Sermon Notes August 17

Categories of Deliverance

Psalm 107

I. Introduction – Psalm 107:1 - 3

Psalm 107 is a psalm of thanksgiving composed to be sung by those who returned from captivity. The psalm calls for those so delivered to witness to their deliverance, and to thank God for His goodness and because His mercy endures forever. "Mercy" is the Hebrew chesed, zeal towards anyone, kindness, love; "forever" is the Hebrew olam, best understood in this instance as "from eternity past to eternity future. ("His mercy endures forever" found in as a repeated chorus in Psalm 136; in 1 Chronicles 16:34; 2 Chronicles 7:3, 7). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so" – "redeemed" is the Hebrew gaw-al, referring to the one ransomed by the kinsman-redeemer. We were in bondage, someone else owned us; God bought us back; we are to say so.

II. Categories of Deliverance

The psalm presents four harrowing types of experience from which God provides miraculous and compassionate deliverance. These categories refer experiences, but can also be viewed as symbolic of human dilemmas.

A. Psalm 107:4 - 9 Wanderers in the Wilderness

1. They wandered – taw-aw’ – to err, go astray, stagger, wander. If you go off the path in the wilderness you will quickly be in trouble, for the desert is not your friend. This wandering is not the "happy wanderer" experience; it is not carefree. It means you have lost your way, or have been deceived or misdirected.

2. In the wilderness mid-bawr’ uninhabited land; in a solitary way – yeshimone– not the north woods or the jungle, but the desert, without food or water.

3. They found no city to dwell in – city is eer meaning a place guarded by a watch, a place of safety and rest. We city dwellers who live behind walls and locked doors and have police patrolling our streets have forgotten the dangers of the wilderness where lack of watchfulness can be fatal.

4. As a result, the wanderers (v. 5) became hungry and thirsty, and their soul fainted or grew weak within them. V. 6 – they were in trouble, tsar, the word for "narrow, tight" – as we say, "in a tight spot," with no one to turn.

5. Then they cried to the Lord.

6. What God did: a. v. 6 He delivered them out of their distresses b. v. 7 He led them forth by the right (yaw-shawr, right, upright, righteous, straight, correct) way. c. v.7 this right way led to a city (eer) of habitation, i.e., to a place of safety, of watchfulness, to a company or assembly, to a place of dwelling.

d. v. 9 He satisfied the longing soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness. V.9 indicates that the Psalm is to be understood metaphorically as well as literally.

7. How men are to respond: v. 8 "O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works."

B. Psalm 107: 10 - 16 Prisoners in bondage

1. v.10 They sat in darkness, in the shadow of death

2. v. 10 They were bound in affliction (on-ee, poverty, misery) and iron.

3. Their bondage and affliction was their own doing: v. 11 because they rebelled against God’s words and despised His advice, v.12 therefore God brought their heart down with trouble and there was none to help.

4. V. 13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble.

5. What God did: v.13 He saved them out of their distresses; v. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death; He broke their bonds apart.

v.16 He broke the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron apart.

6. How men are to respond: v.15 Praise the Lord for His goodness and wonderful works.

C. Psalm 107:17 - 22 Those afflicted because of their sins (i.e., suffering from the "sickness unto chastisement.")

1. v. 18 - they abhor their food and draw near to death

2. v. 19 - They cried to the Lord in their trouble.

3. What God did: v. 19 - He saved them out of their distresses. v. 20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. God delivers us from the consequences of our sin by His word!

4. v. 21 - 22 How men are to respond: praise God for His goodness and works, offer sacrifices of thanksgiving; declare His works with rejoicing. If the Lord delivers you, you are supposed to thank Him and tell others about it.

D. Psalm 107:23 - 32 Those that go down to the sea in ships.

This category is unlike the previous three: these have not gone astray, nor are they in bondage because they ignored God, nor are they afflicted because of their sins. They are simply going about their business on the sea of life.

1. vv.24 - 25 They get caught in the wind and the waves raised by God’s wind.

2. vv. 26 - 27 Their ship goes up and down; their soul melts in their trouble; they reel and stagger.

3. v. 28 They cried to the Lord in their trouble.

4. What God did: v. 28 He brought them out of their trouble; v. 29 He calmed the wind and the waves; v. 30; He made them glad because of the quiet; v. 30; He brought them to their desired (delightful) haven.

5. v.31 - 32 How men are to respond to God: v.31 Praise Him for His goodness and wonderful works; v. 32 Exalt Him in the congregation of the people; praise Him in the assembly of the elders.

III. God’s Sovereignty Examined Psalm 107:33 - 43

`. God can both turn the river into dry ground, and the desert into standing water. He can bless men so that they prosper, or he can bring them low; He can pour contempt on princes, and set the poor on high.

2. How men are to respond to God: v. 42 – see the sovereign work of God, and rejoice; iniquity shall stop her mouth; v. 42 – observe these things, and understand the lovingkindess (chesed) of the Lord.

IV. Conclusion

Whatever your cause of distress – call upon the Lord in your trouble.

Thank God for your deliverance.

Testify to others about your deliverance.