Psalm Meditation 959
All Saint’s Sunday
November 4, 2018

Psalm 107
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.
10 Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
20 he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
22 And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.
23 Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;
29 he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in;
37 they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of distress, and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth.
43 Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the LORD.
(NRSV)

‘Those’ people are often seen as a single group who all think and behave as one. We can ask anyone we see as other what ‘their’ people think and do in a given situation so that we have a handle on the entire group. It seems so easy. All of ‘’those’ people are alike as far as I’m concerned so it must be possible to discover who ‘they’ are by asking one person all the questions we might have about a given religion, race, political party, or age group that is not our own.

The psalmist goes through the variety of ways people found themselves separated from God. Some wandered, looking for a place to live. Some sat, living in a darkness not of their own making. Some were sickened by their own sin. Some worked on the sea, the home of chaos. In a variety of ways people found themselves in need of the steadfast love of God and cried out for it. Whether we see the psalmist’s people as ‘them’ because they are of a different time and generation, or because they are of a different faith we can see that there is no one way for ‘them’ to act.

They all cry out to God and are met by the steadfast love of God where they are. And God provides what they need to escape the current predicament as they move back into the presence of God. We too can be met by God no matter our circumstances, no matter our needs and wants. The steadfast love of God finds us where we are, offers us what we lack, and moves us into the presence of God.

October 30, 2018
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/