Often we think that we alone have troubles;
sometimes we might be tempted to think
that we suffer those troubles alone.
Yet God knows, God hears, God suffers,
and God redeems us from those times.
Will we be faithful until the hour of our rescue?
Hear the word of the Lord:
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
As you hear the movement of this psalm,
imagine it, picture it, line by line.
Hear the crash of the waves,
smell the splashing salt water,
feel the blast of the wind …
Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity;
they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Did you feel the waves lifting you high
and then falling out from under you?
Could you imagine how hard it would be
to walk the deck in the midst of such a storm?
Can you ever remember such a storm in your life?
A storm where your feet are under you one moment,
and the bottom falls out the next?
A time in your life when your heart
feels as if it tickled your tonsils one minute,
and stomped on your stomach the next?
Do you remember a time when you cried out,
not for food, or drink, but for life itself?
For hope in the face of despair?
He will hear our distress.
He will deal with the unruly sea,
as the text told us yesterday,
as if it were an unruly child.
Then we can celebrate.
Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
We ought to praise God.
If we are at a safe place, he has brought us to this haven.
If we still find ourselves riding out the storm,
he is the one who will has saved us before
and will deliver us once again.
Blessings,
Ron
Psalm 107:1-3; 23-32 – NRSV
