Psalm 107 — Psalms 107

0:00 Psalm 107. If you'll make your way there and the whoever has Psalm 107 verse eight, if you would stand up and read that for us big loud. Well, give give everybody a chance to turn here. Whenever I get

0:17 to Psalm one and seven and Jordan's gonna read for us verse eight. So, you can follow along in your in your Bibles with these particular verses that are being read.

0:32 Go ahead, Jordan. Alright, sounds good. Uh-oh that man would give thanks to the lord for his goodness and for his wonderful, wonderful words to the children of man.

0:43 Thank you, Jordan for doing that. How about who's got verse 15? Stand up and read that for us big and loud. I want the men who give thanks to the lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of man. Verse 21.

1:12 Goodness and for his wonderful works

1:14 to the children of men. Alright, thank you. Anybody notice any similarity to those verses?

1:20 Amen. Hey, how about that? Zach, you caught it? Alright, same goodness.

1:25 Same mercy. How about that? Four verses. We've got these verses that are repeated. How about that in one chapter?

1:46 And of course, know, operating through this chapter, I'm like, did I just read that? You know, like, that sounded familiar. You know, then you say, oh, there's four, there's actually four verses that are repeated, verbatim in this and of course, that goes right along with the thinking of of it being like a chorus like a like a song and then something's being repeated, a refrain is being being repeated there in that line. So, but there's actually four different scenarios, four different circumstances that are happening, and then at the at the end of those days, that's this verse is that all that men would would give thanks or praise the lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men. You know, we're going to look at all four of those this morning.

3:04 This is sounding kind of familiar to it. Oh give thanks unto the lord. He is good for his mercy endureth forever and so, we we can identify right off that this Psalm has this kind of a theme of giving thanks which would be customary in the in the book of Psalms but to give thanks but what what is he saying to give thanks for? Give thanks unto the lord for he is good. Do you think do you think do you think god is good?

3:35 We we sometime we we hear that as a child's prayer, right? God is good. But this here the statements being made right here in the beginning of this chapter that that god is good for he is good and his mercy endureth. The word endureth is is supplied there. It's added but it's a good word.

3:56 The word his mercy is forever we can say. His mercy endures forever and then look at look at verse two there where it says, let the redeemed of the lord say so. Say what? Say that god is good. Let the redeemed.

4:13 Let the people that that have come to understand god's goodness. Let them say something. Let the redeemed.

4:21 We

4:21 use the word redeemed as being bought We we understand in a in a biblical sense that we were in bondage to to the devil. In bondage to sin and to Satan, right? And we've been redeemed. God provided a way to the lord Jesus Christ that we might be purchased back. We're a purchased possession and so we've been redeemed.

5:02 You won't have to read anything. But I'd like for anyone in here to be able to take your feet, means to stand up. And I want you to say something very simple, if if you're so inclined. I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior

5:35 How about it?

5:38 Even though the lord, I was a senior in college.

5:41 Thanks god. Let the redeemed of the lord say so. Who else? I came to know the lord when I was a very very small child about four years old. Let the redeemed of the lord say so.

5:55 02/03/1950. Right. I grew up in that church and I thought I was saved just because

6:37 my savior at age 18. Great. The redeemed of the lord say so. I

6:47 accepted accepted the the lord lord as my savior on November November seventeenth nineteen eighty five.

6:54 What now? I made it all at age 37. Right. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Those have been redeemed.

7:06 Those have been purchased back. God is good. If you don't say so, Who does? Let the redeemed of the lord say so. Let the redeemed of the lord say so.

7:24 Oh that men would give face to the lord.

7:28 That verse that was repeated four times. Oh that men, oh that mankind, oh that ones everywhere who have been redeemed, they would say so. That they

7:40 would give thanks. And so, you know, we're not talking about getting caught up with some kind of emotional thing or or just say a hoop and holler and

7:51 that kind of thing but let the redeem of the lord say so. And and we've got an opportunity to get on our feet. We're up. I got saved when I was eight years old. I'm I'm thankful to be able to say that.

