Morning Devotions; Psalm 107 :1-16

Late Spring Flowers at the Toy Box SubUrban Farm in Everett, Wa

So far this week we have looked at Joshua chapter 9 and Psalm 15 in our morning devotions. Both of these passages testify of our need to trust the Almighty with all that we are and to not make our own plans or path that we think will work best in this world. Just in case I have given the impression that mistakes in judgment or lifestyle will disqualify us from the Kingdom of God, let me show you Psalm 107.

Psalm 107:1-2 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary nasu

 
Lift up your hands in thanksgiving to the Almighty because of his goodness to those He has redeemed! Yes, we make mistakes that dishonor Him; yes we try to operate in our own power instead of his. It doesn’t always end in disaster but it never brings him glory. But the Almighty is good. The word lovingkindness is from the Hebrew word CHECED. The Greeks translated CHECED into their word which has been translated “grace” in English. The Grace of the Almighty is everlasting-eternal.
 
Do you get the sense that you have made such a mess of things that there is no possible way to untangle the web you are caught in? The Almighty’s love for you is eternal, it is powered by his grace, his lovingkindness for you, he knows who you are, where you have been, all of your experiences, but most importantly, he sees who you will be and is guiding you that way on an unbreakable path.

Psalm 107:6-8 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses.  He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city (The New Jerusalem in the Kingdom of God). Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!

 
The Almighty loves you. He will not force himself into your life, nor will he turn you into some kind of flesh covered robot. You are you and he created you just as who you are. But like the silver he refines (remember Psalm 12?) he will turn up the heat in your life to remove the impurities and cause you to shine for Him. Call out to Him and he WILL deliver you!
 
We have an Americanism, we say, “Stay the course.” It means stick to the path (The Way) even when things seem difficult or wrong. Trust the One who set you on the path and do not give up or try to find your own way, it will end in disaster! “Stay the course.” Thank the Almighty for His Lovingkindness.

Psalm 107:10-15 There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; they stumbled and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!

 
What if you have just flat out rebelled against the word of God? (Remember Y’shua Jesus is the Word of God made flesh). Are you doomed? Will you always be 2nd class? Useless? Condemned to a miserable life at the service of someone else?
 
Rebels who reject the Word of the Almighty may well find themselves in the misery of a humbling circumstance or life. He will let you go your own way, but he never takes his eyes off of you, like the Father of the Prodigal Son, he is ever watching, ever listening for your cry of help, ever hoping you “come to your senses”

Luke 15:17-24 "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!  'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men." So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate. 

 
Why do we sin? Why do we do what we know is wrong? It is actually sort of fun and exciting for a while. The devil would have no tool to capture us if sin was not sweet for a season. It never stays that way. The prodigal son wanted to live a life of pleasure or he would never have left his father in the first place. He had his fun with his friends, but it did not last. He inevitably came to poverty and ruin after sin stole all that he had. My question isn’t why he left the father to live a wild life of pleasure, my question is, “Why was he allowed to come back?” Really what I want to know is if there is a way for me to come back after I have proven myself to be so unworthy. The best the prodigal thought he could hope for was to serve his father as a slave and at least fill himself with the good bread of the servants of his father. Why did the Father take this stupid child back?

Psalm 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary

 
Look back at verse 2 of Psalm 107. Who are the Redeemed?
 
Most of us know the story of Ruth. Boaz was her kinsman-redeemer. He bought her out of poverty, he paid the debt that allowed her to have her inheritance, he made her fruitful. She wasn’t even Jewish, but when she chose to serve the God of Naomi, when she crossed her spiritual waters and was therefore baptized into the people of Messiah, she became a Hebrew with an inheritance in The Land. Like the prodigal son, she had no idea that there could be more for her then mere survival in the Land of the People of the Almighty, and that was enough for her. But she was precious to the Almighty.
 
Boaz paid her debt. He ransomed her from the enemy of souls. She would never again be anyones slave, she would be a wife, a co-heir. Boaz, her kinsman redeemer would defend her, he would bring revenge to any who would do her harm. He would be closer than a brother, he loved her. Like Ruth, like the Prodigal Son, The Father loves us. Y’shua is our kinsman redeemer who has paid our debt and defends and avenges our life with his own. His inheritance is our inheritance, when we “come to our senses” and turn with humility toward the Father, the Almighty.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 107:1

Mrs. Hagerty, December 16, 2015