Let's talk about mottos for a minute.
We'll start with an easy one.
What's the Marine Corps motto?
Semper Fidelis, Semper Fi, always faithful.
How about the Coast Guard?
It's similar.
Semper Paratus, always ready.
The Coast Guard actually has a much older, unofficial motto as well.
You have to go out.
You don't have to come back.
How about Air Force pararescue men?
That others may live.
Have you heard of the Postal Service Creed?
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night
stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
It's actually not an official creed at all.
No one has to swear by it.
They don't have to sign on it.
But it is chiseled in stone above a post office in New York City
that was built in 1914.
And it became associated with the USPS
and became called their creed.
But why do groups have creeds and mottos?
It's because they capture something.
They distill something.
It gives them the opportunity to say,
this is who we are and this is what we do.
This is our modus operandi.
It's how we operate.
If God had a motto,
what would His motto be?
If God had a motto,
I'm pretty sure it would be something like,
steadfast love to the children of man.
Steadfast love to human beings.
That's who He is.
That's how He operates.
Steadfast love to us.
And that's what Psalm 107 is all about.
It's easy to see the purpose of why Psalm 107 is in our Bibles.
We see it in verses 1-3 at the beginning
and in verse 43 at the end.
Look at verses 1-3.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good
for His steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so
whom He has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
And then at the end, verse 43,
whoever is wise, let him attend to these things.
Let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
So the purpose of this Psalm for God's people
is that we would consider God's steadfast love
to give Him thanks.
And what is steadfast love?
It comes from a Hebrew word
that if you've been around church for a while,
you've probably heard before, chesed.
It's notoriously difficult to translate into English
with one word.
Very commonly it's translated as steadfast love.
Sometimes it's translated as loyal love.
It's trying to communicate something
about an intention to do good to someone
no matter what.
In Exodus 34-6, this word, this term,
steadfast love,
is an important part of God's self-declaration
describing who He is.
As He passes before Moses,
it says,
The Lord passed before Him
and proclaimed,
The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love
and faithfulness.
It's also often translated in your Bible
in the Old Testament
simply as kindness.
My favorite example is from 2 Samuel 9,
where David is now the king of Israel
after Saul has died,
the previous king,
Saul who tried to kill him many times.
And David asks the question,
Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul
that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake?
Chesed, steadfast love.
The expectation of the time and culture
could be that he would eliminate
the previous king's house and family
to secure his own throne.
But David says,
Is there still anyone left
that I may show him kindness?
Steadfast love.
I'd like you to think of it as kindness
that doesn't give up.
So in our psalm today,
we're to consider the steadfast love,
the kindness of the Lord.
The second thing you need to know
about this psalm before we jump in
is that this psalm
is set in the context
after the exile.
You see a clue to that
in verses 1 through 3,
where it says,
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those who he has gathered in from the lands
from the east and from the west
and from the north and from the south.
That's exile terminology
because that's not how Israel started, right?
They started from one family in one place.
And they grew and they multiplied in Egypt
and their establishment as a nation came
when that group as a whole
came from Egypt altogether at once
and became God's people.
So Israel was not founded
by gathering from all different directions.
So when this psalm talks about
this gathering from around the world,
it means after the exile.
Because Israel was in its land,
in the promised land.
It was rebellious against God.
God punished them
as he told them that he would.
He allowed them to be conquered,
to be dispersed,
to be exiled.
And after a time,
they were allowed to return to their land.
Still under foreign rule,
but they were allowed to return
to rebuild Jerusalem.
They were gathered back together.
So this psalm was meant to be understood
as a description of the experiences
of God's people
experiencing the steadfast love of God
in exile.
And in this psalm,
we see God's steadfast love in two modes.
We see it in deliverance
in verses 4 through 32.
We see God's steadfast love
in reversal in verses 33 through 42.
Deliverance and reversal.
So first of all,
we see God's steadfast love
in deliverance from troubled circumstances.
This psalm shows us
that the steadfast love of God
cuts through our troubled circumstances.
So if you are currently in trouble,
this psalm is for you.
Or if you have been in trouble
and been delivered from that,
this psalm is for you.
And of course,
I don't just mean trouble
like I'm in trouble with my parents
or I'm in trouble with my boss.
I mean trouble like
I don't know if I'm going to make it.
Physical health trouble,
like I don't know
if I'm going to make it.
I don't know how I can go another day.
