Psalm 107:1-43 rB

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Psalm 107:1-43[1]

Give thanks to the Lord, for [He is] good, for His mercy [is] everlasting.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say [so], whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them from the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way.  They found no city to dwell in.  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble.  He delivered them from their distresses.  He led them forth by the right way, so that they might go to a city of dwelling.[2]

Oh that [men] would praise the Lord [for] His goodness, and His wonderful works to the children of men! for He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron: because they rebelled against the words of God, and scorned the advice of the most High.  Therefore He brought down their heart with labor.  They fell down, and [there was] no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble.  He saved them from their distresses.  He brought them from darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in pieces.[3]

Oh that [men] would praise the Lord [for] His goodness, His wonderful works to the children of men! for He has broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in pieces.

Fools because of their transgression, because of their iniquities, are afflicted.  Their soul abhors all manner of food.  They draw near the gates of death.

Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble.  He saves them from their distresses.  He sent His word, healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions.[4]

Oh that [men] would praise the Lord [for] His goodness, His wonderful works to the children of men!  Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters.  These see the works of the Lord, His wonders in the deep: for He commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.  They mount up to the heaven.  They go down again to the depths.  Their soul is melted because of trouble.  They reel to and fro, stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble.  He brings them out of their distresses.  He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves of it are still.  Then they are glad because [deep and storm] are quiet.  So He brings them to their desired haven.[5]

Oh that [men] would praise the Lord [for] His goodness, His wonderful works to the children of men!  Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.

He turns rivers to wilderness, the spring waters to dry ground, and a fruitful land to barrenness: for the wickedness of those who dwell in them.  He turns the wilderness to a pool, and dry ground to spring waters.  There He makes the hungry dwell, so that they may prepare a city for dwelling, sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.  He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and lets not their cattle decrease.

Again, they are decreased and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.  He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness, [where there is] no way.

Yet, He sets the poor on high from affliction, and makes [his] families like a flock.  The righteous shall see, and rejoice.  All iniquity shall stop her mouth.[6]

Who [is] wise, and will observe these [things]?  They shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.[7]

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[1] Psalms Book V is about the consummation of the kingdom in the first and second advent.

The theme of Psalm 107 is expressed in its choruses, “Oh that [men] would praise the Lord [for] His goodness, and His wonderful works to the children of men!”  This plea is repeatedly answered by, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble.” The point of the Psalm is that men do not by nature, “Give thanks to the Lord, for [He is] good, for His mercy [is] everlasting.”  Men must suffer with the consequences of their own sin before they realize that they need God.  It is true that God brings all these things upon us, but not as the first cause, he simply returns what we have done as a whole humanity, back upon us.  We are the first cause of these tribulations; we have no one but ourselves to blame for them; we do not even have the right to complain about Satan’s temptations.  We once had the power to say, “No!”

Consequently, our thankfulness in worship is focused on redemption.  A Champion has arisen who has plucked us from the clutches of Goliath, Who has snatched us from Satan’s grasp.  This Champion has gathered us together as the True Israel of God, The Church eternal.  But we, in and of ourselves were lost, wandering, defenseless, without sustenance, and on the brink of death.

Then, and only then were we moved to cry out to Yahweh from our destitution.  Then, and only then we found deliverance and real leadership: the way to The City of God.

Our chorus motif begins this cycle of prayers again.  What we fail to do naturally, we should do reasonably: for Yahweh satisfies and fills us with His goodness.  Men look for such completion in romance, in wealth, in a thousand different locations and ways.  None of these things really satisfy.  We are “looking for love in all the wrong places.”  Only the love that God brings, satisfies such deep longings.

So we sit, chained in the selfish prisons of our minds, because we would not listen, because we rebel.  We labor without profit.  We collapse without help.

Then, and only then we remember that God is our Father, and we can return home in prayer.  Us?  We were so far gone that we were living under the dominion of death.  But our chains are now broken, and we may escape, alive.  It is a strange thing that many prefer to stay in “darkness and the shadow of death.”

The cycle of prayers begins a third time.  The gates are broken.  The bars are shattered.

This behavior of man is just so much senseless foolishness.  We willfully choose the gates of death.

Then, and only then we remember that God has given His Word for our healing and deliverance.

A fourth cycle begins.  Let us now learn the lessons of prayer.  Will we at last begin to pray?

The description of what follows is so accurately descriptive of the disciples on Galilee that it is impossible not to see this as prophetic.  Once, He arises from sleep to still the storm, and those who were formerly “at their wit’s end” fall down in worship.

Then, on a second occasion, He comes walking on the water.  Even though they have rowed all night, suddenly they are at “their desired haven.”

With the fifth cycle we are in the same condition as before.  Will we ever learn to pray?  God is good.  We need to pray.  We need to exalt and praise Him.

The fool and the novice supposes that prayer is an easy thing.  Little do men realize that prayer is among the most difficult things we can ever do.  We don’t even have a clue about what we need to request.  We could not pray at all if the Holy Ghost did not help us.  Yet, with prayer, that which is barren becomes fertile.  Without prayer, that which is fruitful is made barren.  It is God Who brings the gentle rain in due season.  It is God Who gives the Holy Ghost without measure to the spiritually famished.

Prayer is the way to overthrow “oppression, affliction, and sorrow.”

Prayer is the way to overcome “affliction,” to be gathered to God’s “flock,” to silence iniquity.

This is wisdom.  This is True Love, “risen from the dead,” bringing the “light that is never overtaken by night.”  Come, receive this Christ.  Now.  Without fear.  Come.  It is Pascha.  Come.

[2] Matthew chapters 5-7; John 14:1-6; Revelation 21

[3] Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:15-16

[4] Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 4:23-25; 8:1-17; Mark 1:21-45; 2:1-8; Luke 4:31-41; 5:12-26; 6:6-11, 17-19; 7:1-17, 22, 36-50

[5] Matthew 8:23-27; 14:22-33; Mark 4:35-41; 6:45-52; Luke 6:16-21; 8:22-25

[6] Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-21; Luke 4:18-22; John 6:1-59

[7] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.