8:05 I got saved when I was 37 years old. I'm thankful to be able to say that. And and so, different ones should give testimony

8:12 to that, right? Let the redeem of the lord say so. God is good. Now, look at look at verse three and and this is referring to to to god and gathered them, right? God is good.

8:29 Let's redeem the lord say so. Who he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands from the East, from the West, from the North, from the South. Covers all the directions of it. Whosoever will may come. Right?

8:51 Some from every, every, every tribe and nation we sing in the song. Some from every region of the, of the world. God is not willing that any would perish. That who, whoever, whoever would choose to come, he'd welcome them. Whoever wants to be redeemed, whoever wants to be bought back from the hand of the enemy, God will...

9:12 God is good. God wants his goodness to be shared and and to be extended to everyone. So, the theme of our of our chapter, chapter one zero seven is is a motivation. Is a motivation to give thanks to god. Oh that men would give thanks to god and would give praise for his wonderful works to the children of men, to us.

10:09 The third one's going to deal with our body and the fourth one will deal with our mind, Okay? And so we're... And they're going to culminate, they're going to culminate with this exhortation, all that men would give praise to the Lord for his goodness, for for his wonderful works to the children of men. Now each of these scenarios, each of these four things are gonna are gonna go in a very similar format. You're gonna have trouble.

10:40 Okay? Trouble is gonna hit, And we'll see in each four circumstance there's gonna be some type of, some type of calamity, some type of problem, some type of issue, right? Then you're gonna notice that that issue becomes very extreme. And it is a major problem. From there you're gonna notice a cry for help.

11:04 Then you're gonna notice a response from God and then you're gonna see an exhortation. The verse that we read four times, you're gonna see that verse. An exhortation to praise. Right? An exhortation recognize what god did to deliver the people that couldn't handle the wrong issue or problem what he did to deliver them.

11:50 They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Remember, I said this one has to do with the soul, the soul faints. Verse six, then they cried unto the lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses and he led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

12:20 For he satisfieth the longing soul and he filleth the hungry soul with goodness. And so that's the first scenario. Back in verse four, we have that they wandered in the wilderness. And so we might, we might say, if you wanna put a little caption upon this this first little scenario is wanderers, right? Ones that are

12:42 ones that are just kind of wandering around.

12:47 When you read that verse, what's something something that that pops pops into into your your mind? Mind?

12:54 Boneless.

12:56 Boneless? You know, we were driving recently, a month or two ago. It was cold, it's... I think it was right here in December. We were driving downtown Winston Salem, and Winston Salem's not quite as big as Cleveland, but you know, still got a city feel to it, right?

13:17 Downtown and we're in a section of town, it's a typical downtown area of a big city, right? And I see a guy and I was like, I recognize that guy. And he's a guy that's had, that we've tried to work with before, but I saw him and here he he was out on the street. He had about three coats on and he literally was was just kind of wondering. He's had issues with with drugs and alcohol and I I stopped.

13:57 You know, I stopped. And and I said, hey, can I can I help you? Can... Is there something we can do for you? But he was he was wondering and and he was feeling...

14:08 Help him get to a place for the for the night,

14:14 and

14:27 forty years, forty years in

14:29 the wilderness and so, let's let's look at look at the look at what's being described here. I mean, we know that god was working with them. God was dealing with them and and but there a lot of it was their own fault, right? For choosing to be where they were, right? To to end up taking forty years and and so, look at the the fact that we have the these wanderers.

14:58 What are the their problem is is there's a five fold problem. First, they were wandering. They were they were out of the way, right? They were they were lost. They're wandering in the wilderness.

15:12 In a solitary way, a solitary, you know, what was that? Alone, lonely. They were lonely. They found no city to dwell in. They were unsettled.