Financial trouble,
like I don't know
how we're going to make it.
Or relational trouble,
like I don't think
our marriage can make it.
Or mental health trouble,
like I don't think
I can make it.
Or grief trouble,
like I don't know
how I can make it
without them.
If you are in trouble
or if you have been in trouble,
this psalm is for you.
The steadfast love of God
cuts through
our troubled circumstances.
This psalm gives us
four examples of people
who have been redeemed
from trouble.
Four different types of trouble.
Four situations
that exiled Israelites
found themselves in.
And there's a common pattern
for each one.
First situation of trouble,
verses 4 through 9,
homeless and hungry.
Look at verses 4 and 5.
Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city
to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted
within them.
Wandering in the desert
is not a good situation.
If you're going to travel
through the desert,
you want to take
a straight and short path.
It's an inhospitable environment.
You don't know
where your next meal
will come from
because you don't have
fields to draw from
or pasture land
for any animals
who might be with you.
You don't know
where or when
you will find water next.
You just have to rely
on what you're carrying
with you.
And you're in danger
because you don't have
the walls of a city
around you
or a community of neighbors
to protect you.
And to wander in the desert
would be an especially
painful situation
for Israelites
who remember
the desert wandering
of their ancestors.
Who wandered for 40 years
before entering
the promised land
because of their disobedience.
So for them
to wander in the desert
now was to have
lost everything.
To have no home at all
after all of Israel's history
in their own land.
Now some of them
are back right
where they started
and they have nothing
to show for it.
And this psalm
finds these exiles
at the end of hope.
It's been a long time
since they've had food.
A long time
since they've had water
to drink.
And they can't seem
to find anywhere to settle.
Only desert.
Have you ever felt like that?
Unemployed
or underemployed.
Maybe living paycheck
to paycheck
and the end of one
never reaches
the start of the other.
Housing trouble.
No security.
No stability.
No provision.
No end in sight.
These exiles
are in troubled circumstance
and that's the first part
of the pattern
that we see repeated
in these four situations.
We see a troubled circumstance.
And the second part
of the pattern
is in verse 6.
Then
they cried
to the Lord
in their trouble
and He delivered them
from their distress.
These people
turn to God
as their only hope
and they cry out to Him
and this is not simply
a quick prayer
God please help us.
Please send some food.
It's not just
a simple prayer
of desperation
because remember
the psalm
is describing
their experiences
in exile
and why did they go
into exile
in the first place?
One major reason
is because they
worshipped
and they prayed to
and they hoped in
other gods.
They looked to
Baal
and Molech
and Asherah
for provision
for security
for food
for rain.
So when it says
that they cried
to the Lord
all caps
Yahweh
that's significant.
That's intentional.
This isn't a generic
God please help me
this is
God of my fathers
Yahweh
God of Abraham
Isaac
and Jacob
all other gods
have failed us.
You're our only hope.
God
and he delivered
them from their distress.
God
responds
his steadfast
love
cuts through
their troubled
circumstances.
It acts
on their behalf
in verse 7
he led them
by a straight way
till they reached
a city
to dwell in.
Instead of wandering
they were led
straight out
of the desert
to a city
a city
to dwell in
a place
to be secure
a place
where there is
provision
for their needs.
And what is
the right response?
What's the only
response
that can well up
within them
that can't help
but give
in verses 8-9
let them
thank the Lord
for his
steadfast
love
for his
wondrous works
to the children
of man
for he
satisfies
the longing
soul
and the hungry
soul
he fills
with good
things.
It's the
steadfast
love of God
his kindness
that doesn't
give up.
Troubled
situation
number 2
is verses
10-16
captivity
verses 10-12
some
sat in
darkness
and in the
shadow of
death
prisoners
in affliction
and in
irons
for they
had rebelled
against the
words of God
and spurned
the counsel
of the
Most High
so he
bowed their
hearts down
with hard
labor.
They fell
down with
none to
help.
So these
exiles are
not just
wandering
they're in
actual
captivity.
These are
some of God's
people in
exile chained
up as
slave labor.
labor.
The
conditions are
cruel and
the labor
and harsh
treatment has
left them
with no
strength left.
They fall
and no one
cares to
help them.
And this
too is
some painful
deja vu
for the
Israelites,
right?
They've been
slave labor
before in
Egypt and
their entire
identity as a
people is
hey we're a
people who
have been
delivered by
God's mighty
hand out of
slavery.
