I have a lot of favorite Scripture passages, but Psalm 107 is up there toward the top of my list. It’s rather long, but the picture of God’s enduring love, grace, and help toward us, no matter what, makes it all worth reading.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.”
This introduction speaks of the “redeemed of the Lord” — this refers to the Israelites who had been exiled (by God) from the promised land because of their sinfulness and rejection of God and His ways, their idolatry in worshipping other gods, etc — God warned them over and over, through the prophets, and then when they refused to return to Him, He drove them from the promised land and caused them to be conquered by other nations and scattered. But then He redeemed them — He bought them back, and gathered them in, back to the promised land, from all the places where they had been taken and scattered. (See also Jeremiah 29:10-14.)
“Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way til they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wondrous works to the children of man!
For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.”
Have you ever felt this way? Like you’re wandering in the desert, alone, starving and thirsty in your soul, with nowhere to belong, nowhere to rest? We aren’t told how these wanderers ended up in the desert…and sometimes we don’t know how we ended up there, either. But we see that when they cried to the Lord, He heard them and ‘delivered them from their distress,’ and led them straight to a city to dwell in, a place to belong, where they could eat and drink and be satisfied. Isn’t that just so beautiful? So very comforting? “He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” For those who are in a desert place now, be encouraged. Cry out to the Lord, and follow Him. He may not immediately ‘poof’ you to a better life — this says ‘He led them by a straight way,’ but they were in the middle of a desert, so it may have taken a while even on a straight path — but He will lead you there, and satisfy your longing soul, and fill your hungry soul with good things. Such is the ultimate intent of the loving God we serve.
“Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wondrous works to the children of man!
For He shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars of iron.”
Here we see those who rebelled against God, who ‘spurned His counsel,’ and who are in the midst of the consequences of that — consequences assigned by God Himself. “He bowed their hearts down with hard labor…” And then they crumpled under the weight of those labors, and sat ‘in the shadow of death,’ with no one to help them — and they finally were humbled enough to cry out to God for help. And while we might expect Him to respond with, “Uh, sorry, not sorry, you got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out,” He doesn’t. Just like with those wanderers above who (as far as we are told) were simply lost and without resources, God in His great mercy hears these prisoners who had rebelled against Him, and He rescues them. He “burst their bonds apart.” I just love that. Have you ever felt yourself in bondage, whether to something outside yourself or something inside? God can (and will) burst those bonds apart, shatter the doors that hold us in, cut the bars of iron that entrap us. Even when we’ve entrapped ourselves. We have only to call on Him. Even our rebellion does not stop His love. How beautiful is the love of God toward His children!
“Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress.
He sent out His Word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wondrous works to the children of man!
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!”
Now we read of foolish, sinful people. Ever been one of those? I sure have. Suffering because of my own choices. Was the illness mentioned here physical? Spiritual? Both? Regardless, they were suffering because they were sinful fools. Ouch. God doesn’t pull any punches with us; He calls it like it is. But He doesn’t leave us to our self-inflicted destruction, if we call on Him. He sent out His Word and healed them! Delivered them! That applies to each of us, if we follow Christ. Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1-18). We are healed and delivered through Him (1 Peter 2:24, Colossians 1:13-14), even from the effects of our own foolishness. And if THAT doesn’t make you want to thank God and sing joyfully, I don’t know what will!
“Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord, His wondrous works in the deep.
For He commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and He brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wondrous works to the children of man!
Let them extol Him in the congregation of the people,
and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.”
And now we have some folks who are just doing their jobs, and then…disaster strikes. Things get dangerous to the point where their courage melts away, and they’re at their wits’ end. (This feels very applicable to current events for some of us! At-risk front-line and essential workers, anyone?) The “evil” used here, in “evil plight,” is defined as ‘bad, malignant, hurtful; distress, calamity, adversity.’ So these guys are just going about their business, doing their jobs, and calamity hits. Hard things that aren’t their fault. They are in distress, and they can’t control what’s happening. Nothing they could do about those waves…and who knows how long their boat will hold together? But then, of course, they cry out to God, and He delivers them from their distress. He made the storm be still. What a beautiful sentence! This may have been a prophecy (see Matthew 8:23-27), and may have been speaking about actual, physical waves, but I can also see how it can apply to the “storms” of life that we often find ourselves in. Jesus can calm those, too. Even the ones caused by pandemics. Even the ones caused by politics. Does He calm every storm, as soon as we ask Him to? No, He never promised that. But regardless of how bad the storms get, we can trust Him to bring us through them to a haven of peace; to get us safely home (2 Timothy 4:18).
“He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
And there He lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield.
By His blessing they multiply greatly,
and He does not let their livestock diminish.”
A lot of this part seems specific to the time period in which it was written, but we can see how it parallels today. God can turn any situation. He can visit consequences on evil, and He can turn seemingly hopeless situations into beautiful, nourishing things. He cares for the hungry, and blesses them, and brings them into plenty. Maybe not always on our timetable, but He will ultimately bring all His children into blessing and fruitfulness and belonging and fullness.
“When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but He raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.”
All wickedness shuts its mouth. I love that picture. Even though the idyllic conditions from the previous section don’t last forever on this earth, even though oppression and evil and sorrow may come again (and again), we see our gracious heavenly Father still caring for the needy, raising them up from affliction and bringing them into provision, and visiting consequences on those who oppressed them. The blessing on those who have been brought out of oppression and evil and sorrow spreads to all the rest of the upright (those who follow the Lord)…and all wickedness shuts its mouth. That is certainly a day to look forward to!
“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”
Want to be wise? Pay attention to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord. Oh, what an amazing, undeserved, un-earnable, incredible thing! We cannot break it, we cannot lose it, we cannot even truly fathom it. God is trustworthy; He is kind; He provides what we need; He brings us back to Himself. He rescues us when we are lost, when we are in the chains of our own rebellion, when we are suffering from our own foolish and sinful choices, when things around us are going crazy, when we are oppressed by others. All we have to do is turn to Him and ask. What a wonderful, truly loving God He is!
May our hearts and words ever echo the opening and refrain of this beautiful Psalm:
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever!
Let us thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wondrous works to the children of man!
More Than This Mess 