“Oh, thank GOD —he’s so good! His love never runs out. All of you set free by GOD, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression, then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas.

Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live, half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion. Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to GOD. He got you out in the nick of time; He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live. So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves. He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.” (Psalm 107:1-9 MSG)

In my last year of high school and my first 3 years of college, I spent much of my free time working on 30+ acres on top of a mountain in Tennessee. This beach loving Florida city boy that I was learned how to drive a tractor, set fence poles, and build a barn. I also learned how to muck stalls, stack hay and appreciate country music. 

In the mid to late ’90s, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and John Michael Montgomery were everywhere, and I drank every bit of that cup of sweet tea. One of my favorite Garth Brooks songs was “Unanswered Prayers.” It tells a story of looking back and realizing that the prayers of youth being unanswered truly were the best gifts possible. It’s been a decade or so since I discovered an appreciation for country twang and the story of “the Grundy county auction,” but over those years my unanswered prayers have truly proved to be a blessing beyond words. 

Have you ever looked back and just went, “thank you God!”? Have you ever paused and just been wow-ed by the ways God’s hand has guided, guarded, and been present in the midst of some seriously bad moments? If so, then Psalm 107, is a psalm right up your alley. 

Psalm 107 is another “Easter Psalm” that celebrates the work of God – the redemption of God’s people. It’s a reunion song – a song of the gathering of the family for a giant celebration. The psalm writer uses the word redemption that would have spoken to those original audiences in a profound way. Redemption was what happened when someone stepped in and rescued a person or bought a person out of slavery and bondage. Redemption was a way to say to someone “you now have a future – a free future.” 

This psalm is also a pretty poignant song for us living in 2020. Four areas of brokenness; of a people deep in the woods of chaos are highlighted. Physical distress, prison (literal and emotional), a rebellion that has led to terrible consequences, and the chaos and fear of the deep waters are places of distress as much today as they were 3000 years ago. A global pandemic has a lot of folks worried about many of the same things today. 

In all 4 examples, there is the same response to distress – “then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them.” Oh man, what an incredible promise lives in 14 little words. Whenever distress seems overwhelming; when life feels fragile; when isolation imprisons; when our own stupid decisions threaten to ruin everything; when chaos seems ready to engulf and swallow us whole – call upon the Lord for deliverance. 

And here’s the best part, we are told that this redemption, this freedom, comes at the hand of God’s hesed. More than one author, scholar or preacher has said that hesed may be the most important word and idea of the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s often translated at “loving-kindness” but that is almost too church-y anymore. Hesed is translated as faithful love, steadfast love, unending love,