“JESUS IS _____!”
PSALM 107:1-16/
David P. Nolte
(I am indebted to Zach Williams for the basic main points.)
When you say, “Jesus is ......” the list is practically unending. Actually there are about 200 names or titles for Jesus in the Bible. For instance, “Jesus is: Lord; Master; The Way; the Lion of Judah; Prince of peace; Son of man; Son of God; Savior.” The list goes on and on.
The most important discovery you will ever make is Who Jesus is in your life. I want to share three important truths about Jesus and Who He is and what He can mean to you:
Let us consider the Psalm which describes Who the Lord is to His people both then and now. “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, From the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; they stumbled and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses.” Psalm 107:1-13 (NASB).
Our situation is not unlike that of those ancient Israelites. In ways, our world is in darkness and there are many things that bring us pain and many things that put us into bondage.
The Lord heard their cry for relief and He helped. Even today the Lord can help those who cry out to Him because:
I. HE IS THE PAIN TAKER:
A. Notice some examples of their pain:
1. Some wandered in desert wastes, homeless, hopeless, finding no city in which to dwell; they were hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
2. “Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in affliction and in irons, ....”
3. “Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor.”
4. “They fell down, with none to help.”
B. They were in spiritual, mental, emotional and physical pain.
1. But, “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.” He still hears every cry for help.
2. He is moved by our pain and sorrow.
3. In His time and way He takes our pain onto Himself and gives us relief. He invited, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB).
4. Isaiah rightly foretold it, and as The Message puts it: “But the fact is, it was our pains He carried — our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought He brought it on Himself, that God was punishing Him for His own failures. But it was our sins that did that to Him, that ripped and tore and crushed Him — our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole.” Isaiah 53:4-5 (MSG).
C. What a one-sided exchange.
1. We gave Him all the negatives and in exchange He gave us all the positives.
2. We gave Him our sins, and in exchange He gave us righteousness.
3. We gave Him our soul sickness, and in exchange He gave us healing.
4. We gave Him our disfigurements, and in exchange He gave us beauty.
D. Please understand that I am not even suggesting that you will never hurt or experience pain. What I am saying is that Jesus steps into the picture and gives us grace, mercy, endurance and His presence alongside us to share our burden with us and in every hurt to bear a part.
1. Have you ever felt physical sympathy pain in your legs when you see or hear something painful or harmful to someone else? That is because when we receive cues that another person is in pain, our own pain circuits within the brain are activated and we feel actual pain.
2. Jesus feels our pain and steps alongside of us to take it onto Himself and to help us bear it.
3. Experience has shown me that you can bear anything if you don’t have to face it alone! You can bear pain and trouble and distress because Jesus is “a very present help in time of need.”
4. He may
a. Take your pain away entirely.
b. Take it onto His shoulder alongside you and give you grace to bear it.But He will not let the one who cries out in surrender and faith go on for long unassisted.
E. Rusell Brownworth wrote, “I had emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen when I was 16. I was not nearly as indestructible on the football field as I thought when my soft underbelly met the knee of my team-mate, one 6’3” Harry Adams.
Two days following the surgery the ancient nurse came into my room and said, ‘All right, young man, time to get up and do our walking!’ I wanted to say to her, ‘What do you mean “our” walking – you got a squirrel in your pocket, lady? I’m in this bed in pain here!”
My thinking was if we were going to do walking, I wanted her to share some of the pain. In actuality she did. That nurse, small but wise, and not one with whom you’d trifle – she had ‘the look’, the kind that could freeze hot tamales – she knew about pain. You could tell it in her eyes. She’d borne children and known hardship and discipline. She’d lived four times as long as me, and she shared my pain. We walked, and I eventually felt better, stronger. She helped, because she understood.”
So, He is in that same way the Pain Taker and He is even more because once He enters the picture and bears our pain with us:
II. HE IS THE CHAIN BREAKER
A. The people were then, and people are today, in darkness and bondage. We read:
1. “Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in affliction and in irons, .... There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains, ...” Psalm 107:10 (NASB).
2. “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving-kindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has shattered gates of bronze And cut bars of iron asunder.” Psalm 107:14-16 (NASB).
