The Pilgrims first celebrated Thanksgiving as we currently know it, with the indigenous peoples of North America. Governor William Bradford in his account of the founding of the Plymouth Plantation explicitly referred to Psalm 107 in his well-known summation of their achievement: “Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and he heard their voice and looked on their adversity,” … “Let them therefore praise the Lord, because he is good: and his mercies endure forever.” “Yes, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, shew how he hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord his loving kindness and his wonderful works before the sons of men.” (William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620–1647 (New York: The Modern Library, 1952), 63.)
Those words are based on Psalm 107, which suggests that the psalm was often in the Pilgrims’ minds. Since the Pilgrims came ashore on Monday, December 11, 1620, after having spent the prior day worshiping God, it is even likely that Psalm 107 was the basis for that Sabbath’s meditation. In its own setting Psalm 107 is a praise song of the regathered people of Israel after their Babylonian bondage. …the psalm was aptly used by the Pilgrims and may be loved by us as well, since the examples it gives of the perils from which the people of God are delivered are at once common, varied, and suggestive. We can see ourselves in each of these situations. (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (p. 864). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
When we think about it, each of us has a life or death situation before us. If we are redeemed, we have been saved/rescued from the wrath of God (Rom. 5). Yet every one of us knows someone that is not redeemed and faces this situation. The most dangerous thing about this is that these people don’t realize the gravity of the situation they face. Psalm 107 is helpful for us to give thanks for redemption or plead for redemption for those we love. It provides a rich picture of 1) The divine work of Redemption (Psalm 107:1-9), and 2) The divine work of Restoration (Psalm 107:10-15) particularly in regard to the redemption and restoration of Israel by the mercy and goodness of God.
We can give thanks to the Lord for He is Good as seen in:
1) The divine work of Redemption (Psalm 107:1-9)
Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble 3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; 5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. 8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. (ESV)
The opening verses are a summons to thank God. Verse 1 is a summation which rehearses all of the deliverances of Israel from every direction. The psalm was mostly likely written after the exile in Babylon. It perhaps then looks especially at the Babylonian exile, the redemption of the people of God from their Babylonian captivity. And while that may be in some ways its most poignant reference, it is certainly not limited to that. In fact, it provides general pictures of God's redemption of Old Testament saints and as well of God's redemption even of us. It is applicable to all who have been redeemed from sin. We can give thanks to the LORD, for His is good. His goodness is spelled out because He is a God who keeps His promises. His steadfast (Hessed) love endures forever. He is a covenant keeping God who fulfills His good promises. The basis of our worship is an acknowledgement of this fact. Most likely, this psalm was used for worship, particularly by the Jews who returned from Babylon to rebuild their city and rebuild the wall and rebuild the nation. Perhaps this psalm was even sung at the first Feast of Tabernacles that Ezra 3 says was celebrated right after they returned. As we pray for revival, we too need to begin with this kind of worship, (petitioning) the mercy of God beyond our sin and the decay of the church. Revival will begin with the restoration of a proper vision of who God is, His goodness, His moral perfection, and His mercy, which is extended to ward us. As we trust that the Lord is merciful, we will experience His mercy again.( Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Psalms 73–150 (Vol. 14, p. 266). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.)
• This Thanksgiving weekend many return to extended family gatherings. We return to familiar stories and discuss what has transpired since we last met. If our stories of thankfulness reflect what God is doing, then it not only shows our true thankfulness, but can be the means God uses to bring deliverance.
