"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 107:1).
Psalm 107 teaches us how to respond to God’s goodness by providing portraits of God’s blessed providence and love in delivering His people from distress.
First, the writer describes those who wander the earth, unsure of their direction (vv. 4–9). Abraham traveled to foreign lands, and God promised to give him a home. At times, you may feel like a wanderer, unsure of the direction God wants you to take. All of God’s people are strangers on earth, and this can be disconcerting. But God has promised that one day we will enter rest; we will come into His kingdom and find peace. Because of God’s goodness in delivering us from our distress, of leading us in the straight way, let us “give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men” (v. 8).
The psalmist also tells of the prisoner who sits in the darkness, suffering in his chains (vv. 10–16). This psalm probably brought much comfort to the disciples of Christ. They were many times put in chains for Christ and threatened with death. Yet God comforted them in their plight and delivered them from fear. This passage can also be applied spiritually to all who have been freed from the bondage of sin. Once you were held captive to darkness, but God has brought you into His light. Give thanks, therefore, to the Lord for His unfailing love, “for He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two” (v. 16).
The psalmist also tells of those afflicted because of their rebellious ways (vv. 17–32). Many suffer various trials and even approach the “gates of death” before they cry to the Lord for deliverance. Likewise, those who witness the works of the Lord in nature, like those who face the tempest at sea, turn to the Lord when their peril is mighty and their courage proves weak. Even these, the Lord answers and brings forth from their distress. Such is the wonderful grace of God, who establishes His unfailing love in the lives of His people and executes His wonderful deeds on behalf of fallen men and women. “Whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD” (v. 43).
Write out an account of a time when you were in distress and cried out to God. Be specific and describe how you felt. Then write how God delivered you from that circumstance. Describe specifically what He did for you. Give thanks to Him for His abundant goodness not only in that instance but throughout your life.
