Psalm 107

“Give thanks to the Lord because [the Lord] is good…” Psalm 107:1a CEB

It’s hard for me to read the opening verse of Psalm 107 without breaking into Chris Tomlin’s Forever - “Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King, His love endures forever!” This classic 2001 worship song was a staple of many worship services for so many years, and its lyrics work through repetition to remind us, sometimes ad nauseum, about the everlasting faithfulness of our God. 

Psalm 107 walks through four separate illustrations of God’s redemptive work. We are reminded that God provides for: our everyday needs: food, water, survival (vs. 4-9);  freedom from the prisons that hold us (vs. 10-16); redemption from our sins (17-22); and rescue from our distress and challenging circumstances (23-32). And through our reflection on the ways in which God provides, we are reminded of the power and possibility inherent within our God. 

All so that we might respond to God with our own faithfulness and celebration.  

How are we offering up our thanksgiving and praise to God today? How are we recognizing the work God is already doing around us? Where has God rescued us? Where has God provided for us? What miraculous redemption has gone by unnoticed?  

I wonder what it would look like for us to collectively recount the ways in which we have experienced the goodness of God. Not just in the redemption of our souls or the promise of an eternal experience in the presence of God, but in the everyday things.  

In providing food that not only curbs hunger, but that satisfies the longing of our souls. 

In offering the presence of a friend who is not only available, but who truly sees us. 

In noticing not just a break in the winter chill, but discovering a warm sunbeam to rest in. 

God offers us good things because God is faithful. Forever.  - Allison