Today we begin about a month long bible reading in the book of Psalms. Psalm 107 is the first Psalm in the 5th Book of Psalms. These Psalms are psalms of thankfulness. My NIV study notes say these psalms coincide with the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy's theme is God and his word. The 5th book of Psalms is praise and thanksgiving for God and his word. Many of the Psalms were set to music when these were written. I love music, would have loved to hear how David set these words to music.
Verse 1 Give thanks to the Lord for he is Good; his love endures for ever. This has been put to music, and when I read this I instantly started humming it. I searched for the song "Give thanks to the Lord" on the Internet and you can even download this song as a ring tone for your cell phone. Reading through the Psalms through the years I often see where songs and hymns were taken from the Psalms. This affirms to me that God's word is alive and well in the 21st century. Verse 2 - I Let the redeemed of the Lord say so - these words have been set to music today too.
Verses 4-9 begins with 4 types of people in distress. These verses talk about wandering in the desert. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. We may personally have deserts of wandering in our own lives. They cried out to the Lord and he led them down a straight path. Today the straight path leads us to Jesus.
Verses 10-16 is the distress of being prisoners. The Israelites were prisoners in Egypt because they sinned against God. Again they cried out in their distress and God redeemed them. Broke loose the chains. Set them free. Are we in our own prison today? We can ask God to help set us free from whatever our situation is.
Verses 17-22 the distress of being sick. Through foolish ways we may become afflicted with disease. I am one who is suffering health issues for being overweight, and I am having to change old bad habits. Obesity is a huge problem in today's society. We can call out to God in our distress of making foolish choices and he will save us.
Verses 23-30 the distress of storms. We may not be literally tossed about at sea but we may toss and turn all night because of our distress. We can cry out to God in our trouble and he will calm the seas. When we were on the high seas all looked well - until circumstances out of our control came upon us. Currently the storm of recession is affecting most people. Mark 4:39 The disciples were at sea and a storm blew up, and they were afraid - in distress. In verse 39 Jesus awoke, rebuked the storm and said "Peace be Still." I pray that we will all turn to God first in our storms of distress. He will guide us through the storm.
Verses 31-32 talk about giving thanks. When we look back at our hardships in life we can see what God has done for us. We appreciate the good times even more. And we can help other people when they are in distress.
Father God we thank you for the Psalmist words today.We thank you for the songs of praise written from your hand. We are thankful that you help us in our distresses in life, you redeemed us, bought us for a price through Christ dying on the cross, and you forgive us for our sins. You help us pick up the pieces and follow you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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