TEXT: Joel 1:13-20; Matthew 4:5-7

Last week we began our Lenten series from the Old Testament book of Joel and we talked about some of the damage COVID caused to health, the economy, community, and even worship. I talked about direct impact, such as loss of life or compromised health. And I also talked briefly about the things we lost or had to give up for a while.

Today we will look at a second calamity that fell on God’s people in the time of Joel and what God instructed His people to do through the words of the prophet Joel. It is a continuation and building on last week’s themes. We are to lament and grieve, but also REPENT and turn freshly to the Lord. And Joel will start to introduce the theme of the Day of the Lord, when God will make all things right.

Drought, Lament, and Repentance (Joel 1)

It was not enough to experience the locust plague and the damage to crops, trees, and vegetation; the people also experienced a drought and some resultant fires on the heels of the locust plague. This would have meant no re-planting, no recovery, and a prolonged period of famine, suffering, and starvation. The latter part of our reading (vv.16-20) from Joel describes the effects of the drought:

16 Has not food been cut off before our eyes,Gladness and joy from the house of our God?17 The seeds shrivel under their clods;The storehouses are desolate,The barns are torn down,For the grain is dried up.18 How the beasts groan!The herds of cattle wander aimlesslyBecause there is no pasture for them;Even the flocks of sheep suffer.19 To You, O Lord, I cry;For fire has devoured the pastures of the wildernessAnd the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.20 Even the beasts of the field pant for You;For the water brooks are dried upAnd fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Again, God’s prescription through Joel was the same: grieve and lament what is lost!

13 Gird yourselves with sackclothAnd lament, O priests;Wail, O ministers of the altar!Come, spend the night in sackclothO ministers of my God,For the grain offering and the drink offeringAre withheld from the house of your God.

And to underscore the difference between grief and lament, this is public, in community, and before the Lord.

14 Consecrate a fast,Proclaim a solemn assembly;Gather the eldersAnd all the inhabitants of the landTo the house of the Lord your God,And cry out to the Lord.

Call for fasting and prayer; call together the priests, elders, and congregation in assembly. Cry out together to the Lord.

That’s all the call to LAMENT. The first call to REPENT is tucked in there in verse 15:

15 Alas for the day!For the day of the Lord is near,And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

The day is coming when the Lord will judge the earth. This “Day of the Lord” is first presented here as judgment and destruction. But as it is developed in the next chapter (and in the next few weeks), it includes the call to REPENT – to turn back to the Lord in obedience and faith. Then God’s judgment will not mean destruction, but justice, salvation, restoration, and hope. God will set things right in the end.

What will we do in the meantime? How will we relate to God? To whom will we listen and turn?

Tempted to Test God (Matthew 4)

The Devil came to Jesus a second time after he had been in the wilderness fasting and praying for forty days. And the Devil told Jesus to throw himself from the top of the Temple to prove he was the Son of God, quoting scripture that Angels would keep him from harm. Jesus responded by (again) quoting Deuteronomy, saying: “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Mt. 4:7; Dt. 6:16) The rest of the verse from Deuteronomy 6 explains the context. We are not to ‘test’ God as the Israelites tested God at Massah, where they basically demanded water from Moses as proof that God was real. This was just like what the Devil was doing: demanding God prove Himself instead of trusting

TEXT: Joel 1:1-12; Matthew 4:1-4

Listen up! Has such a thing happened in your days or in the days of your parents? Will you one day tell your children and their children about it?

That could be talking about the past several years of our lives, but it was actually God’s Word to His people through the prophet Joel. The people had just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime plague of locusts, and that was just the beginning of their problems that ranged from natural disaster to human conflicts.

During this period of Lent, when we think about suffering and repentance, we are going to spend several weeks with the prophet Joel as well as with Jesus in the wilderness. I am encouraged that we seem to be coming out of the two years of COVID and all it entailed. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to reflect on what we might learn, particularly when it comes to our faith and relationship with God. I think Joel will point us in the right direction.