This is reflected in the directive of verse 2:"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." Those who have been redeemed are the ones who ought to be praising God and thanking God. Not all who have been delivered from trouble are redeemed in the soteriological sense. Therefore the psalmist calls on everyone who has experienced an act of God’s “redemption” to be wise by confessing that he is good, loving, and faithful! This call should cause us to ask a probing, personal question, namely, Am I among the redeemed? meaning, Am I one who has been delivered from sin and so been gathered from my aimless secular wanderings to be a part of God’s well-loved, well-grounded, and well-established covenant people? If you have been redeemed from your sin by the death of Jesus Christ, you should thank God for your deliverance and tell others that God is indeed “good” and that “his love endures forever,” as the psalm says. According to the first chapter of Romans, it is a mark of the unregenerate that “they neither [glorify God] as God nor [give] thanks to him” (Rom. 1:21). (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (p. 865). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
Only those who have been redeemed in a salvific sense are those who can genuinely sing the song of thanksgiving for God's goodness and God's mercy to them. Goodness and mercy is the theme of the song, and it's the theme of the life of one who has tasted its sweetness and been invited to sing praises to a redeeming God. And as I said, it's not just Israel's song; it's our song, for we have been redeemed by mercy and by the goodness of God, and we have every right to sing this same song. “the redeemed of the LORD” (v. 2; cf. Isa 62:12) have experienced adversity in exile and have been “redeemed/delivered of the Lord” (cf. Isa 35:9; 51:10–11; 63:4). The permanent significance of the psalm lies in the variety of ways in which and from which the Lord redeems his people. He does deliver people from all kinds of afflictions and is not restricted by spacial or temporal limits (vv. 4–32). All who have experienced God’s love may join together with God’s ancient covenant people to give thanks for their deliverance..( VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 682). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
Israel, had been redeemed, rescued and restored by God over and over and over through the centuries. As highlighted in verse three, they had been rescued from Egypt in the south. They had been rescued from Assyria and Syria to the north. They had been rescued from the Philistines to the west and they were rescued from the Babylonians to the east. Combining it all, the Israelites were scattered by the Assyrians (c. 722 B.C.) as well as the Babylonians (c. 597–586 B.C.). Many had fled to Egypt and beyond (cf. 2 Kgs 25:26). The new policies of the Persians allowed all captives from all lands to return to their former homes (Tesh, S. E., & Zorn, W. D. (1999). Psalms (pp. 299–300). Joplin, MO: College Press.)
They had plenty of reasons to sing about God's great deliverance and redemption. First, there is the predicament. Then there is the petition. Then there is the pardon. And then there is the praise. The predicament is the dangerous situation described. The petition is the cry for deliverance from that danger. The pardon is the merciful deliverance provided. And the praise is the call to thanks that follows.
• Our own redemption from sin is imaged in these magnificent analogies. We, too, are like people lost in the wilderness, locked in prison, languishing in deadly sickness, and life-threatened on a storm-tossed sea. This picture then is not only of the redeemed of the Old Testament, but us as well.
Let's start with the first picture. It's very, very clear--that of being lost in a wilderness, verse 4: "Some wandered in desert/wilderness wastes/in a desolate way, finding no way “to a city to dwell in; [5] hungry and thirsty, their soul “fainted in them." Here’s the predicament. There is the predicament--restless, lost, sinners without resources, starved and thirsty, wandering hopelessly in a trackless desert, aimlessly looking for a city which can provide food and water, rest, and safety. Obviously this could well depict Israel in the forty years wandering in the wilderness, when they came out of Egypt wandering restlessly and aimlessly, roaming around in a wasteland, a howling desert between Egypt and Canaan where they all eventually died under divine judgment. It also surely could be used to describe the terrible plight of Israel and the land of Babylon lost as a nation, defused into a pagan culture in a religious desert of godlessness at the very point of perishing. Lostness, hunger, thirst and exhaustion are all figures which our Lord was to employ in relation to his self-offer as the Way, the Bread and Water of life and the Giver of rest(cf. Ephesians 2:11ff.; Hebrews 12:22ff.; Revelation 21 and 22.) (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, pp. 418–419). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
• Those without Christ: are troubled, destitute, despondent, lost soul wandering aimlessly in the barrenness of sin without the soul-supplying spiritual bread and water of life. That's how sinners are. They wander, looking for a city, someplace where there's water, someplace where there's food, where there's provision and joy and fellowship and rest and security and safety from the ever-present and impending death.
• Why is it, even at Thanksgiving, why so many are still anxious, restless and unfulfilled. It is because they sought satisfaction in that which would not ultimately satisfy. God deliberately designs all in creation to point to Him, who alone satisfies.
