Last year I decided to try something new with my prayer journal. For each day of the month I listed a specific praise to lift up to the Lord. About the same time, I was reading slowly and deliberately through the Psalms. I know that when I do that, I’m going to run across things I don’t remember reading before, but it was strange to me to run across an entire 43-verse Psalm that jumped out at me as if I’d never seen it before!
Psalm 107 was just that Psalm. As I read it, I was struck by the beauty of its implications. The first few verses introduce the goodness of the Lord to all people. Let me share…
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the
adversary and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the
north and from the south.”
The Psalmist then goes through four groups of people. In verses four through nine we see people wandering in a wilderness and desert region suffering from hunger and thirst and needing shelter. Verses 10 through 16 talk about those walking in darkness, suffering in misery because of rebellion against God. Verses 17 through 22 talk about people who were nigh unto death because of their foolish decisions. Finally, verse 23 through32 reveal people who are in ships on the sea in the midst of a horrible storm.
In each example, the sufferers cried out to the Lord and He answered them! In each situation, the people are exhorted to “give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!”
What I love about this Psalm is its universality. The second and third groups of people mentioned in these verses have blatantly and foolishly rebelled against God. But, as soon as “they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distress.” He was right there all along, waiting for them to decide that His way was the way of life after all! The fools were even near unto the gates of death, but it was not too late. Our God continues calling and continues waiting. He is there, willing to rescue those who call out to Him! That gives me comfort. I was rescued as a very young child, but I am praying for so many who are still rebelling against Him. I am praying that they will look up from their misery and see that God is their only rescue!
The first and last groups give me comfort as well, because they remind me of myself. There is no indication given as to why they are in their specific plights. The first group is in the wilderness. Maybe of their own choosing, turning away from God’s intended plans as the children of Israel did when they turned away from the Promised Land. Maybe, though, it’s the result of God’s leadership into the unknown. When He leads us out of our comfort zones, it often feels like a wilderness with no provision! Oh what comfort to know that He will lead us “by a straight way to go to an inhabited city.”
The last group is on the sea. I can’t help but think that they were there because that’s what was expected of them. It seems that they were sailors – merchants or fishermen – caught up in the unpredictable snares of the life they were led to live. How often have we felt that we’re caught in the storms of life, questioning whether we’re in the right place or not? How often do we question whether or not we have made a wrong decision because of the storms that rise up and threaten to overwhelm us? God listened to their cry of distress, calmed the storm, gave them quiet, and “guided them to their desired haven.” Not just to any old shelter – to their “desired haven.” Wow!
I can’t see any person in the world not fitting in one of these categories. A cry for help is all we need to utter, and He is there with the rescue. His help is for all. His love is for all. May we cry out to Him and then be diligent to “give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!”
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