I’ve called this series “Hope through Repentance” and I believe that’s just what we can find in these words from the Lord.

Bugs!

The scenario in Joel’s time was that there had been a plague… of locusts. A relative of grasshoppers and cicadas, locusts will swarm and destroy almost any vegetation in their path, including crops. And apparently this was the locust plague to end all locust plagues. In verse 4 Joel recounts the extent of the damage caused by the different types of locust:

“What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.”

He goes on to tell those who love wine to wake up, for the grapes that become their wine have also been destroyed. He likes the locusts to an invading army (a little prophetic foreshadowing!) and uses vivid imagery: “teeth like lions… and the fangs of a lioness.” (v.6) He offers specific and vivid description of the damage in verse 7:

“It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.”

And then verse 7 instructs those who have lost so much in the plague to lament or grieve, again using a vivid image of a young woman whose betrothed died before the wedding. The next several verses detail some of that grief: even the offerings in God’s house are affected because the source of grain and wine offerings has been destroyed. Fields are destroyed; wheat and barley have perished; the vine dries up; the fig tree languishes; pomegranate, palm, and apple trees are all dried up. And finally, “gladness dries up from the children of man.” (vv.9-12)

This theme of grieving what is lost becomes a recurring theme in Joel’s message and it’s one we will return to again.

A Modern Bug: COVID

I want to follow a similar track with the modern plague that we have all dealt with in the past two years: COVID-19. Joel seems to indicate value in naming the damage and effects of the plague. Perhaps it is because it then allows us to grieve or lament more effectively.

The damage might seem obvious. The direct effect is that many people have become sick and died. Others have persistent and lasting effects. These include people I know. But like the locust, COVID had other resultant effects. Work was disrupted by illness as well as by protective protocols. School was disrupted, affecting children in ways we are still realizing. It was staggering to hear descriptions of second graders who still didn’t know how to get in line or read or do basic things because the second half of kindergarten and all of first grade was done by remote learning. Other children missed out on sports or arts or job interviews or graduation and teachers were asked to carry an incredible load. Medical care was affected in multiple ways because responding to COVID took precedence over many other medical situations. And I experienced first hand the grief of families not

TEXT: Psalm 145 (selected verses)

This is our second week with Psalm 145 and the last one in the “My Story, My Song” series. Last week we looked at the meaning of praise, described and demonstrated in Psalm 145 as remembering who God is and what God has done. That act of remembering through praise is not only an expression of faithful worship to God, but also a spiritual resource for us as we face challenges and obstacles in the presence and the unknowns of the future.

Since I went through the Psalm in some detail last week I want to do something different this week. I want to share some of my story with you as the kind of remembering through praise that the Psalm teaches. I’ve picked a few significant times from my faith journey… and I agree with John Wright; it has been a journey! I want to share seven significant points in my journey, hoping that you will find one or more to connect with.

Age 5: Praying the Prayer

For many people the beginnings of the Christian faith begin with praying the prayer. Some call it the “sinner’s prayer”; others simply recognize it as a discrete moment when we invite Jesus into our heart and lives. I believe God was at work long before I did that, not only in my parents’ speaking into my life, but as Ephesians says, “before the foundation of the world.” (Eph 1:4) Nonetheless, from my point of view I prayed the prayer when I was five years old in response hearing about my sin, God’s love, and the invitation to trust in Jesus Christ. It was at a neighborhood kids’ Bible club kind of thing led by a man we called “Mr. Bill” – or at least that’s what I remember. I’ve shared before that I prayed the prayer a couple of times over successive Bible clubs until my mom assured me that it worked the first time. Even before that I was praying with my parents, have memories of church (even the nursery), and was learning Bible stories. So I really don’t remember a time I didn’t know about or trust in God. But praying that prayer remains as a distinct memory in my mind and heart.