And now
some of them
are in chains
and under the
whip again.
And it's
devastating.
And why are
they in this
trouble?
God put
them there.
Right?
Verse 11.
For they had
rebelled against
the words of
God and
spurred the
counsel of
the Most
High.
So he
bowed their
hearts down
with hard
labor.
God gave
his people
his good
word,
clear wisdom
for life,
a beautiful
structure of
morality to
create a
just and
healthy society.
And most
importantly,
he gave
them knowledge
of himself
and the
opportunity to
know him
and be in a
relationship with
him and to
be his special
people among
all the peoples
of the earth.
And they
rebelled against
him.
They counted
his words as
meaningless.
They spurned
them.
They tossed
them aside
like trash.
So now here
they are,
prisoners in
darkness.
And as they
sit in
darkness with
the clasps on
their wrists
rubbing bloody
grooves into
their skin,
afraid that they
won't have the
strength for the
next day's
labor,
they remember
their God.
God.
And they
too turned
to Yahweh.
Verses 13
and 14.
Then they
cried to the
Lord in
their trouble
and he
delivered them
from their
distress.
He brought
them out of
darkness and
the shadow
of death and
burst their
bonds apart.
To those in
captivity, God
brings freedom.
His steadfast
love cuts
through their
troubled
circumstances and
breaks apart
their chains and
brings them out
into the light.
And what's the
only response
they could
possibly give?
What would
you do?
Verses 15
through 16.
Let them
thank the
Lord for
His steadfast
love for
His wondrous
works for the
children of
man.
It's the
steadfast love
of God.
It's His
kindness that
doesn't give
up.
Troubled
situation number
three, verses
17 through 22,
sickness.
Verses 17 and
18, it says,
Some were
fools through
their sinful
ways and
because of
their iniquities
suffered
affliction.
They loathed
any kind of
food and they
drew near to
the gates of
death.
So for some,
their sin has
led to terrible
sickness.
And whether the
sickness is
specially sent
by God or
simply the
natural result of
a sin-filled
life, we don't
know.
But either way,
they're now near
the end of a
brutal sickness.
Think of the
last time you
were really
sick.
I was sick
earlier this
week.
I was not
near the gates
of death, but I
did loathe any
kind of food.
And when
you're sick,
nothing else
matters, right?
You don't have
the strength to
do what you
need to do.
The things that
are expected of
you each day,
you're not able
to do.
And anything
that was
interesting or
excited to
you just a
day or two
ago when you
were healthy
now means
nothing.
All that
matters is,
how can I
get past
this?
How can I
get through
this?
How can I
get my
health back?
Even sleep
is miserable.
And the
people here
in Psalm
107 are
past any
hope of
medical
intervention
or recovery.
All that's
left for them
is to die
and get it
over with.
But you
know how
this pattern
goes now,
right?
Verses 19
through 20.
Then they
cried to the
Lord in
their trouble
and he
delivered them
from their
distress.
He sent
out his
word and
healed them
and delivered
them from
their
destruction.
He heals
them.
The steadfast
love of God
cuts through
their sickness
and delivers
amazing health.
Here's how I
imagine it
going for
them.
They're
tossing in
bed,
half asleep,
in pain,
and that's
when God's
word of
healing reaches
them.
And they
take a deep
breath and
they really
fall asleep.
And in the
morning they
open their
eyes and
they think,
wait a minute,
did I just
sleep through
the night?
They sit
up and
they feel
great for the
first time
in a long
time and
the life
that they
had given
up on
is theirs
to live.
Verses
21 and
22,
let them
thank the
Lord for
his steadfast
love,
for his
wondrous
works to
the children
of man,
and let
them offer
sacrifices of
thanksgiving
and tell of
his deeds
and songs
of joy.
they
thank and
praise and
sing to
God because
of his
steadfast
love,
because of
his kindness
that doesn't
give up.
troubled
situation
number 4,
verses 23
through 32,
life-threatening
danger.
Look at
verse 23.
Some went
down to the
sea in
ships doing
business on
the great
waters.
Now,
Israelites were
generally not
a seagoing
people.
So,
likely what's
going on
here is that
as part of
the exile,
as God's
people were
dispersed
from their
homeland,
some of
them,
whether
voluntarily
or
involuntarily,
become part
of sailing
crews.
And this
is what
they experienced,
verses 24
through 27.
