GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD,

FOR HE IS GOOD 

~Psalm 107: 1-7, 33-37~

In-person service at

Second Baptist Church

2412 Griffith Ave.

Los Angeles

William S. Epps, Senior Pastor

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. ²Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, ³those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. ⁴Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. ⁵They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. ⁶Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. ⁷He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Psalm 107:1-7

³³He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs into dry ground; ³⁴A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. ³⁵He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water springs. ³⁶And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; ³⁷And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. Psalm 107:33-37

Introduction

The Psalms are an anthology of literature collected in a remote land many, many centuries ago. They are sung and chanted by countless millions of people around the world. They comprise the corporate and individual history of people as they deal with the fundamental issues of life. 

The Psalms are often referred to as a hymn book. Fitting I presume, that this hymn book of prayers or this hymnbook of songs is in the center of the Bible, the heart-beat of its life capturing its historical memory with metaphorical narratives and songs, prayers, and laments. 

There are 150 Psalms divided into five books or divisions (Psalm 1-41 / 42-72 / 73-89 / 90-106 / 107-150). Walter Brueggemann puts them in three categories. There are Psalms of orientation, Psalms of disorientation and Psalms of reorientation. Life moves from good through bad to new possibilities and promise. Good times give joy, bad times give experience and lessons which lead to refocusing direction.    

Consider what it means that life moves from orientation

through disorientation to reorientation

Monday, November 6, 2023

The middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8, which says, “It is better to trust in God than to put confidence in man.”

The Psalms were composed over a span of about one thousand years. The earliest was by Moses (Psalm 90) in the fifteenth century B.C., and a couple appear to be contemporary with the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century B.C. (Psalms 126 and 137). Some of these poems are not assigned authors (almost a third of them). Other composers are identified: one by Moses, 73 by David, 12 by Asaph, 10 by the descendants of Korah, one or two by Solomon, one by Heman, and one by Ethan. 

The Psalms intensely probe the fundamental diversity of the concerns of life.  

The Psalms are quoted more frequently in the New Testament than any other book of the Old Testament. There are about one hundred direct references or allusions from the Psalms in the New Testament. The divine inspiration of the Psalms is strongly affirmed in the New Testament. Jesus asked the Jewish leaders of his day, “How then doth David in the Spirit call him [the Messiah] Lord?” Christ was quoting from Psalm 110. Again, Peter, quoting from Psalm 69, declared, “The Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas” (Acts 1:16ff).

Consider what it means that the Psalms probe with

intensity the fundamental diverse concerns of life with clarity.

Psalm 107 to 150 has as its focus that the Lord is praised for the Lord’s goodness

as expressed in the inexhaustible mercy of the Lord.  

 

In the first place the psalmist states unequivocally that we give thanks to the Lord, the Lord is good; the Lord’s love expressed in mercy endures forever.

The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever. That phrase should get your attention. God is good and merciful. The love of God is expressed in mercy that endures despite life’s changes from good to bad or worse. How good is God? Well I am glad you asked. That is measurable. When God created the world we are told that God said that was good and very good. Every aspect of creation has the Creator indicating that what I created is good. God brooded over a wide abyss of nothingness and created something out of nothingness. God made light and separated it from night. God divided the waters with the firmament. The Lord has the earth produce vegetation according to its seed bearing kind. God made the light to govern the day and the night. And the Lord saw that was good. And God saw what was made - all that is, the beast of the field, humanity, and God said that is good and very good.

We would not know what good is if it was not for the Lord. Our concept of good is shaped by what has been created rather than what we come up with on our own. 

The Lord is creatively good, consistently good, essentially good, productively good.

Consider what it means that God is good and the

goodness of the love of God is expressed in mercy that endures.    

In the second place the psalmist state specifically how the mercy of the Lord was experienced.

The invitation to thanksgiving in verse 1 is matched in verse 2 by a second invitation. The redeemed, those who have concretely benefited from God's steadfast love, are invited to speak, that is to bear witness and give account of their rescue. 

God had done two things for those summoned. 

First, God has "redeemed" from trouble. The term "trouble" literally means "a tight, restrictive place." God has broken the abusive confinement. 