15:27 And then it says that they were hungry. The next, the fourth problem. They were thirsty. The fifth problem, their soul fainted in them. As a result of these these things, the result the result of their being lost, being lonely, being unsettled, hungry, being thirsty, their soul fainted.

15:47 Their soul fainted. And so here, we've got them. Their soul's fainting. You see, I said this is gonna get extreme. They they're at their end.

15:59 They're kinda... They're at their end. Right? We we have, we have a problem, and now their soul is fainting. They're they're they're coming to the end of the rope, and that's where verse six comes in.

16:10 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distresses. Verse seven shows the solution that God had for them. It says that he led them forth by the right way. Before they did not have... They they were in the wrong way, now he's leading them in the right way that they might go to a city of habitation.

16:37 You see the things that they were they were wondering, they were lost. He he took care of that, he's leading them. They were lonely, he took care of that, he's with them. They were unsettled. He took care of that.

16:52 He gave them a city to to dwell in. They were hungry. We know, verse nine tells us that he satisfied the longing soul. He filled the hungry soul with goodness. So he meets that need too.

17:13 The hunger and the thirst, he met that. You know, I look at that that little phrase, he led back in, back in verse seven. He led. God led. Do you do you ever...

17:34 You you have that need. I mean, know I come up with it a lot. I'm wondering, alright, what's God... What would God have me to do next? You know, and sometimes it's hard to figure it out.

17:45 It's like there's, you know, there's multiple options and they all seem like good options. Sometimes there's black and white options and you... And even even though it's black and white, you still want to kind of go the... Your own direction. And so he led, God led.

18:01 Sometimes we have to come to our our... The end of our rope, so to speak, before we're even willing to be led. And maybe that's what this problem... Here... I mean, if we were...

18:14 We apply this to the Christian life, can a Christian wander? Can a can a Christian be out there just kind of like in a fog or in a funk? Can a Christian be in the dark? And so, hey, have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt unsettled?

18:36 Have you ever had this this desire, this hunger, and it seems like nothing's nothing's meeting it? Have you ever been in the wilderness? A spiritual wilderness? This is this is what he's describing. And so let's let's forget about the children of Israel just for a moment and let's think about us.

18:58 Okay? Let's think about us. Even as a Christian, I can be in darkness. And and even as a Christian, I can experience these five fold problems. But listen, if I will reconnect with God and let him lead me, He led.

19:22 He led. Wherever that dark... Whenever you realize, I'm in a place of darkness. I'm in a spirit... I'm in a spiritual dearth.

19:29 Turn back to God. He led and he met all those issues. He met all those problems in a God way because he's good. Even if you're homeless, Dave gave us that example of somebody being homeless. Even if you're homeless, he's going to meet you.

19:51 Even if you're spiritually homeless, right, he's going to meet you where you are and he's going to

19:56 lead you back in the right way.

20:00 Then he's going to satisfy your soul. And you know what he's going to bring you to the point of? He's going to bring you to the point that oh, would men and women praise me. Oh, would they give thanks. Oh, would they give thanks for the wonderful works that I have for them.

20:18 And so that's the first scenario that we have, wanderers. Ones that are ones that are that are wanderers. Can anybody quote Proverbs three, five, and six? It's an easy verse. Go ahead.

20:38 Heard the first word.

20:39 Trust. Trust in the

20:40 Lord. Yeah. There you go. That kind of matches this little scenario, doesn't it? That's a good proactive, it's a good proactive means for not finding yourself wandering, for not finding yourself alone, for keeping yourself from being unsettled or hungry or thirsty.

21:23 Such sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in the affliction and iron. Do you get the sense of a prison cell there? Sitting in a dark cold prison cell, darkness, the shadow of death, the beat... That being bound in affliction and iron. Let's read the whole scenario.

21:45 Here they are sitting in sitting in this in this prison cell perhaps. Because they rebelled against the words of God, you're given the reason there. They rebelled against the word of God and they, they con... Contended the the counsel of the most high. Therefore, he brought down their heart with labor.