Age 12: Why Do Bad Things Happen?

At age 12 I had the first major challenge and shake-up to that simple, childhood faith. I’ve shared about this several times before because it is one of the most significant parts of my faith journey. I won’t go into great detail today, but the three-year-old sister of one of my closest friends had a medical emergency and almost lost her life. And the end result of that was damage to her brain that locked her in at an infant-stage of mental development for the rest of her life. There are many significant parts to that story, but one of those for me was coming face to face with the hard question, “Why do bad things happen to innocent people?” Many people ask this question in college as they study philosophy and religion. Many others face this question as adults when someone they love gets cancer or is in an accident or dies prematurely. For me it was at 12 and it forced my faith to “grow up.” Actually I think the two alternatives for most people are to bail out or to grow up. And I don’t blame many for bailing out. There is not one simple answer to that question, and I don’t think any of the theological or philosophical answers are satisfying when we are reeling from loss and confusion. I think the more helpful path, and the one I am thankful to have experienced, is trusting God even when we don’t understand, and being around others who trust God even when they don’t understand. I think of the story in John 9, when Jesus and the disciples passed a man blind since birth. They wanted to know why. Why did this happen? Did he do something wrong? Did his parents do something wrong? And Jesus said, “Neither… it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (v.3) Lisa alluded to this passage in her story a few weeks ago. I don’t believe God causes things like this, but I have witnessed how God does work even in situations that we think are hopeless. He did in the lives of my friend’

TEXT: Psalm 145

Over the past six weeks we have been hearing stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness in the lives of real people. You’ve heard testimonies from members of the church family and you’ve heard the range of stories in Psalm 107 and in the ministry of Jesus. Today we are continuing the theme but turning a few pages to Psalm 145.

In most cases we’ve heard stories of the past, whether in scripture or in the stories our friends have shared. But today I’d like to ask you to think about a piece of your own present story: something difficult you are facing now. Alternately, think about something you worry about in the future. Think for a moment…

I won’t ask you to share that, but I’d encourage you to write it down in short form in your own Bible, on your bulletin, or take a short note on your phone. Keep that thing in your mind and we’ll come back to it at the end.

+ + +

Scripture teaches us to remember who God is and what God has done. One of the reasons we have focused on our stories and songs is that remembering what God has done in our lives can be a real source of encouragement to others (and to ourselves!). Memories can inform our present and inspire our future.

Today’s scripture text is Psalm 145, which reminds us that one form of spiritual remembering is praise. Praise celebrates who God is and what God has done, and strengthens our faith and hope that God can and will do it again.

Remember God to Praise

Psalm 145 is one long rush of praise. It is a series of reflections or challenges on the importance of praise, punctuated by actual moments of praise. We sometimes see that in songs. The verses may be a call to praise, “Let’s all praise the Lord” and the chorus might be the actual praise, “Praise the Lord!” That’s kind of how this goes, with more meat and detail and poetry to it. Let’s look briefly…

Opening Pledge: I will praise (vv.1-3)

Psalm 145 opens with several ‘I’ statements that basically say in several different ways: I WILL praise the Lord. There are elaborations in terms of how to refer to God, frequency of the praise, and so forth, but that’s the basic gist. Then then in verse 3 there is direct praise around God’s greatness: “Great is the Lord!”

Praise is Public (vv.4-9)

In verses 4-7, we move back to calling for praise, with two noticeable developments. The call for praise is now issued to the people of God (not just the Psalmist), and the form of praise takes on a much more public nature. Praise is now described by words like DECLARE, SPEAK, TELL, UTTER, and SHOUT. We also see a broader description of what praise includes: it is both the character and the works of God. It is both who God is as well as what God has done. This section also moves into direct praise in verses 8-9, now around God’s love, mercy, grace, and kindness: “The Lord is gracious and merciful; HESED!”