They saw
the deeds
of the
Lord,
his wondrous
works in
the deep.
For he
commanded
and raised
up a
stormy
wind,
which lifted
up the
waves of
the sea.
They
mounted
up to
heaven,
they went
down to
the depths.
Their
courage
melted away
in their
evil plight.
They
reeled
and staggered
like drunken
men and
were at
their
wits'
end.
A massive
storm has
these sailors
deeply afraid.
They are
beyond any
skill that they
might have
as sailors.
They're beyond
any capacity
of their
ship to deal
with the size
of these
waves.
All that's
left for
them is to
hang on,
wait for it
to capsize.
And then
they remember
the God
of their
fathers,
the God
of their
homeland,
verses 28
through 30.
Then
they cried
to the
Lord in
their
trouble and
he delivered
them from
their distress.
He
made the
storm be
still and
the waves
of the
sea were
hushed.
Then they
were glad
that the
waters were
quiet and
he brought
them to
their desired
haven.
God's
steadfast
love cuts
through the
clouds and
the wind and
the lightning and
the rain and
he stills the
storm and
hushes the
waves and
quiets the
waters and
he guides them
to their
port and
they step
foot on
solid dry
ground again
which was
something they
thought would
never happen.
Verses 31
through 32,
let them
thank the
Lord for
his steadfast
love, for
his wondrous
works to the
children of
man.
Let them
extol him in
the congregation
of the people
and praise him
in the assembly
of the elders.
What else
would you do
if you were
them?
When God
shows incredible
kindness to
you that
doesn't give
up?
four
examples of
troubled
situations
where the
steadfast
love of
God cut
through.
And these
are four
specific examples
but the
point in this
psalm is that
God's steadfast
love cuts
through any
circumstance.
The point of
this psalm is
that our
trouble is an
opportunity to
see God's
kindness
clearly.
Let's
highlight
something
that we've
seen but we
need to think
about for a
minute.
God's
steadfast
love cuts
through our
troubled
circumstances
even the
trouble of
our own
sin.
Remember
this psalm
is set in
the context
of the
sin of
God's
people.
That's
what exile
was.
Exile
was God's
judgment on
his people
for their
rebellion
against him.
So in
every
circumstance
that we
see here
in these
psalms
these people
are experiencing
God's
judgment.
And in
two of
these
situations
it explicitly
says that
their trouble
is the
direct result
of their
sin.
It was
their sin
that brought
them to
captivity.
It was
their sin
that brought
them to
sickness.
So God's
steadfast love
cuts through our
troubled
circumstances
even the
trouble of
our own
sin.
We
naturally
assume that
if we're
going to ask
for God's
help we need
to earn it
or at
least we
need to
temporarily
be in
a situation
where we
feel like
we're okay
asking for
it.
You know
like if
trouble
randomly
comes to
me while
I am
following
Jesus and
reading my
Bible
regularly
and you
know not
sinning
too much
I think
then yeah
when trouble
comes that's a
great time for
me to say
God please
deliver me
please save
me please
help me
that's a
good time to
ask God to
deliver us.
We have
trouble when
we know
that's not
our situation
and we
might assume
that if our
trouble is the
result of our
own sin we
shouldn't dare
ask God to
help us.
We just have
to live with
the consequences
of our actions
right?
Suck it up.
You got
yourself into
this.
You don't
deserve to
ask for
God's
deliverance.
If this is
God's
discipline we
just have to
endure it.
And the
truth of
course is
yes that
God does
send trouble
sometimes as
discipline for
sin as he
does in this
psalm and we
should let that
discipline have
its effect in
our lives but
the effect the
intended effect of
that discipline is
to turn us to
God.
It is to cause
us to turn away
from whatever it
was that was
leading us away
from him and
cry out to him.
So what this
psalm is teaching
us is that God's
steadfast love is
so good,
he is so kind
that he even
loves to deliver
us from the
trouble of our
own sin.
God's kindness
toward you
does not
depend on
you being
innocent.
A lot of us
have a hard
time believing
that.
God's kindness
toward you
does not
depend on
you being
innocent.
the
steadfast love
of God
cuts through
our troubled
circumstances
even the
trouble of
our own
sin.
And this
psalm wants
us to see
the steadfast
love of God
in action
in many
different
situations
and when we
cry out to
God in our
trouble in
the same
way,
turning to
him as our
only hope,
we also will
see his
kindness to
us.
Amen.