22:06 They fell down and there was none to help. Remember the extremity I'm talking about? Here they're brought down in heart. And this was dealing with the heart. Their their heart is fainting.

22:17 Before their soul was affected. Now that's their heart. Their heart is brought down with labor and they fell down and there's none to help. Verse 13, then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of the darkness and the shadow of the death.

22:36 He break their bands in sunder, break their bun... Their bands apart. Oh, that men would praise God for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he hath broken the gates of brass, he hath cut the bars of iron and sunder. And that one ends right there.

22:58 So we have this, again, actually you have five... A fivefold issue, a fivefold problem. Look at it, back in the scripture. We saw, they're in darkness, right? Such sit in darkness.

23:14 Death, the shadow of death, death is imminent. And then we see the the bars, the chains so to speak have dominion over them. They are they are bound. They're, they're captive. The fourth problem we see is that that they're depressed.

23:36 They're down in heart. Right? They're they're down in heart, brought down with the heart with labor. And then the fifth problem, deserted. Desert, there is none to help.

23:50 Look around, there's none to help. This is the problem. This this this particular scenario is like that of of being being captive, being a prisoner. You know, the Psalm opened in verse two and it said, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Right?

24:13 And we have... We actually have, the children of Israel give us another example of that, don't they? That when they were... They spent the time, you know, when the when the nation was birthed, they had... We have the days of Abraham, but then you have the time where they they go to they go to Egypt and they end up finding themselves slaves in Egypt bound, captive, right?

24:35 And so, they need deliverance. We have... Even even within that, Israelite story, we have, Joseph who was in... He found himself in prison. Right?

24:49 In in the New Testament, we found... Remember when Peter was in prison and and they had the all night prayer meeting? They had that prayer meeting going on and and that's where, he comes to the door and is knocking at the door and they say, it can't be Peter at the door. He's in prison, you know? So he was he was bound in in prison.

25:09 And in in prison, you you face all those things that I just mentioned, being in in in darkness, perhaps left there a long time looking at death. Maybe you're on the death row. Maybe it's it's, the sentence is death. You've got the, the the fact that as much as you struggle and strain, as much as in your power, you can't break those iron bands and chains around you. As much as you shake those...

25:39 That that door, that sail, you can't break it. It's got dominion over you. And then depression sits in. It's a depressing place, right? You give up, lose heart.

25:56 And then we we find ourselves again, there's none to help deserted alone. And we can apply this again spiritually, can't we? We can apply this spiritually that that we find ourselves experiencing some of these same things even in the Christian walk. And so they... But notice, go back, to verse 11.

26:21 Go back to verse 11 and you see like, man that sounds that's the that's the pits, no pun intended, You know, like being in a pit, being in a cell, but why did I find myself here? How did I get here? You know, how... And we we look at verse 11 and it says, because they rebelled against the words of God. And and they they contended the counsel of the most high.

26:52 The... That that particular... You look at that and you say, wow, okay, there's something that happened there. It wasn't like I just got off the path and got lost. They're rebelling.

27:07 Right? And if you if you are if you are actively rebelling, here's your path. This is where it goes, right? And and so we sometimes we say like, how did I get there? And we we realize, wow, okay, God said...

27:27 God gave me this instruction. I did this. Think about Jonah. Right? I mean, that's the that's the classic example of God saying one way he goes the other.

27:37 And so where did Jonah end up? In the belly of the well. Right? He ended up in darkness. He ended up with something having dominion over him.

27:47 Right? The fish had dominion over him. He was alone. In the belly of that well was there anybody to help him. Right?

27:55 He had rebelled against God. The word... That word... I'm actually probably pronouncing this wrong. I want to say content.

28:03 It's it's con... Contended the counsel. Does... Is there another word somebody else have in a different translation? It's despised is what it means.

