Sermon for 1/28/2007
Psalm 107:1-32
Introduction:
Song by Paul Overstreet- God is good all the time He put a song of praise
In this heart of mine God is good all the time
Through the darkest night His light will shine
God is good God is good all the time
WBTU:
A. Turn to Psalm 107 and we will look at portions of this in a minute.
B. This Psalm tells of the certain conditions that the Israelites faced throughout their history. Some had been wanderers, some captives, some stricken with sickness and disease, some all but lost at sea.
C. But in a broader sense this Psalm talks about the conditions and history of every soul that is outside of Jesus Christ.
Thesis: Look at 4 pictures from Psalm 107 of those outside of Christ and then look how they respond to their condition.
For instances:
4 pictures
1. That of the wanderer
A. Read Psalm 107:4-5
B. Gone out of the right way, on their own, in the desert wilderness; very miserable since they can find no home or rest.
C. They are what we might call the restless ones. They are the ones who wander about from place to place or from job to job from marriage to marriage, filled with questions and seeking to find where the answer lies. They are looking for something but they cannot find it. They keep wandering from place to place and from experience to experience, trying to find something to satisfy.
C. (Isa 53:6 NIV) We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way. No shepherd to guide or protect or provide for basic needs.
C. Hungry and thirsty and they are despairing of life and have no hope of satisfaction.
D. They are wanderers from God and they are tired and discontented.
F. This is a picture of the failure of the soul to find satisfaction apart from God.
2. That of the captive.
A. Read Psalm 107:10-12
B. They are in prisons of their own making. They have rebelled willfully against the commands of God and their rebellion has put them in chains.
C. They are held prisoner by certain habits, by ideas, by thoughts, by attitudes that hold them in an iron grip. No matter how hard they try they cannot break the grip, despite the misery it causes. There are many things that can do this. Drugs can do it. Sex can also do it. A bitter attitude can do it, too.
C. They are bound hand and foot, doomed to die. They feel stupid and ashamed because of their pitiful condition because it is of their own doing. They are without help and hope.
D. (Rom 7:24 NIV) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
E. This is a picture of the awful power, oppression, and cruelty of sin.
3. That of a person with a terrible disease or sickness
A. Read Psalm 107:17-18
B. Some people persist in sin and it results in sicknesses. It can also be a sickness of the mind or emotions.
C. Really sin can be compared to leprosy. Takes away our moral feelings until bit by bit we are eaten alive. If no restoration of feeling then there is death.
D. This is a picture of the afflictions that bring death by sin.
4. That of a sailor in a deadly storm.
A. Read Psalm 107:23, 25-27
B. It says that God brings this about. Now we know that God is over the weather. But this world has been warped by sin and so things are not as they should be.
C. These sailors have done everything they know to do. It is hopeless.
D. Much like our lives. Jesus said, (Mat 5:45 NIV) He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
E. Because of the economy or a bad business deal, "It looks bad. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly I’m in a mess." They were able to solve their own problems in the past, and to escape one crisis after another. But with this trial, there seems to be no way of escape. They are mentally and physically exhausted.
E. Into every life a little rain must fall. Everyone has circumstances in life that turn sour. However, those without Christ are at their wits’ end. Everything they have to look forward to is here and when that goes they have nothing.
F. This is a picture of a soul that does not have Christ that meets with sudden and unfortunate circumstances.
How They Respond
1. The Wanderer Read Psalm 107:6-9
A. He delivers them. How?
B. Leading them back to the straight way. (Mat 7:13 NIV) "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (Mat 7:14 NIV) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.
C. Like a shepherd he leads them by a good way.
D. He leads them to a city where they can settle. That city is the church. (Heb 12:22 NIV) But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, (Heb 12:23 NIV) to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
E. No longer wanderers. (Gal 6:10 NIV) Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
F. He satisfies the thirsty. (John 4:13 NIV) Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, (John 4:14 NIV) but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
G. He fills the hungry. (John 6:35) Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
2. The captive, prisoner, the one in chains Read Psalm 107:13-16
A. He saves them. How?
B. Brings them out of the deepest gloom. (John 15:11 NIV) I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
C. Brakes away their chains, cuts through bars of iron. (1 John 3:9 NIV) No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
D. It means that though they were in the grip of vicious things (drugs, sex, alcohol, bitterness, whatever it might be), they finally brought their problems to the Lord and laid it at his feet. The Lord broke those chains. It does not mean they did not have a struggle, but the struggle was on different terms from then on. It was no longer a struggle to break free but to keep from sliding back again.
3. The sick and diseased. Read Psalm 107:19-22
A. He saves them. How?
B. He sends his Word. We might think of the Bible here, but more importantly this refers to Jesus Christ coming as the Word of the Father.
C. (1 Pet 2:24 NIV) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
D. He rescues them from the grave. (Rom 7:24 NIV) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom 7:25 NIV) Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!
E. (John 11:25 NIV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies ;(John 11:26 NIV) and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
F. Vs. 22- Joyful service is the thing for them. Sacrifice always pictures costly service. But it is service that is done with joy, with gladness, with cheerfulness. That is the way to say "Thank you," to a God who has set them free.
4. The sailor in the deadly storm, unfortunate circumstances. Read Psalm 107:28-30.
A. The Lord brings them out. How?
B. Stills the storm, and hushes the waves (vs. 29). (Mark 4:37) A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. (Mark 4:38) Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?"(Mark 4:39) He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
C. Song by Scott Krippayne- Sometimes He calms the storm with a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea but it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close and lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm and other times He calms His child
He has a reason for each trial that we pass through in life
And though we’re shaken we cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down on those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always be a quiet peaceful place.
D. (Heb 13:6 NIV) So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
E. He guided them to their desired haven vs. 30. The haven is Christ who will one day bring us to our final haven and that is heaven.
F. I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,” I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep, In Jesus I’m safe evermore.
G. Vs. 31 is repeated 4 times in this Psalm. Each after one of these pictures is presented.
H. Vs. 32 is being done this morning in worship. It was also done this past weekend at our men’s retreat with the elders. Tell about the retreat.
Conclusion and invitation:
A. This is great. It is my prayer that you have experienced these things. If you have not… give invitation.
B. For those of us who have experienced these things, let’s look at Psalm 107:1-2.
C. We as the redeemed of the Lord need to give thanks not just here but even among the unsaved, ungodly. They are the ones who need to hear it the most.
D. Think about how the world talks about God. Think about those who speak and those who write about God who do not know God. Do they give him a good word? No, they don’t!
E. We are the only ones who can give a good word for the Lord.
F. Song Pam Thum- Life is hard, the world is cold. We’re barely young and then we’re old. But every falling tear is always understood. Yes, life is hard, but God is good.
