PSALM 107:1-32 & 43 (Color-Coded)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. ESV
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.”
Psalm 107:6
Isn’t that just the way of things? We never really think we need God until, just as the psalm says, trouble comes our way. Otherwise, on a normal day, we operate as if God is far removed from our lives and we’re so preoccupied with our own affairs, we don’t think much about Him, other than maybe on Sunday mornings. Most days, we just wake up and seem to think we can be our own god, at least for that particular day. Which is not to say that we don’t think that God is GOD and that He’s our ultimate help and that we’ll probably need Him one day for some really, really big problem–we do!!! and we will!!!–but until then, we figure we’ve got today under control.
And we are really good at reinforcing this delusion. Technology deceives us into thinking that the world is much smaller and much more tame than it really is. We’ve conquered the land with the car, the air with the plane, and the seas with the cruise liner. There is an app for pretty much everything, and if we don’t know how to fix some problem, there’s probably a YouTube video that will explain it to us.
But then something bad does happen. Creation heaves or attacks us. Trouble comes out of nowhere. And we quickly come to terms with a fact too easily forgotten: we are finite creatures, dependent and fragile. All it takes is a storm and a siren and we huddle in a closet, fearful of a tornado. The plane lurches and we grip our seats in terror. Even the tiniest of things—bacteria or some unrestrained growth in our own cells revealed in a lab test—and we tremble and worry whether it’s terminal. We pray. We cry out to God for help.
Yes, sometimes it takes the howling of the wind to open our ears, or the invisible virus to open our eyes. The creation strives against us and we are humbled. The wildness of the world is a wakeup call, a call to repentance, a signpost pointing out what should have been obvious all along: God is greater than us. We need God. Every day. We can’t live long without Him.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve made the same error we all make every day: They assumed that they could do without God, at least for the ordinary stuff of life. They ate of the fruit that they had been deceived into thinking would make them “like God.” And for this first sin, God pronounces punishment upon Adam and Eve. However, though they deserved immediate death, God instead, out of mercy, does something curious: He curses the creation. He promises them thorns and thistles, pain and toil. He announces that this would be the general course of things for Adam and Eve after their fall into sin. No longer would the creation around them respond with blessing only. Now the creation would be rebellious toward man as man had been rebellious toward God.
Of course, we wonder why God would add to man’s sin and brokenness by adding more brokenness to creation, but it was actually meant to be merciful–a gift, though a hard one. This curse upon creation was meant to remind Adam and Eve and all of us of something we too easily forget: Man needs God. Thus God “subjects the creation to frustration,” Paul says in Romans 8:20, so that the hope of redemption might be made fully manifest to us all. In other words, the bad things that happen in life and in this world are there to constantly remind us that we need God to save us. We need redemption because we cannot save ourselves.
Noice how Psalm 107 emphasizes this truth. Take a look at the psalm in your bulletin. Here’s the reason for the color-coded font: It highlights an interesting pattern: The red font indicates four groups of people and some general kind of problem or predicament that causes suffering and hardship. Each red sentence begins with the word “some.” 1. Some suffer hunger and thirst; 2. Some are in darkness and gloom; 3. Some are entangled in sin and affliction; 4. Some are caught in storms at sea. Eventually, each of these groups calls out to God for help (indicated in blue): “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Afterwards, the psalm highlights various ways that God brings relief and then (in green) invites the people to give thanks to God.
This pattern reveals that whenever bad things happen–whether it’s the bad things that happen as a consequence of our sinful behavior and choices, like someone dying in a car accident because of a drunk driver, or whether it’s bad things that come out of nowhere, like a tornado or hurricane–it all serves the fundamental, bottom-line purpose of teaching us that we are people who need a Savior and that we cannot save ourselves. Beyond this, the bible says nothing more about why bad things happen, and to try and wonder about whether God causes bad things or merely allows them is ultimately foolish, for who can scrutinize the mind of God? What we know for sure, is that God wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4) and know their need for a Savior.
