Psalms 107, part 2: Trouble. Cry. Deliverance. Praise. Repeat.

September 27, 2017

Psalms 107
6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Look at the great love and compassion and mercy of God!

Psalm 9:9
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Psalms 27 [amplified bible]
5 For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, In His tent I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Psalms 34:17
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Contrast this with the Israelites in Jeremiah’s time!

Jeremiah 11:14
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

They were in such bad shape that God told the prophet Jeremiah not to even pray for his people!

They were so deep in darkness that God would not hear them in their time of trouble.

Want to know how to avoid this?

Avoid idolatry – putting anything above God.

Jeremiah 11
9 And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.
12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
13 For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.

Worshiping the golden calf they made with their own hands.

There’s a lot of issues to learn here, so we will tackle them one by one.

In verse 9, look what the Lord revealed to Jeremiah the prophet.

“A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem”.

What is a conspiracy? [from www.dictionary.com]

noun, plural conspiracies.
1. the act of conspiring.
2. an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.
3. a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose: He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government.
4. Law. an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act.
5. any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.

So a conspiracy is simply a group of people with an evil plan to spiritually corrupt Israel and/or overthrow the leadership.

The old testament was written for us to learn from.

There are all kinds of secret evil things going on in our world today that you would not believe even if I told you…

Yet the bible tells us about them so that we don’t get deceived by them and can take appropriate actions with God’s wisdom in order to be victorious.

The evil conspiracies usually come from the same people that seduced the Israelites into darkness, idolatry and error.

Deuteronomy 13:13
Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

John 3 sheds some light on this.

John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

I John 4
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

This is why we can be victorious in all categories of life.

Now look at verse 10!

They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Once again, God’s word sheds more light of understanding on this situation.

Proverbs 28:9
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

This is why these Israelites’ prayer went unanswered:

They loved darkness instead of God’s light
They were into idolatry instead of worshiping the one true God
They rejected God’s word.

Actions speak louder than words.

Now look at verse 11 of Jeremiah 11.

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

“I will bring evil upon them”.

It’s misunderstanding verses like this one that cause people to accuse God of evil.

In the old testament, when you read verses about God doing evil things to people, it’s the figure of speech called a Hebrew idiom of permission. It means that God isn’t actually doing the evil thing, but is allowing it to happen because people reap what they sow.

Galatians 6
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

People in the old testament didn’t know much about the devil yet because Jesus Christ hadn’t yet come to expose and legally defeat the devil, so they simply knew that God allowed evil things to occur, which means that since the Lord allowed bad things to happen, he wasn’t the actual cause of the evil.

Jeremiah 11:11
Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

Contrast them not being able to escape their troubles with this verse!

1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer [allow] you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

James 1:13
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Trust in God and his word: He makes a way to escape

Don’t trust in God and his word: no way to escape

Psalms 107:6
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

How to get God’s deliverance!

This word “deliverance” in the Septuagint [the Greek translation of the old testament] means to rescue.

The following verses are where its used in the New Testament.

II Corinthians 1
9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

God’s deliverance is:

Past
Present
Future

That covers all eternity!

God has also rescued us from the power of darkness.

That means his power is much greater than the power of the devil, who is darkness.

Colossians 1
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet [adequate] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

There’s proof of future deliverance: rescued from the wrath to come. That’s all the terrible things that will happen in the book of Revelation that will never happen to us because we trust in God and his word.

I Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

God rescued the apostle Paul from all kinds of persecutions!

II Timothy 3
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

Since God rescued the Israelites out of their troubles in the old testament, he can rescue us too.

God led the Israelites in the right way!

Psalms 107:7
And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

The phrase “right way” only occurs 5 times in the bible and implies that there is a wrong way.

II Peter 2:15
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

God gives everybody freedom of will. Make the right choice.

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Fast-forward to 28A.D., the day of Pentecost, the first time it was available to be born again of the spirit of God.

It is the final result of everything Jesus Christ accomplished.

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus Christ is the true and living way, as opposed to a false and dead way.

Nobody in their right mind would choose a false and dead way, so if they do choose to go that way, it has to be by deception from the devil.

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice…

Those are some of the words of a song I know.

Psalms 107
8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

The Israelites knew what God had done for them and they showed thankfulness to God by praising him.

In verse 8, “goodness” comes from the Hebrew word checed and means loving-kindness which is:

Abundant
Great in extent
Everlasting.

In the Septuagint [the Greek translation of the old testament], it is “mercy” as it is defined by loyalty to God’s covenant.

In other words, God stays faithful to the promises in his word no matter what.

Here are some new testament usages of this word mercy:

Matthew 23:23
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith [believing]: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Luke 1
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Psalms 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Ephesians 2
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Mercy is also one of the ingredients of God’s wisdom.

James 3
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

If we are thankful to God for all he has done for us, then we will praise him!

What are the wonderful works of God?

“Wonderful works” is the Hebrew word pala: to be surpassing or extraordinary.

In Exodus, its translated “marvels”.

Exodus 34:10
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible [King James old English: awesome] thing that I will do with thee.

Psalm 40:5
Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

God has done so many great things:

Created the universe that is so vast and advanced that even after studying it for hundreds of years, we still haven’t even scratched the surface and nobody can fully comprehend it
Made the human body, which is the most advanced physical being ever; we will never fully understand how it all works, especially the brain
How God works in our daily lives, who can do things that we will never figure out how it all worked together

In Psalms 107:8, the words “wonderful works” in the Septuagint [the Greek translation of the old testament], it is the Greek word thaumasia, which is only used one time in the new testament bible:

Matthew 21
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,

Jesus Christ did many wonderful things that nobody in the history of man ever did.

They certainly could be described as “surpassing or extraordinary“.

Jesus Christ:

Walked on water twice
Turned water into wine
Was the first person able to cast devil spirits out of people
Was resurrected in a spiritual body
He instantly healed countless people of their diseases
countless other great things

Below are 2 things in the bible that I know have surpassing excellence:

Ephesians 3:19 [amplified bible]
and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

Philippians 4:7 [New English Translation]
And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Acts 2:11
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

“wonderful works” is the Greek word megaleios: magnificent, splendid;

Acts 2:11 is the only place in the entire bible that this word is used, making it uniquely significant, just like the wonderful works of God.

Psalms 107:9
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Nothing really satisfies like the Word of God.

Only the bible has the truth and profound meaning about all of life.

II Peter 1
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

First and second Peter are the only places in the bible where grace [unmerited divine favor] and peace are multiplied to believers!

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.