John Calvin Commentary Psalms 107:29

"He maketh the storm a calm, So that the waves thereof are still." — Psalms 107:29 (ASV)

He maketh the storm a calm. A profane author, narrating the history of such an event, would have said that the winds were hushed and the raging billows were calmed. But the Spirit of God, by this change of the storm into a calm, shows God's providence presiding over everything. This means that it was not by human agency that this violent commotion of the sea and wind, which threatened to overturn the very structure of the world, was so suddenly stilled.

Therefore, when the sea is agitated and boils up in terrifying fury, as if wave were contending with wave, why does it instantly become calm and peaceful, except that God restrains the raging of the billows, whose contention was so dreadful, and makes the bosom of the deep as smooth as a mirror?

Having spoken of their great terror, he next mentions their joy, so that their ingratitude may appear more striking if they forget their remarkable deliverance. For they do not lack a reminder, having been abundantly instructed by the storm itself, and by the calm that followed, that their lives were in God's hand and under His protection.

Moreover, he informs them that this is a kind of gratitude that deserves not only to be acknowledged privately or mentioned in the family, but also to be praised and magnified in all places, even in the great assemblies. He makes specific mention of the elders, implying that the more wisdom and experience a person has, the more capable that person is of listening to and being a witness of these praises.