How sad, though, that sometimes it’s only when tragedy strikes that people remember this truth. A good example is when 9/11 happened and all across America people were talking about God and going to church. But how long did that last? I dare say there isn’t much faith in this…
Indeed, only remembering our need for God amidst tragedy and hardship or when we are scared or afraid, isn’t really faith at all. It’s more superstition than it is faith. Superstition is turning to something for help because we think it can ward off bad things and bring us good luck or blessings. But if God is just our good-luck charm, what happens when the trouble that comes in life doesn’t go away–even when we pray ardently to God for help? What do we do when a loved one grows terribly ill and though we pray to God with all our might for healing, our loved one dies, anyway? What do we do when drought persists and our crops die, despite our many prayers for relief? What do we do when the mental illness or depression continues to trouble you or a loved one, and even though you ask God to have mercy and take it away, things get worse? What happens when disaster strikes, and we cry out to God, but He doesn’t swoop in with the rescue squad?
You see, in this way, if we only profess faith in God because we think it will safeguard us from suffering or fix our problems, we stand a strong chance of losing our faith! For if God is just a good-luck charm, than He’s not a very good one. He is God and beyond all knowing… unless He chooses to make something known to us. And that He has in and through Jesus Christ.
True faith is about understanding our place before God. It’s leaning on Him and not our own understanding. It’s trusting Him and finding comfort in knowing that He is above all things and nothing happens apart from His good purposes. Faith is knowing that He is with us in the green pastures of life and also in the dark valleys. True faith is about a relationship with God.
Look at the first three lines of the psalm:
“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.” (Verses 1-3)
Here David uses the word “redeemed” (verse 2). He says we are the “redeemed of the Lord.” In Hebrew it is go-ale, which means “to be ransomed by a close relative.” Remember when I said true faith is about a relationship with God? Indeed, it is! That is why He redeems us. God is our Father. Jesus is our brother. Jesus is our Savior, and our Friend. And because of Jesus, we know the Father’s steadfast and enduring love. It’s a love that isn’t just for the moment—when trouble comes our way—it’s forever. It’s a love that causes us to look beyond the troubles of this life and know that there is something so much better that lies ahead.
The psalm says, “The steadfast love of the Lord endures FOREVER.” Forever!!! That is where the emphasis is to be placed. God’s love endures not only in this world, but also in the world to come. So even if the worst happens today, even if death comes, I can be assured that God’s love for will not fail or end. Even if I die today, I will still know the love of God tomorrow. The word “forever” assures me of this.
Isn’t that profound? Normally, we think of death as the end of everything, but the psalms remind us that if God’s steadfast love for us endures forever, than we can count on it even after death.
This is the khesed love we’ve been talking about in almost every psalm we’ve looked at over the last ten weeks. How wonderful that this is what characterizes God’s attitude toward us admist all our troubles and all our afflictions in life. Khesed means lovingkindness, faithfulness, and steadfast affection. Khesed is the wonderful fact that for all the ways that we forget about God and how much we need Him, God spares nothing to redeem us from our foolishness. He even comes Himself into this cursed creation and suffers the greatest afflictions and even death. He suffers with us and for us. He does this in Jesus Christ.
Apart from Christ, we cannot fully fathom even the tiniest portion of what God is up to in the midst of crises or tragedy or affliction in life. The bible says God’s will and His ways are so much bigger than our little brains can fathom. But when I am suffering or scared, what I can be absolutely certain of is what He did in the cross and why He did it. I know that He knows what He is doing. I know that He works His greatest blessings through crosses. I know His khesed love never fails. And so, in the midst of trouble and tragedy, I plunge all my questions into the wounds of Christ on Calvary—all my doubts and misgivings. I know that “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities … and with His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Four times the psalm says, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19 & 28) It’s because of Jesus that we can cry out to God, too. And through Christ we know His deliverance, His mercy and His khesed love. FOREVER!
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
O Lord, open my lips... 