Again and again the Psalms provide me with words from God that I need for the day. Psalm 107 (NLT)
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,
from east and west, from north and south.Some wandered in the desert,
lost and homeless.Hungry and thirsty,
they nearly died.“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress.He led them straight to safety,
to a city where they could live.Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.For he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.And the examples of his love and care go on. I hope I can write my own version – my own stanza one day. I think I am still at the crying for help part in my present episode of the verse.
Read the rest of this Psalm.
Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom,
miserable prisoners in chains.
They rebelled against the words of God,
scorning the counsel of the Most High.
That is why he broke them with hard labor;
they fell, and no one helped them rise again.
“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;
he snapped their chains.
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;
he cut apart their bars of iron.
Some were fools in their rebellion;
they suffered for their sins.
Their appetites were gone,
and death was near.
“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He spoke, and they were healed–
snatched from the door of death.
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.
Some went off in ships,
plying the trade routes of the world.
They, too, observed the LORD’s power in action,
his impressive works on the deepest seas.
He spoke, and the winds rose,
stirring up the waves.
Their ships were tossed to the heavens
and sank again to the depths;
the sailors cringed in terror.
They reeled and staggered like drunkards
and were at their wits’ end.
“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He calmed the storm to a whisper
and stilled the waves.
What a blessing was that stillness
as he brought them safely into harbor!
Let them praise the LORD for his great love
and for all his wonderful deeds to them.
Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
and before the leaders of the nation.
He changes rivers into deserts,
and springs of water into dry land.
He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,
because of the wickedness of those who live there.
But he also turns deserts into pools of water,
the dry land into flowing springs.
He brings the hungry to settle there
and build their cities.
They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,
and harvest their bumper crops.
How he blesses them!
They raise large families there,
and their herds of cattle increase.
When they decrease in number and become impoverished
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
the LORD pours contempt on their princes,
causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.
But he rescues the poor from their distress
and increases their families like vast flocks of sheep.
The godly will see these things and be glad,
while the wicked are stricken silent.
Those who are wise will take all this to heart;
they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD.
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