Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Psalm 107

Hey this is Brian.

I know it has been a while since I promised I was going to write more. Forgive me. My lovely wife and adorable girls keep me pretty busy. Anyway, I just wanted to share something that I read this morning that rocked me.

Psalm 107:1-2
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...

I (we) spend a lot of time grumbling. Why are things the way that they are? Why don't we have this or that? Veiled behind those seemingly innocuous questions is a much bigger question...

Hey God, don't you love me? (Veiled commentary behind this question: If you did, things would be way different than they are.)


This psalm threw me back on my heels this morning. It is a call for those who know the deliverance of the Lord and his unceasing covenant faithfulness to his people to respond in...wait for it...thanksgiving. We aren't very good at thanking God for the things that he does for us, but we are good at blaming him, or at least questioning his active goodness on our behalf. How about you? Are you struggling here too?

The psalmist is really good at jogging our minds for worship. After he calls the "redeemed of the Lord to say so," he tells four tales of the struggles of God's people. At the end of each tale, the refrain is...

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress...Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

Between the mention of the people's cries and the call to thankfulness, the writer tells of God's deliverance of them - how he displayed his steadfast love that endures forever (see vv. 7, 14, 20, 29-30). For our story, there are countless reasons to be thankful. Many times we have cried out. Many times God has answered. However, I am not sure that the posture of our heart is always as thankful as it should be. The truth is, we have much to be thankful for and I am praying that God gives us the grace to reflect, rejoice and "say so" today.

What about you? What is your story between the cry and thanksgiving? Where can you be thankful today? Where are you still waiting for that deliverance? If you are still waiting, can you still give thanks to the Lord for his goodness or are you struggling to do so? The good news is that even when we struggle to see him, believe him, trust him, he remains faithful to his people - he doesn't waver or change. His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

2 comments:

  1. Oh thank you, son in law...what a thing to end the day on!

    ReplyDelete
  2. preach this from the pulpit please.

    ReplyDelete