Lostness and Salvation – Psalm 107

A text – Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

107:1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble
107:3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
107:4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;
107:5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
107:6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress;
107:7 he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.
107:8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
107:9 For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
107:33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
107:34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
107:35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
107:36 And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in;
107:37 they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.

A reflection:

This psalm of praise gives God the credit for saving vulnerable people who are wandering and lost, giving food to the hungry and fainting. In verses 1-9, if the people call out to the Lord, they are saved by a generous God.  This passage skips ahead from verse 9 to verse 33, where God does the opposite to people who are behaving in wicked ways, but once again changes in verse 35 and blesses the land and the people who have been lost and then called upon him.

What do these images from the psalms say to us in these days of bewildering war and destruction? Our texts this week have a lot of God’s displeasure in them, displeasure for the wicked behavior of people, for betrayal of trust, and for not recognizing the harm done to the poor and vulnerable.

But look at what happens when God wants to save a people who cry out for help. If the people believe the Lord can save them, then the Lord leads them by a straight way to a place where they can flourish. The Lord even changes the climate for them so that they no longer have to search for every drop of water. Even their crops are blessed with a fruitful yield.

In this season of upheaval in the world, of doom-filled Bible meditations, of high anxiety seemingly everywhere, I can’t help but remember Martin Luther’s beautiful writing: Life is full of misery. Think upon the Prince of Peace. He also said “Pray, and let God worry.” So we should now build (or return to) a habit of daily prayer that places the worries of the world into God’s much larger hands, so that we can emerge from prayer ready to see clearly what we might do within arm’s reach to help someone lost and hoping to be found.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being our Creator, and the one who redeems us and makes us holy each day. Help us to see that we can do something, right within our reach, to make life better for others each day. Then help us to do that thing you have shown us to do. Amen.