God’s character & works are demonstrably praiseworthy. (vv. 10-12)

Finally, in a third section (vv. 10-12), we are back to talking ABOUT praise, now with God’s works as well as God’s people doing the public praise of God’s character and deeds. The focus seems to move toward God’s power and glory. Then in a much longer section of direct praise, the Psalmist spends eight verses praising God. I’d like to remind you of the first two examples of direct praise, then list these eight, for a total of 10 Praises to Remember.

10 Praises to Remember

God is Unimaginably Great (v. 3)God is Faithful and Good (vv. 8-9)God Reigns (v.13)God Helps (v. 14)God Provides (v. 15)God Satisfies (v. 16)God is Right and Kind (v. 17)God is Available (v. 18)God Hears and Saves (v. 19)God Judges Rightly (v. 20)

In verse 21 the Psalm ends back with ‘me’ and ‘us’: “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord” and “all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.”

In order to recognize and engage in those praises, we must REMEMBER what God is like and what God has done. And that remembering is precisely what

TEXT: Psalm 107:39-43; Luke 15:1-7

God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in the lives of people like you and me. That’s the constant refrain of Psalm 107 and the basis of our current series, “My Story, My Song.” Psalm 107 begins with the three verse refrain that declares that God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in human lives. And then there are some six stanzas, each with anywhere from 4-9 verses each that explore different examples of how God is involved.

So far we’ve looked at the opening refrain and the first four stanzas:

vv. 1-3       REFRAIN – God is good, faithful, involvedvv. 4-9       God provides for the thirsty and needy soulvv. 10-16   God offers freedom for the captivevv. 17-22   God welcomes the foolish homevv. 23-32   God is present and guides in the storms of lifevv. 33-38   God is stronger than the powers of this world

Today (vv.39-43) we are concluding Psalm 107 with a reminder that God is persistently merciful and faithful, caring for His own like a shepherd cares for His flock.

Persistently Faithful, Persistently Involved (Psalm 107)

Today’s verses actually conclude the ones from last week where God’s power was on display through dramatic reversals of powers and situations. That reversal language continues into today’s verses with God taking those who are “diminished and bowed down through oppression, misery and sorrow” – presumably at the hand of powerful princes of this world, God “pours contempt upon princes and makes them wander in a pathless waste.” The needy, on the other hand, who WERE those wandering lost, the Lord sets “Securely on high away from affliction…” (vv.39-40)

The upright, that is those who trust and obey the Lord, see God’s work in the world and are glad – they praise the Lord. However in the end the unrighteous – those who reject and turn away consistently from the Lord – will be silenced. Unrighteousness itself will having nothing to say any more before the redemptive and transforming power of the good and faithful God.

And so these verses and the whole Psalm end with this question: Who is wise?

It is the one who listens to these things – all the stories and songs of the goodness of the Lord – and who considers the lovingkindness (HESED) of the Lord. We are brought full circle to the opening chorus, the opening declaration: God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in human lives.

Each week we’ve considered story after story from Psalm 107 about this declaration. We’ve heard examples in different settings and circumstances about how God still moves and acts. Each week we’ve also heard testimonies from fellow church members, about God’s presence and goodness in their lives.

Who is wise? It is those who hear the truth of these descriptions of God and these stories of friends and listens and believes.

There is one more line in today’s verses that I stepped over because I want to use it to connect to our New Testament reading. In verse 41b, after the great reversal of princes and the needy, the Psalmist says that the Lord “makes His families like a flock.”

If these stories of God’s involvement in the lives of human beings didn’t connect, consider this final metaphor. It’s the one our church is named after. The Lord is a Good Shepherd, caring for His own like a flock. Think through all the examples of Psalm 107. The Good Shepherd tends the thirsty and needy (vv.4-9); the Good Shepherd frees those captive and bound up (vv.10-16); the Good Shepherd welcomes the lost and foolish home (vv.17-22); the Good Shepherd is present as guide, even in stormy weather (vv.23-32); and the Good Shepherd’s intent is the blessing and good care of the flock (vv.33-38).

