Psalm 107

I realize the following is a psalm of praise to the Warrior God who delivered His chosen people from Egypt and from other distress. That is the context...yet...is the Church not the New Jerusalem?--the adopted family of the Living God? Do we not also find ourselves in instances of distress and darkness (even if it is psychological)? The assistant pastor of my church directed my mom and aunt to this passage as a guide (or map) for waging spiritual warfare. Pay attention to the pattern: worshipping God--because He is God, He is good and He is faithful, He is our Redeemer, He chose us; the psalmist draws our attention to the states of human distress (wandering, starvation, darkness, rebelliousness, the storms of life, "oppression, calamity and sorrow"); the cry of the human heart in its distress to its Maker; how God listens and turns His face towards us in trouble and DELIVERS us; how our new freedom causes us to rejoice in our Lord. Very cyclical. Very beautiful. Very applicable.
Applicable because the Word of the Lord is Living and Powerful--as sharp as a two-edged sword. And how do the Saints overcome the Beast in Revelation?-- by the Blood of the Lamb and the WORD of their testimony. Let Psalm 107 be our word of TRIUMPHANT testimony. Let us shout it to the heavens and watch the gates of Hades crumble!

Psalm 107
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say this— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.
So he subjected them to bitter labour; they stumbled, and there was no-one to help.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
Let them sacrifice thank- offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.
They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.
For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.
They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.
They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.
He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,
and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;
there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.
They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;
he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.

Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.
But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.
The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.

Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.