That leads to the petition in verse 6. This point psalmist says, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble." "How were people in the Old Covenant saved?" The same way as through the New Covenant. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, they realized their spiritual condition and cried out to the Lord. That's how. They cried out to the Lord in their trouble/distresses. Israel certainly cried out to the Lord in Egypt. They cried out to the Lord in Babylon, they pleaded with God for redemption from bondage and redemption from barrenness. They told God of their famished and serious plight and condition. It is easy to understand why these words would have appealed to our Pilgrim fathers as describing their experiences. These poor people had been driven from their homes and were virtually hounded from place to place, at one time escaping England for Holland, until at last they set sail for the American continent. According to William Bradford, they “were hunted and persecuted on every side. … Some were taken and clapped up in prison, others had their houses beset and watched night and day, and hardly escaped their [enemies’] hands; and the most were fain [constrained] to flee and leave their houses and habitations, and the means of their livelihood.”( Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 10.) These were the problems they faced in the early 1600s. So when they finally came to America and were settled in their own homes from 1620 on, however rustic these rude shelters may have been, the Pilgrims felt enormous gratitude to God. (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 865–866). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
Please turn to Hebrews 11 (p.1007)
In Application, this Psalm is illustrative for, sinners of all times who recognize their failure to keep the law of God, who recognized their lostness, their aimlessness; who recognized their deprived and dangerous condition. They recognized that they were wandering aimlessly from place to place and job to job and marriage to marriage and experience to experience, and never finding any lasting satisfaction. And they desperately want to find their way to an inhabited city of safety and peace and tranquility and satisfaction.
This all reflects the Old Covenant saints like Abraham:
Hebrews 11:8–10 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (ESV)
• This is where the sinner has to come to a desperate sense of need. Faith leads to obedience to God’s promise and calling Our inheritance is salvation (Heb. 9:15) pointing forward to the Heavenly city where Christ has gone to prepare a place for us. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2380). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
And verse 6 declares the resolution to this problem with God’s action: “And He delivered them from/out of their distresses. [7]And He led them by a straight/the right way till they reached/that they might go to a city to dwell in/a dwelling place." When Israel called to God, He heard them, and He delivered them, and He led them by a straight/the right way : a road without humps and bumps and curves and turns, an easy road. The grace of salvation makes it an easy way. The journey is depicted as a straight way, an easy way. God provides goodness and mercy and grace, and it was Him who did all the work. All we had to do was receive it. God reached down in the wilderness of this world and saved me. He will do the same for you, if He hasn’t already done so. This is a glorious picture of the providence of God in the lives of His ancient people—God is not through with the nation Israel. In fact, God is not through with you and He is not through with me. This section has a message for us.( McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: Poetry (Psalms 90-150) (electronic ed., Vol. 19, pp. 57–58). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)
Finally, the petition leads to the pardon, and the pardon leads to the praise in verses 8 "Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love/goodness, for His wondrous/wonderful works to the children of man! [9]And the hungry/longing soul he fills/satisfies with good things/goodness." What could more deserve the praise and thanks of God's people than that they are safely on their way to the heavenly city? Ultimately the filling/satisfaction here is spiritual rather than material (comp. Ps. 34:10; Luke 1:53). God alone can satisfy (our ultimate needs) (Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Psalms (Vol. 3, p. 2). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.)
Illustration: The Pilgrims
On December 21, 1620, the voyaging Mayflower dropped anchor in Plymouth Bay, with Captain Christopher Jones at her helm. It had been a grueling voyage, taking the one-hundred-twenty-ton-capacity ship sixty-six days to make the perilous crossing. There had been disease, anxiety, and childbirth among the 102 courageous passengers. Furthermore, they arrived on the bleak New England shore during a hard winter which ultimately claimed half of their number. However, when spring came and the captain of the Mayflower offered free passage to anyone desiring to return, not a single person accepted. The fidelity of the forty-one men, who while still aboard the Mayflower had signed the famous Compact beginning with the words, “In ye name of God Amen,” was taking on visible meaning. Faith prompted the voyage; faith sustained the Pilgrims and their convictions constrained them to raise their voices in praise. (Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (pp. 43–44). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
• They thanked the LORD for His steadfast love in redeeming and sustaining them. Even though they left everything they had to undertake the journey, they were satisfied in their LORD, and could truly give thanks on that first Thanksgiving.
We can give thanks to the Lord for He is Good as seen in:
2) The divine work of Restoration (Psalm 107:10-15)
Psalm 107:10-15 10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. 13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. 15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! (ESV)
The people of the Lord can have thanksgiving for Restoration. Here we see a picture of being liberated from a prison, and lost in a wilderness. Verse 10, portrays the imagery very clearly: "Some/Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and irons." There is a picture of a prisoner in a dungeon, in the darkness, in the shadow of death. . It is interesting to note that spiritual salvation is often described as release from prison. (cf. Isaiah 42:7; 61:1; Psalm 102:20; Luke 1:79; 4:18; 13:16; and 1 Peter 3:19.) Charles Wesley put it beautifully in his hymn, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain”: Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light: My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee. (Charles Wesley as quoted in Alden, R. L. (1976). Psalms: songs of discipleship (Vol. 3, p. 23). Chicago, IL: Moody Press.)