The Good Shepherd is the perfect picture to capture the truth-claims of the refrain: God is good, God is faithful, God is involved. So the Lord is a Shepherd – good, faithful, and involved in guiding and protecting the flock.

The Lost Sheep (Luke 15)

Jesus told a

TEXT: Psalm 107:33-38; Luke 1:46-55; Luke 4:18-19; Revelation 21:1-6

God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in the lives of people like you and me. That’s the constant refrain of Psalm 107 and the basis of our current series, “My Story, My Song.” Psalm 107 begins with the three verse refrain that declares that God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in human lives. And then there are some six stanzas, each with anywhere from 4-9 verses each that explore different examples of how God is involved.

So far we’ve looked at the opening refrain and the first four stanzas:

vv. 1-3        REFRAIN – God is good, faithful, involvedvv. 4-9        God provides for the thirsty and needy soulvv.10-16     God offers freedom for the captivevv.17-22     God welcomes the foolish homevv.23-32     God is present and guides in the storms of life

Today (vv.33-38) we are looking at how God can turn the powers and so-called blessings of this world upside down, offering true blessing to those who trust Him.

Curses into Blessings (Psalm 107:33-38)

This fifth stanza grabs your attention right off the bat! God “changes rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into a thirsty ground; A fruitful land into a salt waste…” (vv.33-34a)  What?! Why is that? It’s because of wickedness. Remember this Psalm is written to and about the people of Israel who experienced the loss of everything to the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires because of their persistent disobedience and disregard of the Lord. This is what it felt like to them – rivers and springs of blessing all gone, back to the wilderness and desert of their past.

But read on! The Lord also “changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water.” And there’s far more: “There He makes the hungry to dwell, so that they may establish an inhabited city, and sow fields and plant vineyards, and gather a fruitful harvest.” (vv. 35-37) And read closely: this is not (yet) a return to the Promised Land and Jerusalem, but this is blessing IN Exile. This is just what Jeremiah the prophet wrote to the Exiles, to trust in the Lord IN EXILE, to seek the welfare and blessing of their captors, and so experience the blessing of God where they were. God would take care of their future (“I know the plans I have for you”), but they were to become faithful in the present.

As our opening song (and scripture says), “The Lord gives and takes away” but God is with us and can bless us in plenty and in want. It is not the powers of this world who determine whether we are “blessed.” It is not how much we have or where we live or who we know that makes us ultimately “blessed”; it is seeking, trusting, and serving the Lord.

The double good news of that is that 1) God has more power than the things of this world; and 2) God can bless us in the midst of any circumstance. Our part is to serve the Lord and serve others, to love the Lord and love others. That is how we cultivate God’s true blessing in our lives.

Mary, Jesus, and the End of the Story (Gospels, Revelation)

Think this is an obscure, Old Testament, fringe idea? Consider similar language and teaching in the New Testament…

In her prayer, pregnant with Jesus, Mary lifts up a prayer to the Lord. We often focus on her humility and acceptance of what is happening, but listen to similar themes to our verses from Psalm 107, to God turning upside down the powers of this world and blessing those (including Mary) who serve Him.

Luke 1:46-55 – 46 And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. 49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. 50 “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. 51 “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the tho

TEXT: Psalm 107:23-32; Matthew 14:22-33

God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in the lives of people like you and me. That’s the constant refrain of Psalm 107 and the basis of our current series, “My Story, My Song.” Psalm 107 begins with the three verse refrain that declares that God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in human lives. And then there are some six stanzas, each with anywhere from 4-9 verses each that explore different examples of how God is involved.