B. He brought them out. He broke their chains. He shattered the gates and cut the bars that had imprisoned them.
C. What was the crime for which they experienced bondage and incarceration?
1. They were idolaters.
2. They despised, disregarded and disobeyed God’s commands.
3. They were immoral.
4. They were cruel to the defenseless, the weak and the widows.
D. Their sin put them in chains. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. They could not free themselves by any other means of escape.They were like those incarcerated on “The Rock.” It was said that no one could escape from Alcatraz, especially by swimming. The seasonal water temperature in the San Francisco Bay is about 53 °F in December and the current is daunting. In addition, occasional visits from great white sharks and the threat of razor-sharp rocks, discouraged most escape attempts. But there were a total of 14 escape attempts made by 36 prisoners while it served as a federal penitentiary. Two men tried twice; twenty-three were caught, six were shot and killed, two gave up and five are listed as "missing and presumed drowned". Alcatraz closed on March 21, 1963, and during its 29 years of operation, it is claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped. Sin is like Alcatraz – no man can escape unaided.
But the good news is that for sure there are no chains, bonds, shackles, bars, gates or prison cells that can hold or confine us when He sets us free, He leads us in the right way.
III. HE IS THE WAY MAKER:
A. “They wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress; He led them by a straight way, till they reached a city to dwell in.” Once He set them free, He led them home.
B. Some say, “There are many ways in life.” In truth, there are only two ways. Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB). Regarding that, I have abbreviated and paraphrased William H. Smitty’s outline:
1. There Is only One "Right" Way. Jesus said,"I am the way."
2. There is also the Wrong Way. It is the Fool's Way.
a. Because on it we are enticed to go in the godless world's way.
b. Because it leads to destruction and death.
God will lead us all in the "Right" Way.
c. But we must be willing to follow.
d. We must walk with Him by faith.
C. We live in a world that is being misled.Misled by secular humanistic anti-Christ belief and dogma:
a. The evolution theory: “Mankind evolved from lower life forms so there is no creator to whom to be accountable.”
b. The idea that “There is no absolute standard of right and wrong, so follow society and let your heart be your guide.”Misled by anti-Christ moral / secular values such as
c. Thinking that living together as man and wife outside of marriage equals marriage. But Jesus said to the woman at the well, "You have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband." John 4:16-18 (NASB).
d. Claiming that “If it is enjoyable, it is okay. After all, God wants me to be happy.” Yes, but not at the cost of holiness. Not at the loss of virtue and purity.
e. Asserting, “It’s my life, my body, my choice and I answer to no one, so bug off.” Wrong! God says, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (NASB).Misled by false religions which demean Christ, deeming Him to be just a prophet, an example, or just a extremely godly man.
D. When we are misled, we get lost, and we can’t find our way. Don’t you get aggravated when someone gives you incorrect directions or when your G.P.S. fouls up and misguides you? You begin to feel like I did when trying to find a home on California Street in Klamath Falls to visit a church member. California street is in three segments, 3 to 4 miles apart. It took a long time and getting hold of a city map to find the way. I had wished I had the capability of making a straight road to join up the fragments.
E. Jesus will never mislead us and He doesn’t let us wander all around without clear instructions. He not only shows the say, He makes the way and is the way. As Dottie Rambo’s song says, so we ought to pray:
“Roll back the curtain of memory now and then
Show me where you brought me from and
Where I could have been
Just remember I'm a human and human's forget
So remind me, remind me dear Lord.”
Remember, He is the way maker and He is much more than capable of leading us home.
Jesus did for us what no one else could do:
He died our death to give us His life.
He came to earth that we might go to heaven.
He became poor that we might become rich.
He became sin that we might become righteous.
And as Dottie Rambo put it:
“Nothing good have I done
To deserve God's own Son;
I'm not worthy of the scars
In His hands.
Yet He chose the road to Calvary
To die in my stead.
Why He loved me I can't understand.”
But love us He does and with what marvelous grace He wants to take our pain, break our chains, and make our way.
He provides God’s Grace, Amazing, Wonderful, Powerful, Marvelous Grace that is greater than all our sins. Take that Grace today!
