Crying out to God
Today we made a early afternoon trip to Lakewood. We met up with Christian and Bridget and the grandkids at one of our favorite Chinese food restaurants. Tomorrow we will attend Dakota Ridge Assembly and be present for the vow renewal of George and Annette Brauchler. I married George and Annette 15 years ago. Our thanks to Pastor Paul Church for his thoughtful consideration in arranging a hotel room for us and facilitating our visit to the church we pastored for almost 15 years.
Taking an overnight trip reminds Debbie and me of the times we had little children. Instead of diaper bags and playpens it is my medications, including my IV poll, antibiotics, saline, alcohol swabs, along with walker and sometimes extra wheelchair, along with all the other regular stuff. But it is worth it because these opportunities right now don’t come along that often. Debbie is a real trooper in all this because she if responsible forgetting everything in the van including me!
This morning I was reading in Psalms 107 and there is a reoccurring verse that caught attention.
Before I point out that verse this Psalm begins with the exhortation, “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his mercy endures forever. Let the people the Lord defended repeat these words…” (Psalms107:1,2)
Once again we find this declaration about the goodness of the Lord and His enduring mercy. The repetitious verse that provides the lead in to the main sections of this Psalm is designed to underscore the Lord’s goodness and His consistent mercy.
Psalms 107:6 “In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He rescued them from their troubles.”
Psalms 107:13 “In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He saved them from their troubles.”
Psalms 107:19  “In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He saved them from their troubles.”
Psalms 107:28 “In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He led them from their troubles.”
The consistent connection we find is God’s people in distress, and God rescuing, saving and leading them in response to their cry out to Him. The distress God’s people found themselves in was mostly if not exclusively of their own doing. Yet God was faithful and showed His mercy endures forever. Not for a month or a season, or a year or a decade or a millennium but forever!
This Psalm tells how God responded to the distress of His people, sometimes it was in deliverance at other times it was in discipline. Yet regardless of how God worked at a moment in time we find another consistent theme that directs the response of our heart and lives.
Psalms 107:8 “Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.”
Psalms 107:14 “Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.”
Psalms 107:20,21 “Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants. Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice. Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.”
Psalms 107:31,32 “Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants. Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship.Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.”
 The response of our hearts and our lives is to give thanks and to worship the Lord. To rejoice in His deliverance, to trust Him and honor Him even in the midst of the challenges of life. To be in awe of His mercy. No wonder this Psalm begins with the exhortation, “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his mercy endures forever. Let the people the Lord defended repeat these words…”
And the Psalm ends with these verses…”But now he lifts needy people high above suffering and makes their families like flocks… Let those who think they are wise pay attention to these things so that they may understand the Lord’s blessings.” Psalms 107:41,43
I would encourage you to carefully, thoughtfully read the “in between verses” of Psalms 107 to get the entire context.
As I reflect on the fact that three weeks ago I was once again in ICU following a life threatening crisis, when I read these final verses of Psalms 107, I want to rejoice in a God who is able lift people high above suffering, to bless their families and to allow them to understand the Lord’s blessings. With the Psalmist of old I want to declare, “He is good! His mercy endures forever!”