The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Psalm 107:6,
"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress."
This phrase is repeated four times in this psalm, once each in the four accounts of "the redeemed". In verse two we read "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story..." and four stories are provided. We read of desert wanderers, prisoners chained in darkness, rebellious fools and sea merchants. At the end of the psalm, verses 33-42, we read of how God brought misery on the wicked and blessings on the needy - the psalm making clear the needy who call out to God for relief. At the very end, verse 43, the wise are told to heed and ponder these things. The accounts of the redeemed included suffering at the hand of God.
This psalm brings the same message as the book of Judges. In that book, the nation of Israel is seen first experiencing God's blessings, then their seemingly inevitable straying from God into sin and rebellion, then disasters brought on by God to get Israel's attention, then Israel repenting and turning back to God, and then God blessing them. From here they would begin to stray in rebellion to God all over again. Around and around the cycle went - it repeats many times throughout the book.
In the past my understanding of these things was quite simple: please God and get rewarded, displease God and suffer the consequences - make your choice. Some depth has crept in to my understanding over the years and my perspective has broadened. What has not changed for me is the understanding that God is both loving and just. He blesses us out of his love, but his justice brings us pain for sin and rebellion in our lives. Jesus taught us that we reap what we sow.
What has come to my attention is best summed up in Romans 8:20-21, "The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God." God brings difficulty on our lives to help us see the need we have to be saved. He uses frustration and difficulty in our lives to get our attention. The hope is that we will cry out to him, to reach out to him and receive his salvation.
God uses the difficulties we experience in this life to draw us to him. He brings them to us for our good, that we might avoid his coming judgment at the end of the age. God wants all to come to him, as we read in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, "God our Savior... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." To aid in that, the Lord actively draws us to himself, using a variety of means, "And I [Jesus], when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:32.
"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress."
This phrase is repeated four times in this psalm, once each in the four accounts of "the redeemed". In verse two we read "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story..." and four stories are provided. We read of desert wanderers, prisoners chained in darkness, rebellious fools and sea merchants. At the end of the psalm, verses 33-42, we read of how God brought misery on the wicked and blessings on the needy - the psalm making clear the needy who call out to God for relief. At the very end, verse 43, the wise are told to heed and ponder these things. The accounts of the redeemed included suffering at the hand of God.
This psalm brings the same message as the book of Judges. In that book, the nation of Israel is seen first experiencing God's blessings, then their seemingly inevitable straying from God into sin and rebellion, then disasters brought on by God to get Israel's attention, then Israel repenting and turning back to God, and then God blessing them. From here they would begin to stray in rebellion to God all over again. Around and around the cycle went - it repeats many times throughout the book.
In the past my understanding of these things was quite simple: please God and get rewarded, displease God and suffer the consequences - make your choice. Some depth has crept in to my understanding over the years and my perspective has broadened. What has not changed for me is the understanding that God is both loving and just. He blesses us out of his love, but his justice brings us pain for sin and rebellion in our lives. Jesus taught us that we reap what we sow.
What has come to my attention is best summed up in Romans 8:20-21, "The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God." God brings difficulty on our lives to help us see the need we have to be saved. He uses frustration and difficulty in our lives to get our attention. The hope is that we will cry out to him, to reach out to him and receive his salvation.
God uses the difficulties we experience in this life to draw us to him. He brings them to us for our good, that we might avoid his coming judgment at the end of the age. God wants all to come to him, as we read in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, "God our Savior... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." To aid in that, the Lord actively draws us to himself, using a variety of means, "And I [Jesus], when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:32.
The purpose of suffering in this life is often serving the purpose of life itself. We find ourselves in this life for God to build his family to enjoy in the next... and he will go to amazing lengths to bring us to himself. It all comes down to whether we will embrace him in faith, and, at times, out of his amazing love for us, he will bring trouble in to our lives that we might reach out to him and find him.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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