28:15 Despise. Okay. Yeah. So it's not contended would be, I'm thinking like of a fight or a struggle, but this is they they despise the council and notice this, don't don't don't don't miss the name that is being assigned to God here. Okay?

28:34 And we could say God and that should be enough, but what does it say? The most high. You're rebelling against the most high? Why would you do that? It's like a losing battle, right?

28:50 Bob Butchers is probably the biggest man in here, right? Go ahead and stand up. Yeah, I mean, so let's see. We've got, is that Isaac? That's your brother's name.

29:08 Levi. Levi. You know, Levi would you take this guy on? No. I mean, so listen.

29:16 Alright, sit down, Bob. Thanks. But listen, we take on God. He's the most high. Don't you wish you could have a God visual, right?

29:29 And you would... God would say, do this in remembrance of me. And you'd say, no problem. Do not lie. Do not steal.

29:42 And you would say, God if that's what you want, I I I could do that. I'll do that. But we we find ourselves despising the commandments of God. We find ourselves rebelling against what God's instruction is. God is good.

30:03 Why would we rebel against that? We we get a sense of it in our parent child relationships, right? We get a sense of this a little bit. The parent knows what is going to be... What the outcome of a particular situation is going to be.

30:18 They love their child and they say, Sonny, don't do that. And the son says, I want to do it. God is good. The parent wants the best for the child. But yet we still find ourselves, if you rebel, if you despise the word of God, you're going to end up in darkness.

30:42 The natural the natural result to some of these things is going to be darkness, death, being in dominion, something else, being depressed, being alone, deserted. You know, see the verse there in verse 13, then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. Let's talk about crying for a minute. The word cry. We've read two we've read two scenarios so far.

31:27 Then they cried out to God in their trouble. What's something that makes you cry? Pain. Pain. Okay.

31:40 What else? What's something that makes you cry? Grief. Grief. Yeah.

31:46 Desperation. Desperation. Okay. Anything else? What makes you cry?

31:52 Conflict. Conflict. It connects with pain. Fear. Fear.

32:01 That

32:05 that that's pain too, right? Hey, when's the last, when's the last time you cried? Just think about that. Just think that. What's the last thing that made you cry?

32:25 The thing is you know like, don't think... Is anybody a professional actor in here? I mean maybe professional actors can can muster up some kind of fake cry, right? Maybe a professional actor or like it seems you'd see on TV, they're dropping they're dropping drops in their eyes to muster up a tear. Right?

32:46 But you know the thing about crying is for you and I that are in this room, for all of us, we're we're we're normal human beings in this room. Right? We are we're we're the average American people. Right? We believe in freedom.

33:03 We believe in God. We believe in country. But when you and I cry, it's for a real reason. Right? I mean, when I when I experience pain or hurt, my tears are real.

33:21 Yours are too. And I wonder if that's the reason God puts them in a bottle. You know, Psalms tells us that. Right? That he puts the tears of his saints in a bottle.

33:33 Here they... These these people are saying, they cried out to the Lord. And you know what that it... What that means? What this means is the people are ready to get serious with God.

33:50 And that's a huge problem among us. Okay? A huge problem among us as the people I just described, the happy go lucky American. You all got food this morning. You all had a warm place to sleep this morning.

34:09 You think, I would never rebel against God. I would never take on a giant. But we do it. I would never walk in spiritual darkness. If we're serious, if we get serious about God's word, you'll find yourself crying out to him.

34:32 God, help me forsake the way that I'm in. God, help me break these bands that have me. Some of you are in bondage to sin. It didn't happen overnight. A little bit along the way, some of us are wandering.

34:59 Some of us, we would say, I got this chain on me and I can't break free. Be honest about sin. God is good. Sin is in direct opposition to God. So maybe that verse should say, oh that men would cry out to God.

35:30 Oh that men and women would get serious and cry out to God, deliver me from this. You know, the verses that we that we have, had those four verses read, Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. The same verse, another verse is repeated four times in the chapter. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. You know, the next the next scenario we see is is in verse 17.