Prisoners as depicted in the Psalm died from the filth of those places, chained in iron chains that created tremendous suffering. They were there, verse 11 says--and here's the key--"for/because they rebelled against"...What?...“the words of God." And “they had spurned/despised the counsel of the Most High. [12] So/Therefore He bowed/brought down their hearts with hard labour; they fell down and there was none to help." The Pilgrims’ leaders were often put in prison for dissenting from the established religion of the time, and when small groups tried to escape the persecution by sailing across the English Channel to Holland or elsewhere, they were frequently arrested on that account too. Bradford tells of several such incidents. In one, the men were separated from their wives and children. “Pitiful it was to see the heavy case of these poor women in this distress; what weeping and crying on every side, some for their husbands that were carried away, … others not knowing what should become of them and their little ones; others again melting in tears, seeing their poor little ones hanging about them, crying for fear and quaking with cold. Being thus apprehended, they were hurried from one place to another and from one justice to another, till in the end they knew not what to do with them.” (Bradford p., 14). Bradford recounts how eventually they all nevertheless did manage to get to Holland, where they thanked God (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 866–867). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.).
Why are some not thankful at Thanksgiving? Because those apart from the Lord look at their lives and recognize the aimlessness and the lostness and the hopelessness and the insecurity and the fears and the lack of satisfaction and the hunger of heart and the thirst. The sinner not only understands the aimlessness and the hopelessness and the despair and the emptiness, but also understands that they are imprisoned as the result of a violation of Gods laws, a result of rebellion against the counsel of God, as a result of rebellion against the Words of God.
This is how it was for Israel. They were taken into captivity in Babylon because of their rebellion. The prophets made that very clear. Read the first part of Zechariah. They had despised everything God said. Isaiah said the same thing in Isaiah chapter 5. He said, "You have despised the words of the Lord, that's why you're going into captivity." Adam, in all his posterity, rebelled against God and His Word; and the whole race is imprisoned in a dungeon of darkness, awaiting execution. Life is hard and unfulfilling. The soul of sinners is confined in the prison of inequity and the guilt and dissatisfaction, bound with chains too strong to be broken, living in total darkness, and realizing that this is a sentence of God because of sin.
And that leads to the petition in verse 13: "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble." That's where the sinner has to come. It's the same as verse 6. The same exact pattern. And then you go from the petition to the pardon in verse 13. And the same immediate reaction, "And He delivered/saves them out of their distress." Charles Wesley put it this way, " Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,—I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee”. (Charles Wesley, ‘And can it be …?’)
Please turn to 2 Corinthians 4 (p.965)
The Father, as verse 14 states: " He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and burst/broke their bonds/chains apart/in pieces." That is glorious, isn't it? The sinner's chains, like Peter's chains, fell off at the word of the Redeemer, and he was brought into the light.
Why then are some blind to God’s provision and not thankful to Him? 2 Corinthians 4 explains the situation and our calling:
2 Corinthians 4:1–6 4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (ESV)
• The hardened heart causes one to be separated from God’s presence and makes it impossible to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. The gospel illumines how Christ’s death on the cross makes it possible for God’s people to be in his presence… This gospel is both proclaimed and embodied by Paul. (For the redeemed who are thankful, we are called to both proclaim and live the gospel before a world in darkness) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2228). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
The Redeemed are thankful, celebrating what God has done. Charles Wesley put it this way, "He breaks the power of canceled sin and”...What?..."sets the prisoner free." Suddenly and instantaneously. And such pardon leads to praise. That is truly the thanks in Thanksgiving. And the psalmist pleads, in verse 15, if this has happened to you, “Let them thank the Lord for His goodness and for His steadfast love; for his wondrous/wonderful works to the children of man." Throughout the psalm the love referred to is the committed, un-changing, loving determination of the Lord who will never give up those whom he has chosen for himself. This love expressed itself in redemption (2)—the work of the ‘next-of-kin’ who took as his own all the needs of his threatened kinsfolk, himself bearing their burdens and rescuing them from their dangers. (Motyer, J. A. (1994). The Psalms. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 556). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
(Format note: Some base commentary from http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-203/giving-thanks-for-redemption?Term=thanksgiving)
