Psalm 107:1-3

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.

This psalm celebrates the people’s return after the exile. This was a massive moment in national life, and the psalmist is clear that it was entirely because of God’s consistent faithfulness. In the psalm, he looks back through different chapters in the life of God’s people and records the fact that, despite repeated human failings, God has not given up on them. Time after time, they had rejected His guidance and gone their own way, but God had not abandoned them. The final verse of the psalm sums up the situation beautifully: “Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord” (Psalm 107:43).

Our own personal stories are not so very different from this. As we look back through our lives, there will have been times when we have been totally unaware of God’s presence, and others when we have deliberately gone our own way. There have been decisions that we have made that make us wince with embarrassment now. But, through it all, God has been faithful, and now we need to speak out. We need to learn the lessons of our own personal history and use them as a springboard for our worship.

The return from exile was not a neat historical event. It was supremely messy and stretched over a long period of time. When the people returned to their homeland, they were not welcomed with open arms, and it took a long time to reconstruct the city of Jerusalem and restore the worship of the temple. That’s our life too. There are no quick and easy solutions to the challenges of life but, through it all, God is faithful, and His love can be entirely relied upon. Through all the messiness of life, we need to make sure we keep our eyes fixed on God and keep singing our songs of worship.

Question

What is the main reason that you want to praise God today?

Prayer

Loving Father, thank You that You are always faithful and loving. Help me to keep praising You amid all the twists and turns of life’s journey. Amen