Let
those who are wise give heed to these things and consider the steadfast
love of the Lord.
Psalm
107 is a beautiful song. Scholars agree that it is clearly one of
the Psalms that was—and still is—regularly used in worship
and that it was to be sung. We presented it to you this morning in
two voices and with our choir speaking the song of thanksgiving that
runs all through this Psalm.
I
was the narrator, reading for you the verses that describe what is
going on: the people sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners, having
rebelled…the people had sinned and were shunning any nourishment
that would sustain them…the people were tossed by the waves
of the sea…
And
our Lay Lector, Amanda, read the verses in which the people, in their
distress, cry out to God: they cried to the Lord in their trouble…and
each time God responds.
Whereupon,
the choir came in with the refrain…Let them thank the Lord for
his steadfast love…
See
the pattern of this Psalm? Description of the situation. Appeal to
God and God’s response. A song of thanksgiving for the steadfast
love of the Lord.
And
then, that little tag line at the end: Let those who are wise give
heed to these things and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
We’re
going to come back to that in a moment, but let’s first look
a bit more closely on the predicaments of God’s people.
Remember
how I’ve been stressing in this series of sermons on the Psalms
that the Psalms give us a way to take everything to the Lord in prayer,
as the old hymn puts it? “Have we trials and temptations? Is
there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to
the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load
of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in
prayer.”
The
power of the Psalmist’s faith is the power that everyone who
has ever been in counseling or in recovery knows. Until you’re
honest, brutally honest, about what’s going on, you’re
not going to heal. As long as you’re still lying to yourself
about your situation and your need of God, nothing’s going to
change. Call it “hitting bottom” or dress it up with fancy
therapeutic language, it’s all the same. And the Psalmist knew
it centuries ago. Place it all before the Lord. And God will respond.
God will raise you up on eagle’s wings and hold you in the palm
of God’s hand.
Let
those who are wise give heed to these things and consider the steadfast
love of the Lord.
Psalm
107 tells us about four kinds of people who are hurting badly. And
they all give testimony, like we spoke about a couple weeks ago. They
tell of their own experience in the company of the faithful. And then
together, they witness to the saving power of God in their lives.
From
the poetic language of the Psalm, we can perhaps find ourselves in
one of these four groups, or remember a time when we felt this way.
There are those who are wandering, looking for a place to settle down.
Or if we translate this more literally, it means: “they were
looking for a place to sit.” And the word here that says they
were “thirsty” can also be translated as “frantic.”
They were frantic and looking for a place to sit.
At
the pace we all live and work, with all the demands and pressures
on our lives, with all the things that distract us and clamor for
our attention, are we not sometimes these very people who are frantic
and looking for a place to sit, to rest, to abide in the presence
of God?
Others
were in the dark, in a prison of their own making because they had
rebelled against God and turned away from God’s word. Are not
we sometimes these very people, who think we know better, who follow
after our own schemes and distractions? Me? Make it a priority to
worship, to pray, to spend time with God’s Word? Do we not sometimes
think that we can make it just fine on our own, thank you very much,
and pay no attention to God at all, until things get really desperate?
The
third group is even more distressed. These are people who are worn
down by sin and shame. Convinced of their unworthiness, they turn
away from the very things that would heal them and sustain them. They
refuse nourishment, the Psalmist says. And in their hopelessness and
despair they begin to feel that all is lost. They have given up hope
and they are on the brink of death.
The
fourth group is at their wits’ end. They have been tossed about
by the seas of life, from the heights to the depths. Perhaps they’ve
been hit by loss or illness or the death of someone dear. All their
plans have fallen through. They no longer know up from down and they
can’t make heads nor tails of what’s happening to them.
Nothing makes sense. Nothing seems fair. They cannot imagine a way
out.
Friends,
have there not been times in our lives when we could see ourselves
or someone dear to us in one of these situations? Have we not known
these times of loss and disorientation and doubt? Have we not been
hurt and hurting in these very ways?
It’s
as if God, through the Psalmist, can read us like a book. God can
know everything about us. God can hear the cry of our hearts. God
can despair when we turn away. God can find us when we wander off.
God can hold us close when we are convinced that we deserve no love
at all. God can lead us to a quiet place. God can set our feet on
the path. God can make a way when there is no way. God can restore
us and heal us. God can bring us home.
What
then, can we do, but to say “Thank you, Lord”? “Let
them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works
to humankind.”
And
now, in a few moments, as we move into our Communion liturgy, we will
begin with familiar words. Hear them anew this morning, remembering
all that we have just shared about Psalm 107.
For
this sacrament as instituted by Jesus himself, one who was rooted
and grounded in the faith of the Psalms, this sacrament helps us celebrate
and remember the very foundation of our faith: that God is with us
in all things and will deliver us. And so, we give thanks.
The
Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks
and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere, to
give thanks to you, God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
©Patricia
Farris, 2007. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution.
All other rights reserved.
Psalm
107: With Thankful Hearts