Psalm 107:1-43

Throughout the history of man since the Fall God has established a pattern in His dealings with them.  God desires to be praised and worshiped by His people.  He works in our lives in such a way that we should be aware of His constant deliverance and therefore be motivated to give thanks to Him.  Those who have truly experienced God’s forgiveness and love should be the first to simply “say so.”  We must stand ready to admit our failures and then recognize and be thankful for God’s salvation.  Time and time again God has dealt with man according to a pattern that leads us from sin and sorrow to salvation and satisfaction.  This Psalm gives us a clear repetition of the five step pattern of God’s gracious dealings with sinful man.

REBELLION AGAINST GOD: Men are naturally rebellious against God since the time of the fall of man.  We sin just as naturally as we breathe.  We often to not even think about it but will simply find ourselves in a state of disobedience before God.  There are a variety of forms of rebellion mentioned in this Psalm.  For some it is ignoring God’s Word, for others it is rejecting God’s Word and still others simply were ignorant of God’s Word.  Another form of rebellion is pride and self-confidence that leads to the pursuit of wealth, fame or comfort.  These are all forms of idolatry that rejects God and His purposes for man.  We must recognize that this type of rebellion is bound in each of our hearts.

REJECTION BY GOD: When we rebel against God there are very grave consequences that we must face.  These consequences are designed by God to help us turn from sin and come back to Him so they are really a means of His grace in our lives.  God rejects our sinful rebellion and causes us to face times of wandering in the wilderness, times of imprisonment, times of impoverishment and times where we face difficult and even dangerous circumstances.  Not all difficulties are due to our own personal sin, but they can be traced back to man’s sin in general.  However, many times suffering in our lives is due to our rebellion against God so when we find ourselves in trouble it is always wise to stop and evaluate our lives.

REPENTANCE TOWARDS GOD: The consequences of sin are always much greater than we thought they would be and always outweigh any passing pleasure that might come from sin.  When we get sick of these consequences there is really only one thing that we can do: call out to the Lord.  We must not continue down the road of stupidity and sin.  We must turn from our sin in repentance and ask God to forgive and restore us.  This requires humility on our part and the ability to recognize that we are wrong and a desire to be restored to fellowship with the Lord.  God desires to see this repentance in our hearts and is faithful to use suffering in our lives so that we do not continue indefinitely in our sin.

REDEMPTION FROM GOD: God’s response to repentance is redemption.  He is able to forgive our sin and to free us from the consequences of sin.  He provides a city for the wanderer, light for the one in darkness, freedom for the imprisoned, food for the hungry and security for the endangered.  God loves to redeem men from sin so that they will return to Him, worship Him and live in the light of His Word.  God sent Jesus to be able to pay the price for sin so that those who repent might find forgiveness of and freedom from sin.  We have been purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ and the consequences of sin have been taken away from us as a result of our calling to the Lord in repentance.  God is the only one who is able to redeem men from the sin that enslaves us.


REJOICING IN GOD: Our response to redemption should be that of rejoicing.  The greatest blessing that we could ever have is the blessing of forgiveness.  God has given us this wonderful reality whereby we can live in freedom from sin and its consequences in our lives.  When we experience the relief of redemption it should fill our hearts with joy and thanksgiving.  The natural reaction of someone who has experienced such a wonderful blessing it to tell others about what God has done.  We should tell of God’s work in us so that others might experience the same blessing and join us in a song of praise and worship of our God.  He is always faithful to take us from rebellion to rejoicing through His glorious plan of redemption.

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