Praise
to the Lord For His Great Works of Deliverance
1 Oh, give thanks
to the Lord, for He is good! For His
mercy endures forever.
2 The redeemed of the Lord say so…
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the
enemy—
3 And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered
in the wilderness in a desolate way… they
found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and
thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried out to 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 for a dwelling place.
8 Oh, that man would give thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul
with goodness.
10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of
death, bound in affliction and irons—
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God,
and despised the counsel of the Most High,
12 Therefore He
brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their
trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and
broke their chains in pieces.
15 Oh, those men
would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to
the children of men!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in
two.
17 Fools,
because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18
Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates
of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their
trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
20
He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them
from their destructions.
21 Oh, those men
would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to
the children of men!
22
Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.
23
Those who go down to the sea in ships, who
do business on great waters,
24
They see the works of the Lord, and His
wonders in the deep.
25
For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of
the sea.
26 They
mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts
because of trouble.
27
They reel to and fro, and stagger like
a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
28
Then they cry out to the Lord in their
trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.
29
He calms the storm, so that its waves are still.
30 Then
they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32
Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in
the company of the elders.
33
He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the
watersprings into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into barrenness,
for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35
He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and
dry land into watersprings.
36
There He makes the hungry dwell, that
they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
37
And sow fields and plant vineyards, that
they may yield a fruitful harvest.
38
He
also blesses them, and they multiply greatly, and He does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When
they are diminished and
brought low through oppression, affliction and sorrow,
40
He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in the
wilderness where there is no way.
41 Yet
He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock.
42 The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth.
43 Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they
will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
There is a
part of each man, within the deceitfulness of his own heart… that no man can
see within himself as he really is...
Sin… it
is invisible until it is pointed out to us.
By our
folly and rebellious nature, the only way God gets our attention — is to send
some sort of sickness or affliction. Even
then it takes a while before we can hear the voice of God’s spirit calling us
into a new state of living… recognizing God, in repentance we begin to seek Him. We know there has to be something better.
Finally
we do hear. Through another person or directly through his Word—we hear. At this point we have a choice — we reject, or
listen to the voice speaking to our soul.
The people in this psalm have come to the end of their road. Their appetites are gone and past human help.
Spiritually they are lying at deaths door.
In desperation… they turn to God, and God in his mercy comes to their
help. His mercy
is threefold: He Saves, He Heals, He
Delivers.
These are
the 3 ways he meets our basic need:
He saves from sin,
He heals from sickness,
He delivers us from the powers of Satan.
His answers
always come through his Word. “He sent
his Word to save, to heal, and to deliver. Our problems are uniquely different, but
God’s Word comes to us through the same channel—the Spirit of God speaks to each of
us through his Word.
If you have
been crying out to God for some time and feel he has not answered you, look
directly in prayer to the Holy Spirit.
He will reveal what the hindrance could be. But we need to listen and hear, and obey His
Spirit.
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