Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Dr Linda Stargel, Academic Dean and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Language, for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 107:1-9, 43 (NRSV)
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;
7 he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
9 For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.
43 Let those who are wise pay attention to these things
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Devotional
Psalm 107 is the first psalm in the last section of the Psalter (Book V: Psalms 107-150). This set consists of a great number of “psalms of thanksgiving” like Psalm 107. Each one reports a particular crisis situation and God’s deliverance from it. As a community psalm of thanksgiving, Psalm 107:1-2 narrates multiple situations, involving various groups of people. The first is mentioned in verses 4-5—some were lost in the desert, but they cried to God and were delivered (6-7), and now they are urged to give thanks to the Lord (8-9).
Three other crises are then mentioned in the unprinted verses of this psalm: being imprisoned (10-12), being sick (17-20), and being threatened at sea (23-27). Each situation that is reported is followed by testimonies of God’s deliverance and an urging to give thanks to the Lord. The familiar human cycle of crisis, prayer, and deliverance requires a specific, public response of gratitude. For the delivered, this is a means of grace that now shifts their focus away from themselves and on to God and community. As gratitude is given, the grace radiates outward, and hearers enter empathetically into the joy of other’s deliverance. Other people find inspiration and hope to believe that God can bring about deliverances in their lives too. Gratitude is infectious and transformative. New generations sing this psalm and join their voices with those of the past, offering gratitude for new deliverances. Communities are changed into grateful communities, in contrast to the forgetful one described in the prior Psalm 106.
The final verse of Psalm 107 (43) challenges the whole community to pay attention and reflect on the motive behind all of the deliverances: the steadfast love (hesed) of the Lord.
As hearers of the word, let us reflect on God’s steadfast love. Let us join our voices with the faithful voices of the past, reporting on how God has delivered people in our communities from crisis situations. Let us join in the joyful celebration with infectious and transformative gratitude.
Prayer
God, we thank you for your steadfast love that meets us in the crises of this life. Your presence gives us strength and the voices of thanksgiving from the past inspire us to hope in new deliverances. May our responses of gratitude transform our communities now and in the generations to come. AMEN.
"May the LORD bless you and keep you ..." (Num 6:24-26)
Linda M. Stargel
Academic Dean
Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Languages