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He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
Psalms 107:40 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
  • BSB He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
  • NKJV He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
  • NASB He pours contempt upon noblemen And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
  • NLT the Lord pours contempt on their princes, causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God pours contempt on princes and makes them wander lost in trackless wastes.

Overview

The LORD humbles the proud and powerful, stripping rulers of dignity and leaving them to wander aimlessly. No human authority stands secure against God's sovereign judgment. This abasement of the mighty echoes throughout Scripture and points to the day when every earthly power bows before the exalted Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Job 12:24He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
  • Job 12:21He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
  • Dan 4:33The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
  • Isa 23:8–9Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?
  • Dan 5:5–6In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
  • Judg 1:6–7But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
  • Judg 4:21Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
  • 1 Sam 6:4Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
  • Rev 19:18That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
  • Exod 8:17And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
  • Exod 8:24And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.
  • Dan 5:18–30O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
  • Ps 78:66And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
  • 1 Sam 5:9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
  • Acts 12:23And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
  • Ps 107:4They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
  • Exod 8:3And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:
  • Josh 10:24–26And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
  • Jer 13:15–18Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
  • 1 Kgs 21:19And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
  • Deut 32:10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
  • 2 Kgs 9:35–37And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 107:40YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 107:40 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.