Second, God has "gathered." The verb is often used with reference to "the scattered," those dispersed in exile, so that God's steadfast love is exile ending and the source of glad homecoming. Thus "redeem" and "gather" might refer paradigmatically in Israel to the exodus from the tight place of slavery, and the homecoming from Babylonian exile. These usages, however, do not refer specifically or singularly to those events, but to many less dramatic, personal and communal experiences of liberation and homecoming that play on the model events. Because Israel is grateful for such acts of God, Israel bears thankful testimony that Yahweh has done this and is the God who characteristically does it. Israel is summoned to "name its blessing" aloud, as an expression of gratitude and as a witness to others that they also can receive such joyous gifts from this God. 

Consider what it means to be redeemed and gathered together to

give thanks for the redemption from ruin to restoration the Lord provides in life. 

Then follow in the Psalm four concrete examples of such "redemption." These include vs. 4-9, which is our text (as extended), plus vs. 10-16, 17-22 and 23-32. 

Each of these four cases includes four stylized elements of thanksgiving: (a) a statement of the trouble which evokes, (b) a cry to God, (c) a report of God's powerful intervention, and (d) a response by Israel of thanks to God.

The trouble out of which the thanks arise is wilderness wandering (vs. 4-5). While this reference may be an allusion to the wanderings of Israel under Moses, the characterization is more generic. Much of the territory of ancient Israel is slightly populated, arid territory which is life-threatening. The experience of travel in that territory may consist of losing one's way and being without food and water, and consequently having one's energy and vitality (="soul") grow weak. It may be possible to treat the picture as in the hymn lines "pilgrim through this barren land." 

Those in such trouble know that they themselves have no resources for the crisis. In the horizon of Israel, this means they must turn to God, their trusted rescuer (v. 6a). They know to whom they must turn, and they know that they must voice their need and ask for help. Each of these cases of rescue depends on initiative from the side of human need. Rescue in this scenario does not begin with in God's attentive love, but in Israel's voiced complaint. Yahweh responds, but Yahweh does not make the first move. A thanking people first must become an out - loud, candid complaining people. 

God does indeed hear such a cry, does respond, does act to save (vs. 6b-7). In v. 6 there is no pause, slippage, or uncertainty between "cry" and "deliver." God is immediately responsive. The God who hears and answers acts specifically to bring Israel to an oasis where there is food, water and new life. Notice that this narrative of trouble and help is somewhat different from the old sojourn narratives of Moses in the books of Exodus and Numbers. The "miracle" here is not bread from heaven or water from rock, but guidance to already existing life - support systems. 

Consider what it means to be in trouble, acknowledge your inability

to handle the situation by yourself by crying out to the Lord for

help with the assurance that the Lord will respond.   

Finally, the psalmist concludes with an affirmation of trust in God’s power to sustain the faithful in the final analysis.

Thanks consist in a sweeping acknowledgement of God's faithfulness and powerful action given to humankind (v. 8). Then, in v. 9, the saving deed is made quite specific. The rescue matches the trouble. Israel's life begins again, saved and valued by the God who transforms Israel's circumstances. 

God works inversions in life. God converts rivers into deserts (v. 33), and deserts into waters (v. 35). When God works a positive inversion, from desert to water, people not only live, they thrive (v. 36) (the Lord blesses, multiplies, and gives prosperity), which is here measured. God is powerful, generous and good, and turns conditions of death into gifts of life. Israel has so much for which to gives thanks. Thanks is a glad recognition that the goodness of life is a gift and not an achievement or entitlement. Such gifts evoke appreciation, gratitude and thankfulness.  

Consider what it means that the Lord inverts life from bad to better,

from harm to help, from sadness to joy, from death to life.  

The biggest inversion in Christendom is what God had done with the life of Jesus, the Christ. God - in the life of Christ - personified the reality of who God is, how God is and where “God is at work in the world reconciling the world unto himself not counting their sins against them. And has commitment to us the message of reconciliation.”

(2 Corinthians 5:19)

Conclusion

When I Think about the Lord, / How He saved me, how He raised me,

How He filled me, with the Holy Ghost. / How He healed me, to the uttermost.

When I Think about the Lord, / How He picked me up and turned me around,

How He placed my feet on solid ground / When I Think about the Lord,

How He saved me, how He raised me, / How He filled me, with the Holy Ghost.

How He healed me, to the uttermost.

When I Think about the Lord, / How He picked me up and turned me around /

How He placed my feet on solid ground

It makes me wanna shout, / Hallelujah,

Thank you JESUS.

Consider what it means that in Christ, God inverted the

trajectory of tragedy to a track for triumph. 

Second Baptist Church Los Angeles

2412 Griffith Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90011 

Phone: (213) 748-0318