granted to persons in distress, here gives him the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture