A Walk Through Psalm 107 – Part 5

For this last post on Psalm 107 focus on the last section 33 – 43.  The last verse suggests that if we are wise we do well to consider well what the psalmist has shared.  What has he shared?  This last section describes God’s sovereign intervention in the lives of people by repeating 6 times things that “He” does.  A few examples:

• Changes rivers into a wilderness
• Fruitful land into a salt waste
• Wilderness into a pool of water
• Does not let the cattle decrease
• Pours contempt upon princes
• Sets the needy in security

All the way through this psalm we see that God is sovereignly engaged in both afflicting those who are rebelling and delivering them from affliction when they call to Him.

The picture we have is of a God who is engaged intentionally shaping events to lead people to trust Him.

As the psalmist suggests considering that carefully and choosing to base our lives on that truth would indeed be wise.

Posts in this series:

• Intro
• Part 1 (Has the Grammatical Structure and Literary Relations downloads)
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

A Walk Through Psalm 107 – Part 4

Still in Psalm 107.  Look at verses 11 and 20.  In 11 we see that people are:

• In darkness
• In the shadow of death
• Prisoners
• In misery and chains

They were in this mess because they had rebelled against both the Words of God and the counsel of the Most High, all in all not the best move.

If you have been following the last few posts you know that each of the first four sections of the Psalm end with those in the situations that are described calling out to God who then delivers them.

Verse 20 is in the next section.  These folks are rebellious fools, perhaps the same ones who had rebelled against the Words of God.  When they cry out, looks at the means by which God saves them.  His Word.

It is instructive that we get into deep trouble when we rebel against God’s Word and yet it is God’s Word that gets us out of that mess we have chosen.

One more observation tomorrow and we will wrap this up I think.

Posts in this series:

• Intro
• Part 1 (Has the Grammatical Structure and Literary Relations downloads)
• Part 2
• Part 3

A Walk Through Psalm 107 – Part 3

For the last two days we have made observations about the structure and repetition of Psalm 107.  While there may be a couple of more things to talk about tomorrow, I want to share some of the patterns I see in these observations.

First, when I did this I was reading Psalm 107 in my Logos Bible program on my iPad.  On that platform there are no paragraph or section divisions, at least not in the way I use it.  (Download the third part of the walk through here.)  The first thing the structure and repetition did for me is divide the psalm into 5 sections, 1 – 9, 10 – 16, 17 – 22, 23 – 32, and 33 – 43.  The first four sections have the repetition of the Lord delivering people out of:

• Spiritual hunger and thirst
• Rebellion against the Word of God
• Foolish rebellion 
• Overwhelming circumstances

In the first case the spiritually hungry and thirsty were in the grip of the enemy.  The rebellious were in a different situation.  They were being humbled by God for their rebellion with labor.  The Fools also were afflicted – I take it as being also by the Lord.  Those in the ships were in a storm the source of which was the Lord.

So in all but the first case folks made choices that the Lord met with some form of resistance that caused them to call to Him in their distress.  In each case He saved them out of that distress.  The one difference is in the last example, the psalmist says that He brought them out of their distress.  That raises a question about what the difference might be between this example and the others…

I have often wondered if my bad choices and the messes, distresses they create put me in a position that makes it difficult or impossible to be reconciled to God.  The encouragement I find here through observation of the different elements upon which we have touched is that regardless of how badly I screw up, God not only can save me from myself but is actively engaged in leading me to the place where I cry out to Him for that redemption.  For that I am overwhelmingly grateful.

There are a few more observations that are encouraging to me so we will have at least one more day with this.

Posts in this series:

• Intro
• Part 1 (Has the Grammatical Structure and Literary Relations downloads)
• Part 2