So far we’ve looked at the opening refrain and the first three stanzas:

vv. 1-3        REFRAIN – God is good, faithful, involvedvv. 4-9        God provides for the thirsty and needy soulvv.10-16    God offers freedom for the captivevv.17-22    God welcomes the foolish home

Today (vv.23-32) we are looking at how God is present and guides us in the storms of life. We’ll look at a story of Jesus doing that with the disciples and consider how God meets us in our own storms.

Those Who Went to Sea (Psalm 107:23-32)

The fourth stanza describes God’s involvement with “those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters.” If these are Exiles they are sailing in the service of one of their captors. But it would have been likely for any of the great empires who conquered Israel to do business on the sea and conscript captured Israelites to serve on the ships. The Psalm describes a great storm that threatened death and shipwreck. Whether a specific instance or realistic imagery describing their greater captivity and servitude, we see the danger to them as well as some vivid imagery to describe their perilous situation. Their “soul melted away in their misery” (v.26), they “reeled and staggered like a drunken man” (v.27a), and they “were at their wits’ end.” (v.27b)

While few or none of us spend a lot of time at sea, I appreciate that this particular stanza makes references to those who do business, reminding us that God is present and involved in every context, not just in church or at the sickbed, but also where we work and spend our days. And even though few or none of us work on the water, this imagery is not unfamiliar to us. We often talk about the “storms of life” and experience the misery, disorientation, and confusion described in verses 26-27.

Like the other stanzas, after describing another situation of need and distress, those being described eventually turn to the Lord and cry out for help. And again, God delivers them “out of their distresses.” (v.28) And we get some detail of that deliverance. The Lord “caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed.” (v.29) And the people “were glad because they were quiet.” (v.30a) Futhermore, the Lord “guided them to their desired haven.” (v.30b)

God settled down the storm and provided guidance to safety. God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved with us.

Jesus Calms the Storm (Matthew 14)

That stanza reminded me of the several times the disciples were out in a boat and encountered stormy weather and Jesus came to them. I chose one of these stories from Matthew 14 as our scripture reading this morning. After the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus went to spend some time alone in prayer and sent the disciples on ahead of him by boat to cross part of the Sea of Galilee. It was a rough night of rowing on the water and they were battered by wind and waves. And Jesus came to them, walking on the water. After their fright at seeing him Peter asks to come out to him on the water. More specifically, Peter asks him to command Peter to walk to him to prove he’s really Jesus. Jesus does, and Peter begins to go to him, but begins to sink when he sees the wind and waves threatening around him. Peter cries out, “Lord, save me!” (v.32)  And Jesus grabs hold of him and helps him into the boat at which time the wind went still. And all those on the boat worshiped him saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!” (v.33)

There is also a story in Mark 4:

TEXT: Psalm 107:17-22; Romans 1:20-25; 5:8-10

God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in the lives of people like you and me. That’s the constant refrain of Psalm 107 and the basis of our current series, “My Story, My Song.” Psalm 107 begins with the three verse refrain that declares that God is good, God is faithful, and God is involved in human lives. And then there are some six stanzas, each with anywhere from 4-9 verses each that explore different examples of how God is involved.

So far we’ve looked at the opening refrain and the first two stanzas:

vv. 1-3        REFRAIN – God is good, faithful, involvedvv. 4-9        God provides water for the thirsty and needy soulvv.10-16    God offers freedom for the captive

Today (vv.17-22) we are looking at how God rescues the foolish, those who insistently turn away from God. God does not force salvation on the persistently foolish, but neither will God turn away from any who turn to Him. We’ll also look at a parallel passage in Romans and then consider our own story and song.

Fools… (Psalm 107:17-22)

There are many kinds of fools, but they all have making bad decisions in common. The book of Proverbs in the Bible spends quite a bit of space describing and defining spiritual foolishness, contrasting it with wisdom which seeks God’s direction and counsel and follows it.