36:46 This describes a person being sick, a person being sick unto death. And then he gives that solution, he sends his word and he heals them. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. And let sacrifice and the sacrifice of thanksgiving declare his works with rejoicing. And then you have another scenario.

37:49 They mount up to the heaven, they go down into the depths, Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunk man and they are at their wits end. So we see these... The similarities, right? There's a trouble mentioned.

38:11 There's a trouble mentioned. And then that trouble becomes extreme. So much so that you read words like this phrase, at their wits end, right? There was no one there to help. They were they were alone.

38:26 They fainted. They were nigh unto death. I mean, so you see this extremity that happens. We got the trouble. We got the extremity of the trouble.

38:34 Then we've got this this genuine turning to God and crying out for his help. And every time, every time they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distresses. They cried out to the Lord in the trouble. He heard them and he helped them. And so look at verse 29, He maketh the storm a calm so that the waves thereof are still.

39:04 Then they are glad because they are quiet. He bringeth them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for the... And for His wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.

39:36 You know, we said that before these were, when the chapter opened, the four directions were were mentioned. Right? From the from the East, from the West, from the North, from the South, he's called all these people to come come to him. And here we've given ourselves four different scenarios. The person that's wandering, the person that's that's bound in the chains of affliction, the person that's sick, ready to die, the person that's that's found themselves on a ship being tossed to and fro.

40:24 Four different problems. Right? And and in that, a description of life, problems come from us, come to us from every direction. They come from the North, they come from the South, they come from the West, they come from the East. Sometimes they come in all directions at once.

40:46 Spurgeon said said this, if if hunger brings us to our knees, it is more useful for us to be hungry than to be feasting. If thirst drives us to a fountain that is better than the deepest well of worldly joy, it's good for us to be thirsty. If fainting leads us to crying before God, it is better than the strength of the mighty. And so this morning, have this this theme, oh that men would praise God for his wonderful works toward you and I. We'll be able to praise if we'll recognize where we are, we'll recognize where we're heading, we'll turn and cry to God.

42:17 Father, we we, give thanks that you've designed this for the redeemed, the ones that are... That have been bought back from the slavery of sin. Father, perhaps there's some here this morning that have never been counted among the redeemed. When I asked that question earlier today and I said, hey, can you stand to your feet and tell me when you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior? Maybe you've never done that today.

42:50 Father, I pray that there would be ones that would want to take that step of faith. Father, for us that know Christ as our savior, we pray for a self examination right now. That we would pray that thou would would shine the spotlight of your word into our hearts, allow the holy spirit to convict us of things that should not be there, and father, bring us to a fresh reality of what it means to have sin in our life before thee. We pray that thou would allow us all to be a people that would right now this morning be turned toward you. Father, could we see your goodness?

43:28 Could we see how lovely you are? Could we see how almighty and how powerful and how compassionate you are? Father, could we realize and be reminded that even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ has given himself for us. And father, we know that that we read it in the first service this morning, be ye holy as I am holy.

43:53 Father, we we are so thankful that you desire a close relationship with us. We know we've got to live in this world. We know we've got to do business in this world. We know we've got to interact with the people of this world. But Father, help us to look on Christ.

44:09 Help us to see that we are not we're not settling down here. We're we're we're passing through. Father, help us to see that we have a God who is before us and we want to be led of him. Help us to know and understand that we have a heavenly city that we're approaching. Father, we know that there's some among us that have gone on and have preceded us in death.

44:31 We give thanks for the comfort that we can have knowing that our loved ones are with with thee. Father, we pray that it would be said of us that we too are on path to the heavenly city, that we too have been redeemed, that we too, would one day be able to stand face to face with Christ our savior. So we pray, father, us a good understanding of these things. Give us help in these things. And we pray this that we might help one another.

45:01 In Jesus Christ's name, amen.