But the
truth is,
we know,
he does not
always heal.
He does not
always save
in the ways
like we just
read.
Sometimes his
faithful people
who cry out
to him remain
in their
troubled
circumstances.
You might
think particularly
of Christians
who are
persecuted
around the
world and
there's no
out in
sight.
love.
The psalm
ends by
showing us
that God's
steadfast
love is
not only
expressed in
deliverance
from trouble,
but also
in reversal
of what is
wrong in
the world.
We see
reversal in
verses 33
through 42.
He turns
rivers into
a desert,
springs of
water into
a thirsty
ground,
a fruitful
land into
a salty
waste because
of the evil
of its
inhabitants.
water.
He turns a
desert into
pools of
water, a
parched land
into springs
of water, and
there he lets
the hungry
dwell, and
they establish
a city to
live in.
They sow
fields and
plant vineyards
and get a
fruitful yield.
By his
blessing, they
multiply greatly,
and he does
not let
their livestock
diminish.
When they
are diminished
and brought
low through
oppression, evil,
and sorrow, he
pours contempt
on princes, i.e.
those who are
oppressing them, and
makes them wander
in trackless
wastes.
But he raises
up the needy out
of affliction and
makes their
families like
flocks.
The upright see
it and are glad,
and all wickedness
shuts its mouth.
Do you see
what's happening
there?
God is not
simply saving
people from
trouble, troubled
circumstances, and
taking them out
of that and
putting them
somewhere else.
He is reshaping
reality itself
according to his
kindness and
his justice.
justice.
He's making the
world right.
The evil people
of the world, who
at one point seem
to have everything,
end up with
nothing.
And those who
are poor and are
upright are given
a home and a
wonderful future.
God's people live
in a city, and
those who oppress
them end up
wandering in the
desert.
God's kindness
that doesn't give
up is shown in
his work of
reversal.
And what these
verses are telling
us is that even
for those who
don't experience
God's deliverance
right away, it's
going to be okay.
even when it
looks like wrong
is winning,
reversal is
coming.
God is committed
to making the
world right.
God's steadfast
love will win
in the end.
And he works
these reversals
in small part
throughout history,
and he will do
so ultimately at
the end of
history.
He's making
the world
right, and
our assurance
of God's
steadfast love
both in the
present and
for all of
the future,
our assurance
of God's
kindness to
us, no
matter what,
is secured
for us by
Jesus.
In his death
and resurrection
for us, the
ultimate example
of God's
kindness that
doesn't give
up.
He who did
not spare his
own son but
gave him up
for us, how
will he not
also with him
graciously give
us all things?
And what is
God's plan for
all of the
future, for all
of eternity when
he makes the
world right?
It's that in
the coming
ages he might
show the riches
of his
kindness.
towards us
in Christ
Jesus.
That's what our
future is.
It's more and
more and more
of God
showing kindness
to us in ways
that we
could not
expect or
imagine.
So in Psalm
107 tells us
about God's
steadfast love
reversing the
situations of the
world, it's
telling us that
it's going
to be okay.
God will
bring you to
a home.
What does
John see in
his vision and
revelation?
He sees a
city prepared
by God, a
place where
God will dwell
with his
people.
That's the
steadfast love
of God.
Where do you
find yourself
in relationship
to Psalm
107 this
morning?
Are you
in trouble
right now?
Maybe
trouble as a
result of your
own sin,
maybe not.
Are you
turning to
him?
Are you
crying out to
him?
Are you
hoping in
his steadfast
love?
Are you
trusting that
his kindness
will win out
for you in
the end,
even when
things seem
bleak?
Have you
experienced
trouble in
the past
God's
deliverance?
Are you
offering him
thanks for
that?
Are you
praising him?
Are you
extolling him
in the
congregation?
Are you
continuously
sharing with
others what
God's kindness
has done
for you?
Are you
God's
kindness
doesn't
give up?
God's
steadfast
love cuts
through our
troubled
circumstances,
even the
trouble of
our own
sin,
to bring
us to
a home.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Father,
we,
on our
best days,
do not
deserve
your
kindness.
Thank you
that you
have
steadfast
love,
that it's
who you
are,
it's how
you
operate.
Help us
to believe
it.
For those
in this
church who
are in
trouble
right now,
we cry
out to
you.
You are
our only
hope.
And we
ask that
you would
deliver,
you would
save,
and you
would show
your kindness
to us.
Amen.