Where To Go For Relief - Ruminating in the Word of God

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 heart and mind in Psalm 107:6,

"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered
them from their distress."

We find this phrase (or close to it) repeated four times in this
psalm. In addition to the verse quoted above we read:

"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from
their distress." Verse 13.
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from
their distress." Verse 19.
"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them
out of their distress." Verse 28.

In each of these accounts we see people helpless to find relief for
themselves. They cried out to the Lord and it resulted in relief from
their circumstances.

At my age I look back and see we all experience trouble, circumstances
we need relief from. I am reminded of Paul's words in Romans 8:20,
"For 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." It is my perspective
that Paul is not taking about the inanimate here or the animal
kingdom, but us, people, when he speaks of the frustration brought to
the creation. I believe we all experience trouble and distress in this
life, "frustration."

What I learn from in this psalm is that those who call out to the Lord
find relief for themselves as he responds. It appears to me that the
Lord is drawing us to himself and that "drawing" can be painful, but
its appointed end is that we find our relief in the Lord.

Of course the greatest relief we can find for ourselves is the
redemption the Lord provides us from his own judgment of people for
their sins. I suspect the Lord is teaching us of this through the
troubles he himself may bring our way in this life and how he will
respond if we call out to 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!

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