by Becky
LINK: Psalm 107BACKGROUNDWhat a psalm! This beautiful, well-crafted poem celebrates God’s goodness and love for people. From the first two verses it seems to be specifically written for those Israelites who returned to Jerusalem after being scattered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. But because of the way the psalm is structured and what it says, it’s clear that this can be extended to include all who turn to God. The message is clear: trouble and rebellion can be used to draw us back to the LORD.
There are four groups of people focused on in this psalm.
Verses 4 – 7 speak about those who wandered in desert wastelands and who eventually cried out to the Lord – who delivered them.
Verses 10 – 14 focus on those taken captive because of their rebellion. They also cried to the Lord and He delivered them.
Verses 17 – 20 deal with those who became fools through rebellion and in doing so experienced physical infirmities (loathed food, drew near the gates of death). They, too, cried to the Lord and He saved them.
Verses 23 – 30 speak of those who felt self-sufficient and in control until confronted with a natural disaster like a tempest, when they were overcome with fear. Then they cried to the Lord – who heard them and guided them to their “desired haven.”
Look at the refrain repeated between each of those accounts.
That’s four times!“Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men. “ (vv. 8, 15, 21, 31)
Toward the end of the psalm, paradoxes prevail.
“He [God] turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
… He lifted the needy out of their affliction. …”
We are told to pay attention to this psalm. In fact those who heed its lesson are called wise.
“Whoever is wise, let him heed these things
and consider the great love of the LORD.”
REFLECTION AND APPLICATIONThis psalm can be understood on both a literal level and as one full of metaphor. .
Have you ever wandered in a spiritual or emotional desert wasteland?
Have you ever been held captive by the bonds of rebellious sin?
Have you suffered physically (become ill) because of foolish choices caused by rebellion and sin?
Have you, in the midst of every day life and self-sufficiency, been confronted by your own smallness in the face of something huge and outside your control?
There is hope here! It’s quite simple, really, and yet hard, because it requires us to “cry to the LORD,” to admit that we don’t have the answers ourselves, to admit that God alone does. God has given us principles by which to live. His Way, His Word are the only life and truth. I also don’t think it’s any coincidence that Jesus calls Himself the Way, the Word, the Life, and the Truth. Jesus is the punch line to that which is repeated over and over again in the Old Testament.
Look at the paradoxes here (vv. 33 – 42). Rich, spring fed land becomes a wasteland while God fills parched desert with pools of water and springs. God leads the hungry to a place where they can produce fruit. Those who grow independent of God (proud) through their own strength are humbled, but God lifts up those who are needy. Don’t these paradoxes remind you of passages in the New Testament?
As I read this psalm I was reminded of
Matthew 5: 3-10 (Beatitudes);
Luke 1: 50-53 (Mary’s Magnificat);
1 Corinthians 1: 18 – 31;
2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 10 .
Do you need rescuing? Have you cried to the LORD?
Has the LORD rescued you? Are you thanking Him?
PRAYERI thank you LORD for your unfailing love and for your wonderful deeds for men. You have rescued your people over and over again. Thank you for coming in the flesh to rescue those who cry out to you. Help us to continue in you the way we began, by crying out to you, by recognizing our weakness so that you can be our strength. You alone fill our hunger; You alone quench our thirst. Help us to be wise and heed this psalm’s message and consider Your great love – a love that intervenes in time and space on behalf of those who cry to you.
Beginning in verse seven and continuing through the rest of today's passage, Isaiah speaks. He begins with praise to the Lord for His love and kindness toward Israel through the years. He speaks of how God was a shepherd who took care of His sheep and how He led them through the waters of the Red Sea. (63:7-14)