Psalm 107: The Song of God’s Rescue (Part One)

Can you relate to these words?

• “Man born of woman is a few days and full of troubles;”
• “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen;”

Once, when Winston Churchill was on holiday staying with friends in the south of France, he came into the house on a chilly evening, sat down by the fireplace and stared silently into the flames. Resin-filled pine logs were crackling, hissing, and spitting as they burned. Suddenly, his familiar voice growled, “I know why logs spit. I know what it is to be consumed.” Troubles, trials, dangers, distress- all seem to be an inherent part of the human condition. The problem is that, for all our cleverness and ingenuity, we seem to be much better at making the situations of life worse than we are at making them better!

The saying is true- “when you find you are already in a hole- stop digging!” But, how can we get out? How can we escape? The psalmist’s answer is clear- by looking to the God of rescue who alone can deliver us from the storms that swirl around our little boats. In Psalm 107, the psalmist sings of this in “The Song of God’s Rescue”- and we need to consider it in the dark shrouded skies of our own storms today, and we begin with a counterintuitive command…

The Command (vv.1-3)-

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”

“Give thanks…. Lovingkindness” (v.1)-

He begins with his theme, which is a challenge to the people of God that they respond to the need for thankfulness by bearing witness to God’s prevailing goodness!

These opening calls put the psalm into its setting.

• The context? God’s great deliverance of Israel from exile in Babylon. The rest of the psalm then fills in the blanks of the captivity experience.
• The immediate response of the people? They are to give thanks to God for His goodness- a goodness that has been clearly demonstrated in their deliverance from bondage. Notice the terminology the psalmist uses….
• The Redeemed- it echoes the custom that obliged the near-kinsman to step in and rescue his close relative from debt or slavery (cp. 69:18- “Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; ransom me because of my enemies!”).
• Gathered- this answers the prayer of Psalm 106:47 (“Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name And glory in Your praise.”). The prayer has been heard for Israel’s restoration to the land after a period of exile, and the Lord has gathered them, as it were, from the four corners of the earth.

What an amazing thing to Israel- to be redeemed and gathered from exile! Look at the long history of this little land, and it explains their response of celebration. Tomorrow we will look more closely at some of the causes of despair that we face in life and in ministry…