In Psalm 107, fool is defined as someone who is rebellious and sinful (cf. iniquity) (v.17). And in the same sentence we read that those in view were also afflicted. They suffered the consequence of their foolishness, leading to pretty grim outcomes. Their “soul abhorred all kinds of food.” They hated the things that nurture and feed the soul: faith, trust in God, obedience, humility, and more. Perhaps this also was reflected and borne out physically in not eating or being able to keep food down. Ultimately, this path led near to the gates of death. (v.18)

Whether a reflection on God’s people turning away from Him and ending up in exile or a description of the situation IN exile, it is a pretty stark description of the ways that rejecting God manifests in our lives.

As with previous stanzas, the next few verses (vv.19-22) describe the eventual turning back to the Lord and the healing and restoration God provided. One standout detail is in verse 20: God “sent His word and healed them., and delivered them from their destructions.” It wasn’t a magic healing, but healing provided via God’s word. The fools who had rejected who God was and what God said were now healed by acknowledging God by calling out to Him and through receiving, listening to, and obeying God’s words. God’s words are words of life!

Wrath… and Love? (Romans 1, 5)

As I was looking for a passage to pair with this stanza I thought of Romans 1, which also describes spiritual foolishness that leads to grim consequences. But it’s not the end of the story. I also included Romans 5, which describes the good and faithful God who does not reject any who turn to Him.

Romans 1 describes the “without excuse” way that all people are exposed to God. Everyone may not have the specific words of scripture or the details about Jesus, but can see the world God has made and reckon with the existence of God in some way. Romans 1 notes that some “suppress” that general revelation of God and trade the idea of God with lesser things. God will not force Himself on anyone and if people insist on denying what is in plain view, then God will not over-ride their wills. Verse 25 says that some “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” The old Bob Dylan song sums it up: you gotta serve somebody. We may not conceive of it as formal worship, but we all serve something or someone.

Well that passage can really get you bent out of shape. Is God full of wrath? Doesn’t God care about people?

Recognize that Romans is basically a VERY long train of thought and this passage is just th

TEXT: Psalm 107:10-16; Luke 1:76-79; 4:17-21

“There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God…” (Psalm 107:10-11a)

I’ve talked to people who felt that desperate, who were that desperate. And also people who felt like they deserved it, like God wouldn’t want them, they’d said and done too much. Maybe you even know something about that yourself.

We are looking at Psalm 107 and its claim that God is good, God is faithfully merciful and compassionate, and God is still involved in the lives of people like you and me. Psalm 107 began with that refrain which is then followed by a series of stanzas, each having a different theme of how God is involved in our lives. Last week we saw that God offers water and help to the thirsty and needy soul. This week we see that God sees and offers freedom for those captive to sin and to a range of earthly circumstances. God does not turn away, but intentionally moves toward desperate people. And Jesus takes up that purpose whole-heartedly in his own ministry and mission. That’s good news!

Freedom for a New Generation (Psalm 107)

As we’ve seen in past weeks, Psalm 107 has in primary focus the experience of the people of Israel in the period of the Exile. They literally knew what it was to be prisoners in darkness and in chains. (v. 10) And their situation was directly a consequence of rebelling against the words of God. (v.11) They had disobeyed the scriptures and turned from the path laid out for them. And they were dealing with the difficult consequences. As with last week, there is a ‘then’ in verse 13, but generations had passed. Perhaps it was only after their hearts became humbled with labor and the lack of earthly help. (v.12)

Nonetheless, they eventually “cried out to the Lord” and God saved them. The second half of this stanza (vv.14-16) systematically undoes each of the points of desperation and trouble described in the first half. The Lord “brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart.” (v.14) Again in v. 16, “He has shattered gates of bronze and cut bars of iron asunder.” I am also reminded of the 23rd Psalm which says “Even though I walk through the shadow of death, you are with me.” (v.4) Even before we cry out, God is there!

Their captivity was both literal chains and emotional/spiritual darkness and shadow. And though their situation was a result of disobedience and unfaithfulness, God did not abandon them, but saw, listened, and delivered them.

