Sunday November
19 to 26
Psalm 107:17-22
20 He sent His word and healed
them, And delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh, that 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.
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Because of my schedule this
week I will not be making my daily Pastor Chats the rest of this week. This
afternoon I will be flying down to Florida to help move one of my grandchildren
from Florida back to Roanoke Virginia on Monday. I will be driving a moving van,
towing a car for over 900 miles. I covet your prayers for safe travels. My wife
and I will spend the rest of the week with our children and grandchildren in
Virginia celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with them. I hope to resume the
chats next Sunday the 26th. I am so thankful for all my friends and
everyone who “tunes in” to this daily chat with me seeking to grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and live for Him every day!
This is a good week to remember
that Psalm 107 begins with an exhortation for us to give thanks! Oh, give
thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (v. 1). The
rest of the chapter gives us several reasons why we should be thankful. We have
already mentioned two of them. Four times in this chapter we read: “Then
they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their
distresses.” And four times we are told: “Oh, that men would give thanks
to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of
men!”
In verses 4-9, we are described
as someone who is lost and wandering in the wilderness in a desolate condition.
We are hungry and thirsty and in a state of distress and hopelessness. But we
cry out to the LORD and He delivers us out of our distress! For this we should be
thankful!
In verses 10-16, we are
described as someone who has rebelled against God and have despised His Word
and His counsel. We become slaves in bondage to our sins, the flesh and the
devil. We fall down and there is no one to help us! But again, when we cry out
to the LORD, He hears us and delivers us out of our distress! For this we should
be thankful!
Now in verses 17-22, we are
described as someone who has not only wandered and lost in the wilderness, in
bondage to our sin because of our rebellion, but we have now lost our health
because of our foolish living and our sins. This almost sounds like someone who
has become addicted to drugs and alcohol and has lost their appetite, wasted
away to nothing and at the “gate of death”, about to die.
But once again, “we cry out to
the LORD in our trouble, and He saves us out of our distresses”! I love what it
says in verse 20. “He sent His Word and healed them”! The only place in the
world we can find true healing for our soul, our mental state, our emotions, is
in the Word of God! The Word of God is the Water of Life! The Word of God is
the Bread of Life! The Word of God is the Living Word of Life Who is Jesus
Christ!
John 1:1-2 tells us that: “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God.” Then in verse 14, John proclaimed, “And the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” God sent His Word, Jesus Christ to bring true
healing to our weary souls and set us free from our sin! Jesus Himself
proclaimed: “And if the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed’
(John 8:36).
So, today and all this Thanksgiving
Week, may the LORD help us to: “sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and
declare His works with rejoicing.
Have a wonderful day and a
great week!
God bless!
