Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 107:17

"Fools because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, are afflicted." — Psalms 107:17 (ASV)

Fools, because of their transgression – Wicked people are considered fools because they are transgressors. Compare to Psalms 14:1 (note); Psalms 73:3 (note); Psalms 75:4 (note). The immediate allusion here, probably, is to the Jews, who had been so wicked and so supremely foolish in violating the commands of God, making it necessary to bring on them as a punishment the captivity in Babylon. However, the language is made general because it will describe the conduct of all wicked people just as fittingly. There is nothing more foolish than an act of wickedness; there is no wisdom equal to that of obeying God.

And because of their iniquities, are afflicted – A more literal rendering of this verse would be, Fools from the way of their transgressions (that is, by their course of transgression), and by their iniquities, afflict themselves. The idea is that it is in the very line of their transgressions, or that they bring it upon themselves. All punishment is, in fact, in the line of the offense; that is, sin leads directly to it; or, in other words, if a person treads along the path of sin, they will come to this result: punishment. Punishment is not arbitrary on God’s part, and it is not in the nature of a mere direct infliction from His hand. It is what people mete out to themselves and what they might have avoided if they had chosen to do so.