Let The Redeemed Say So

Psalm 107:1-3 – and repeat with me verse 2, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble.” Let the redeemed say so. What has God done to redeem us and earn our praise and thanks?

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First, consider the most fundamental issue. Consider what it is that plagues us most and keeps us all off balance. What problem is there that is common to all people – ALL people, everywhere? Sin. Lostness. Sin that separates us from God. We Christians speak of those who are saved and those who are lost. I know that language is a bit out of fashion these days, but I submit to you that there is such a thing as being lost, and that it is the most basic human condition. When the Bible says that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, it does not omit anybody. All. Lost.

And so listen to what the Psalmist says about what it is to be lost and about what God is doing for us. Psalm 107:4-9 – wandering in desert wastes, hungry and thirsty, souls fainting. Oh, brothers and sisters, let’s not forget what it is to be in spiritual distress. Maybe you have been a Christian so long you have forgotten; maybe you are like a friend of mine who says that she was carried to Sunday School in a basket when she was two weeks old and has hardly missed a Sunday since! Nonetheless, there was a time, wasn’t there, when you felt lost? There was a time, wasn’t there, when you felt separated from your Creator, a time when life seemed a waste, a time when you knew you needed more than you had but hardly even knew what it was? Do you remember? Do you remember what it is to be out of touch with the living God? Wandering in desert wastes, hungry and thirsty, souls fainting.

But then the day came when you saw. Then the day arrived when you understood, when you were able to cry out to the Lord, and what did He do for you? The Psalmist says it, “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by a straight way ...”. Let me change that a little. “Then YOU cried to the Lord ... and He delivered YOU, He led YOU.” Oh, do you remember? Do you remember how suddenly the story you had learned about one who left His home in glory to live our mundane existence came alive to you? Do you recall how in a glorious moment of insight you knew that when He went to Calvary’s cross, it was for the sins of all, yes, but in a very personal way, it was for YOU? Do you remember? And so if today you have lost the wonder of that moment, and it all now seems so ordinary, so pajamas, socks, and underwear, let us today remember that we have been given the gift of salvation. We who were lost have been found, we who were wandering have been put on a straight way, we who were separated have been brought near. There is only one response to that, and that is to thank Him who is our Savior. “Let the redeemed say so” whom He has satisfied with good things. It may seem ho-hum, but it is not. Once we were lost but now we are found. “Let the redeemed say so.”