Delivered, not forsaken

Psalm 107 (NKJV) 

Thanksgiving to the Lord for His Great Works of Deliverance

 

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
³ And gathered out of the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.

⁴ They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;
They found no city to dwell in.
⁵ Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them.
⁶ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He delivered them out of their distresses.
⁷ And He led them forth by the right way,
That they might go to a city for a dwelling place.
⁸ Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
⁹ For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

¹⁰ Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and irons—
¹¹ Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
¹² Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
¹³ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces.
¹⁵ Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
¹⁶ For He has broken the gates of bronze,
And cut the bars of iron in two.

¹⁷ Fools, because of their transgression,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
¹⁸ Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
²⁰ He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
²¹ Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
²² Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare His works with rejoicing.

²³ Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
²⁴ They see the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
²⁵ For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
²⁷ They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
²⁸ Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
²⁹ He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
³⁰ Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
³¹ Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
³² Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.

³³ He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the watersprings into dry ground;
³⁴ A fruitful land into barrenness,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
³⁵ He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into watersprings.
³⁶ There He makes the hungry dwell,
That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
³⁷ And sow fields and plant vineyards,
That they may yield a fruitful harvest.
³⁸ He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle decrease.

³⁹ When they are diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
⁴⁰ He pours contempt on princes,
And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
⁴¹ Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction,
And makes their families like a flock.
⁴² The righteous see it and rejoice,
And all iniquity stops its mouth.

⁴³ Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

 

 

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

Psalm 107, The Message (MSG)

^1-3 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.

^4-9 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.

^10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God’s Word,
for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

^17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

^23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

^33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

^42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.