Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
This morning in my daily reading I was taken to Psalm 107. The Psalms have been such a blessing to me in so many seasons of my life, but specifically this year as I'm reading through the historical count of the Old Testament, I have been so encouraged by reading the Psalms right alongside. It is like a peek into the journal of those living through really weighty circumstances - we get to see their cry, their praise, their pleas, their emotion all poured out to God. It gives me great comfort to know that this is all found within Scripture... it means not only is it something to encourage and teach me, it is something welcomed before the heart of God. And boy have I poured my soul out in the good and bad for years and years and years.
I'm always looking for themes when I read and without question the STEADFAST LOVE of the Lord is one of the most pronounced themes in the book of Psalms. It is a cry to rejoice in it, a cry to thank Him for it and sometimes a cry to earnestly seek to believe this quality about Him. The authors continually bring to light all that the Lord has done in an effort to remind and display the steadfast love of the Lord... traced throughout all of the psalms there are accounts of what He has done to remind the heart that God is a God of steadfast love.
Part of me wants to just go Psalm by Psalm and show where the steadfast love of the Lord is on display.... maybe one day I will, but today I was struck and so encouraged by what I read in Psalm 107 that I have to pause and SAY SO.
Psalm 1071 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.
If God is the same yesterday, today and forever.... then truly, the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. If there is a cry for those that have been redeemed to say so.... then that is a call for me to do the same for He has redeemed me, as well.
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.
I love this picture here... wandering in the desert waste, hungry, thirsty... put yourself there! Have you ever had a season of life that felt like the actual desert? Spiritually, emotionally, physically spent but feeling like there is no way out? Fatigued to utter exhaustion and hopeless.... looking for anything to satisfy and yet coming up dry? Gracious, I have. And as I've wandered I've looked to hollow things hoping they would bring me life, momentary comfort, immediate satisfaction only to find that I'm still running on empty. Sometimes I stay there a little too long and look for every source outside of God's provision.... sometimes I feel like I'm crying out to Him constantly but I still feel like I'm in this desert place... but here is what the Psalmist reminds me of: when I cry to the Lord, He delivers from distress.
Read how the language even changes from verse 4 to 7.... wandering in the desert turned to being led by a straight way UNTIL they reached a city. It didn't say the desert became a city. It does say that the path became straight until they reached one and that HE satisfies the longing soul. He meets us in our desert places. He joins us there to revive, renew, satisfy and sustain us AS He leads us to a place of abundance. The abundance? It is Him. He is the one that satisfies and fills the hungry soul with good things. He is the answer to our thirst, to our hunger, to our wandering..... because of His steadfast love.
I have countless testimonies of this being true in my life... none greater than
our infertility journey. He met me in the desert, carried me when I had absolutely no strength, sustained me in that season and truly, He became better than my wants. He was so good, was so kind, was so near.
I'm here to say it was so.
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.
Have you ever been in a season so dark, so low that you felt the only spiral was down into melancholy and angst? Gosh it sounds awful, but I sure have. I have sat in darkness feeling shackled by the result of my own wisdom. Whether it was direct rebellion to God in that moment, or the posture of my heart that has me warring constant rebellion... those seasons where life felt more like prison than freedom... but here is what the Psalmist reminds me of: when I cry to the Lord, He delivers from distress.
In verse 14 there is such a beautiful picture of freedom found in the person of Christ. From dark to light, from death to life, from shackles to freedom. And in verse 16, He shatters the doors and He cuts the bars of iron. Not me. Not you. No one, but God.... He is the agent, He is the answer, He has done and and continues to do it.
I am so thankful that though I have tasted the dark and melancholy of living in my fallen, sinful self that I have this confidence that it should not be so and will not always be so. But, the reality of it is I have been redeemed from the shackles of self - my hope, my confidence, my value and my eternity do not rest on my wisdom or efforts, but on the one who shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. Thank you, Jesus... I'm here to say it is so.
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!
Have you ever been just miserable and you have no one to blame but yourself? I think about when I was little and told a lie that I had to keep, otherwise I'd be busted, that caused another lie and another lie and all of the sudden I was straight up sick to my stomach trying to remember the story I needed to keep up with. You know what felt like the biggest gift? Coming clean and untangling all the webs. Foolish as that is, I know it is a cycle that I went through and ultimately, I had to learn the hard way that those repeated behaviors are just straight up deadly... but here is what the Psalmist reminds me of: when I cry to the Lord, He delivers from distress.
