Psalm 107: The God who saves
I pray you can say, ‘The Lord has saved me.’ When I first came to Wales, I walked through the doors of Lonlas Mission in Swansea. On the way in, the man on the door asked me, ‘Are you saved?’ We come to worship a God who saves. Are you saved?
In this psalm, which was written following the Babylonian captivity, we see four groups of people and how God deals with His people. The four groups all have a problem, cry a prayer, God graciously makes provision and this all concludes with praise. There is a problem, prayer, promise and praise.
We are introduced to the first group in verse 4. They have nowhere to live. They find themselves in the desert, in the wilderness. What word springs into your mind when you hear of a wilderness? Dry. It can be an environment where everything is dry. Very little flourishes. A place of dryness is where there is little growth. If you are saved, you have a testimony of God’s saving grace in your life. If you are saved, praise God. But where are you today?
It is possible to be saved yet become spiritually dry. You can be in a place where you are not thriving. When we become dry spiritually, praying becomes hard. It becomes difficult. Reading and studying God’s word becomes hard. Our appetite for the things of God is not what it ought to be. You can say, ‘God has saved me, blessed by His Name,’ but you can be spiritually dry.
The apostle Paul says in his letters, ‘In Christ.’ You have been saved, redeemed, restored by Him. What do we do when we feel spiritually dry? We cry to God. When we find praying hard, pray scripture. Take a psalm, a portion of scripture and say, ‘Lord, this is really my prayer, my longing. This is me.’
In verse 10 we meet the second group who are in the dungeon. They feel bound, as if the freedom that they once enjoyed has gone. God has a word for all our needs and the trials and tribulations we experience. We are all addicts – this is not just referring to drugs and alcohol. We were designed to worship. Before we were saved, we were pursuing something to fill that gap. It might not be drink or drugs, it could be pursuing wealth, power, property – things we embrace and can become addicted to. But when we are saved, God breaks the bondage of sin.
We can be spiritually dry. Other things can replace the pre-eminence of Christ. It could be a person, or something else. Anything that takes the place of Christ is idolatry. There are often times in life when we want to know God’s Will, but when He speaks powerfully in His Word and it doesn’t match our hopes, we spurn the counsel of God.
In verse 17 we meet the third group of people, who are sick, facing death. We can be a Christian but be spiritually sick. This can lead to all sorts of problems. In this psalm, the people cry to God in their trouble (v.19). He delivers them; He pours lily water, by His Spirit, by His Word. He breaks those chains. He delivered them from their distress (v.20). The Lord provides. He continues to provide, even in our foolishness. He does not want us to sin, but He makes provision when we sin. There is a problem, followed by prayer, God’s provision, and praise from His people.
The fourth group of people we meet in verses 23 to 27. Maybe you were at your wits end this morning and no one knows. God knows. This group of people were labouring in the deep, tossed by the angry seas. In life we’re in a storm, going into a storm or coming out of a storm. ‘With Christ in the vessel, I can smile in the storm.’ When the disciples were in a boat in a storm, Christ was asleep, His head on a pillow. His response to their cries was, ‘Do you still have no faith?’ He didn’t mean they had no faith; they were His disciples. He meant, ‘Why are you responding as if you have no faith?’
Is that you – beginning to doubt the truthfulness of God’s Word? Our answer can be found in the words of the hymn writer,
When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Fix your eyes on Jesus. He will never disappoint or turn His back on you. He will say, ‘Come closer.’ Sometimes, there is more theology in a ‘cwtch’ and tears then anything you can say. Jesus knows you. He is with you in the storm and says, ‘Come closer.’
The God who saves has provided for our sin through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He can save you. He is building His Church.
If you are dry, He can provide living water. If you are in bondage, He can break the chains. If you are spiritually sick, He will come and bring restoration. If you are in a storm, He is with you. Don’t respond as if you have no faith. Trust in God. The God who saves provides for our problems, hears our prayers, provides for us, and calls on us to acknowledge His goodness.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!”
Psalm 107:1
Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch 