It has been paraphrased in hymns, and set to music, including George Dyson's Choral Symphony and Mendelssohn's Lobgesang.

[13] The overall outline of the historical psalms is to tell a story of a God who accomplishes "wonderful works" (verse 8), although the Israelites, His chosen people, have proved faithless.

In the psalmist's assessment, acts of infidelity often seem to correspond to an eventual awe-inspiring work of mercy from the Lord.

[13] The psalm also includes several more specific themes which emphasize the general tone of praise and thanksgiving for the God of Israel.

In the introduction, the first section of Psalm 107, the Lord is said to gather "the redeemed ... from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south" (v. 2, 3).

Following this, the next four sections address individuals who "wandered in desert wastes", "sat in darkness and gloom", "were sick through their sinful ways", and "went down to the sea in ships" (v. 4, 10, 17, 23).

[14] Likewise, in the opposing, western direction, where the sun sets, the Israelites are said to sit "in darkness and gloom" (v. 10).

The correlation depicted in this section between darkness and helplessness - apart from the aid of the Lord - harkens back to Old Testament descriptions of Abraham (Genesis 15:12).

The psalm elaborates on this theme, going on to say that the Lord "turns a desert into pools of water ... and there he lets the hungry dwell" (v. 35, 36).

This description of miracles as performed by the Lord reinforces the imagery of "wonderful works" mentioned earlier in the psalm (v. 8).

A famous account of the life of Christ from chapter four of Mark's Gospel follows the fifth section of Psalm 107, which describes the plight and eventual rescue of those on the sea.

Verse 10 is quoted in Luke 1:53[17] Psalm 107 forms the opening piece of the modern liturgy for Israel Independence Day found in Religious-Zionist Jewish prayer books.

Heinrich Schütz composed a four-part setting to a metric German text, "Danket dem Herren, unserm Gott", SVW 205, for the 1628 Becker Psalter.