Just as Paul writes in Romans 7.18,19 &24,25 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not what is what I keep on doing....... Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! This is my story, this is my song. This was me and is me.... but this is the God I put all my faith in for eternity and for today. He put his Word in me, He alone has healed me through His redemptive work and it is Him that delivers me from my destructive ways. I'm here to say it is so!
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.
The reality of life is that it is full - we have one hundred billion things warring for our attention, affection and time. And I love how these two stanzas reflect on people going about their ways.... to the sea in ships and doing business on the great waters... people going about their days with priorities, responsibilities and the mundane of what this earthly life requires. And the storms came - the sea is described like a straight up hurricane is happening while the people go about their time on the water.... um, hello. Here I am going about the routines and rhythms of daily life and BAM... storms come: literal storms and we lose trees and power in Dallas for over a week (June 2024), emotional storms where we are tired and anxious and weary and we have to fight to get out of bed, physical storms where we are faced with the hardest diagnosis or pain or illness, relational storms in our homes or families or friend circles.... it just feels like the waves are too much and they are battering us and they are taking us down... but here is what the Psalmist reminds me of: when I cry to the Lord, He delivers from distress.
He's the one that made the storm be still and the waves of the sea hush. He's the one that brings us to our desired haven. And we were glad. And we rejoiced. And we looked back feeling stronger, empowered, emboldened by the trials of the storms we faced and the way that the Lord met us, held us, changed us and carried us. It becomes our testimony of His faithfulness in our daily. It becomes our ebenezer that we look to reminding us that He is over the wind and the waves. I have an infinite amount of storms He's quieted. I have storms I am currently STILL facing, but I've seen the fruit of past storms and praying for faith to look to Him to quiet my heart as the waters rage around me now. He's done it before, He'll do it again... I believe it and I've experienced it and so today.... I'm here to say it will be so.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
The world is fleeting away and is not our home. The Creator and Sustainer of life is above it all. He has turned deserts into pools of water and parched land into springs of water.... the hungry dwell and establish a city to live in. They sow fields, plant vineyards and are fruitful.... by His blessing they multiply. The desire of my heart would be that I see His goodness in the land of the living not by looking to the temporal, elemental things of this world but that I would be most satisfied in how He has saved me, is changing me and transforming me day by day as I look to Him to become more like Him simply because I want more of Him... where blessing multiplies greatly. I want that to be so.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Friends, pause today and consider the steadfast love of the Lord to YOU. Recount the ways that he has redeemed your life, your story, your pain, your daily.... consider them! Thank Him! And then bring Him glory by praising Him, bring others encouragement by sharing with them, bring your heart comfort today by reminding yourself all of the ways that the STEADFAST LOVE of the Lord has made all the difference... Say so.
He brought me from death to life.
He saved me from years of self-depricating thoughts and behaviors.
He carried me when I truly had no strength or desire for living.
He provided for me when I felt like we were at the end of our ropes.
He held me through heartbreaks and failures.
He delivered me from downward spirals.
He calmed my anxious heart in moments of true fear, panic, dread or despair.
He corrected my steps when I needed gentle, or specific, discipline.
He wooed my heart by using people, opportunities and moments to see me.
He made a way when science said there was none.
He restored what was broken and displayed Himself as the one who reconciles.
He broke my heart for the pride and selfishness I struggle to free from.
He washed me with peace in the midst of pain.
He changed my desires to want Him more than I care what you think.
He faithfully pursues me when I look to other things for satisfaction and they disappoint.
He is anything good in me.
He is the reason I live free.
He is my joy.
He is the one I will cast all my cares on.
He is the one that gets all the glory, honor and praise for anything profitable in me.
He is the one that gets all the glory, honor and praise for my story.
He is the one that gets all the glory, honor and praise for my redemption.
He is the one that gets all the glory, honor and praise for my testimony.
He is the one that gets all the glory, honor and praise for my eternity.
He is the author of steadfast love and my heart, my words and my life responds in praise.
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