This deliverance was not something new they had to discover. It was the central and foundational part of their identity. In other words, they knew better, but had gone their own way. The generations before them had also known captivity and slavery in Egypt and God had sent Moses to deliver them from those chains and shadows. This was the heart of the story of Israel, re-enacted and re-told every year at Passover. But perhaps they had stopped telling the story or listening to it in earnest. What I appreciate is that God isn’t an I-told-you-so God, but comes to us again and again with mercy, compassion, and deliverance. That’s HESED.

Freedom for All Generations (Luke 1, 4)

I chose two short readings from the Gospel of Luke to go with this portion of Psalm 107. The first reading is from Luke 1 and is Zacharias the priest prophesying over his newborn son. Zacharias was married to Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, and they had also experienced a miraculous birth. They were old and unable to have children and an angel-messenger had come to Zacharias to tell him of the birth of his own child. And indeed, he and Elizabeth did have a baby and they named him John. He would grow up to be John the Baptist and announce the coming of the Messiah in Jesus’ day. I chose this because in describing the work John would do, Zacharias quotes Psalm 107. John would grow up to be a prophet of the Most High to

TEXT: Psalm 107:4-9; John 4:7-14

Last week we began the series “My Story, My Song” using Psalm 107 to look at how God faithfully shows up in human lives and situations. We began with the opening verses about God’s goodness and faithfulness. Today we start into the first of a number of paragraphs that describe different situations into which God has shown up and been faithful. We’ll see that God’s was not just faithful and involved way back in Old Testament times; Jesus taught and demonstrated those same traits. That God is the same yesterday, today, and forever holds out hope that we, too, may know what it’s like to experience God showing up on OUR human lives and situations with that same goodness and faithfulness.

Hunger, Thirst, and Need (Psalm 107:4-9)

The first stanza of the Psalm is contained in verses 4-9. The theme is hunger, thirst, and need. The Psalm is likely recalling real events in the life and history of Israel just after they were first removed from the land as a result of the Exile. This was the consequence of generations of disobedience and turning away from God. And it was like a physical, emotional, and spiritual return to the desert. Remember, God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, through the desert, and to the Promised Land. Now, because of unfaithfulness all this was seemingly lost again.

You can hear some of their situation and desperation in a number of the verses of this stanza.

                    v.4               They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;                                         They did not find a way to an inhabited city.                    v.5               They were hungry and thirsty;                                        Their soul fainted within them.

It would take several generations to get back home again. Verse 6 begins with ‘then’ – but that ‘then’ was many generations. But eventually God’s people rediscovered their dependence on God, crying out from the desert and foreign lands for God to restore what was lost.

                    v.6               Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;                                        He delivered them out of their distresses.

Listen to how God delivered them.

                    v.7               He led them also by a straight way,                                        To go to an inhabited city.

Verse 7 answers the need in verse 4. They were wandering and lost in the desert. God led them and brought them out of the wilderness. And then down in verse 9:

                    v.9               For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,                                        And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

This answers the need in verse 5. The wanderers were hungry and thirsty, soul fainting within. And God has satisfied their hunger and thirst, filling their souls with what is good.

For all this, the people are urged to give thanks to God in verse 8, repeating the refrain of the opening verses from last week.

                    v.8               Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,                                        And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Again, it is God’s faithful love (hesed) at work in the lives of human beings. God is worthy of thanks and praise!

Jesus the Living Water (John 4:7-14)

It would be sufficient to only have these verses about God’s faithfulness in the Old Testament. It is just as much God’s Word for us as the New Testament. But it is striking to me to think of the times Jesus speaks and acts on this same theme. One such time is the encounter described in our first scripture reading from John 4. He is traveling outside Israel in Samaria (interesting parallel to God finding his people wandering away from their home!). Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman who has come to draw water in the heat of the day. I won’t go fully into the details of that story again, but will just note hi