And please turn with me in your Bibles now to Psalm 107. Boys and girls, as we turn now to God's word, to Psalm 107 as our sermon text this morning, I want you to pay particular attention to the pattern that you will hear as I read this Psalm This morning, you're going to hear a repeated theme about the people of God and their lives in this world. And the pattern will follow the similar formula of beginning with the distress that they faced, how they responded to that distress, and then how God replied to their crying out to him out of their distress. We should thank God for this Psalm because it should give us great confidence knowing that whatever distress we find ourselves in, that same pattern will apply to us who look to Christ our Savior by faith and cry out to him. So let us give our careful attention now to Psalm 107. As you're going to hear me read in a moment, this Psalm ends by saying, whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. Let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. So let us give our careful attention now to the Word of God as it sets before us the steadfast love of our living God. This is Psalm 107. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble. and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous work to the children of man, for He satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul He fills with good things. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor. They fell down with none to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts into the bars of iron. Some were fools through their sinful ways and because of their iniquities suffered affliction. They loathed any kind of food and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man, and let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his deeds in songs of joy. Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep, for he commanded and raised the stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight. They reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. Let them extol him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salty waste. because of the evil of its inhabitants. He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water, and there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in. They sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. By his blessing, they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish. When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes. But he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. The upright see it and are glad, and all the wickedness shuts its mouth. Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. Let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. Amen. Here ends the reading of God's holy word. May he now bless us as we seek by the help of the Holy Spirit to attend to these things. Well, on October 14th, 1829, a Scottish minister and a pioneering missionary by the name of Alexander Duff, he set sail for India with his wife. Four months into that long journey, In the middle of the night, the ship ran aground trying to navigate the Cape of Good Hope. The pounding waves destroyed the ship completely. The pounding waves washed everything away. Miraculously, everyone survived, passengers and crew. As they began to gather themselves together upon the shore, They staggered about trying to make sense of all that had just happened around them. Nothing of their cargo remained, but as one sailor walked about the shore looking to find food, he happened upon two books. He found a Bible and he found a Scottish psalm book. Looking inside, he found the name of this pastor and missionary, Alexander Duff. Duff had been transporting 800 books with him in the hopes of starting a Christian college, but only these two books remained. Well, in spite of their great losses, Duff opened his Bible to Psalm 107, and he read the words of the Psalm that we have just read, and he concluded with those same words. Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. Let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. Our lives in this world can change dramatically in a moment. Alexander Duff and his wife had many plans for their missionary journey and many things that they would do in India. But one night a storm happened upon them and they lost everything. Their very lives were the only things that were restored. And yet Alexander Duff could open the word of God with the crew and the rest of the passengers and they could give thanks to God for His goodness and for His steadfast love. What are you thankful for this morning? Even as I don't know what sort of seasons of life each of you are in this morning, the Word of God comes to us together corporately and it commands us to give thanks to God because we have good reason to give thanks to God. Simply turning our attention to God's goodness and His steadfast love, you and I, again, despite whatever circumstances we find ourselves in this morning, you and I have great reason to give thanks to God. Verse 1 calls our attention to God, and it calls us to give thanks to God for His goodness and His steadfast love. But then in verses 2 and 3, the psalmist gets more specific and he focuses our attention upon the goodness of God by having us consider his redeeming work. And verse 3 provides an outline for the rest of the psalm by describing how it is that we, as God's people, have been gathered in from every corner of this world, from east and west and from north and south. Well then, as you heard me read just a moment ago, you know how the psalmist went on to give us four pictures of who we once were apart from this redeeming work of God. In verses four through nine, the psalmist first pictures us as wanderers, those who are lost and without a home. And then in verses 10 through 16, he pictures us as prisoners, those who are locked behind bars from which we cannot free ourselves. Then in verses 17 through 22, he pictures us as those who suffer because of our own sin. And then in verses 23 through 32, he pictures us as those who are storm-tossed. Each of these are graphic pictures aimed to describe who we are apart from the saving work. of Jesus Christ. And each of these are pictures upon which we ought to reflect so that we might give thanks to God this morning. You see, apart from the intervening work of the triune God into your life, you were once a wanderer without a home. You were once imprisoned by your own sin. You suffered affliction because of your iniquities. And though you may have thought yourself to be free, your life was better described as a ship upon a stormy sea. The psalmist closes this psalm with those words, whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. Let him attend to these things. These are the things upon which we are to set our attention in this world. We need to consider together this morning the steadfast love of the Lord. Well, with God's help, that is what we want to do this morning. We want to simply meditate upon God's goodness to us as it is articulated here in Psalm 107. So this morning, let's begin as we turn our attention back to the Word of God. And I want you to begin this morning to picture your peril. Let's simply think upon our lives in this world without Jesus Christ. Now, I'm sure you understand something that happens commonly to us in this world, that it is all too easy for us to grow accustomed to our surroundings. We live in the state of Colorado. And we live in a beautiful part of the country. And whenever people move to Colorado, they are often speaking about the beauty that surrounds them. They speak about these trees just to our, or I'm sorry, these mountains just to our west. But if you've spent any time or like me, maybe grew up here in Colorado, it's far too easy to simply grow accustomed to these surroundings and to let the awe and the beauty of what surrounds us grow to be rather mundane or normal. I grew up here in Colorado, as I just said, and what it took for me to appreciate all of the beauty that surrounds us is leaving the state for a time. Well, the psalmist here in Psalm 107 wants us to gain a fresh appreciation for the beauty that surrounds us as Christians by removing us from our present circumstances and having us to remember what our lives were once like apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ. He takes us to another setting. He takes us back to our lives before Christ so that we might remember the great blessing that we have in Jesus Christ. And so he takes us to these four scenes. The psalmist first wants us to remember our lives as desert wanderers. He describes us as those who were wandering throughout the desert waste. We were once those who could not find our way, and we had no city in which to dwell. We were those who were hungry and thirsty. We were those whose souls were fainting as we wandered around in that vast expanse of the desert. Without food and water and longing for home, we had no real hope of ever being settled. Years ago, there was a Swiss psychiatrist who wrote a book called A Place to Be. In that book, he simply argued that one of the greatest longings of your heart and my heart is for a place to be. Now, it doesn't take anyone to or any great study to understand this principle of our hearts. I mean, right now, as we enter the holiday season, you will be bombarded with messages that tell you that there is no place like home for the holidays. That is something that every single one of our hearts understands and longs for. But apart from the work of Jesus Christ, you and I do not actually have a home. Apart from the work of Jesus Christ, you and I are just those wanderers in the desert. Joel Beeky often tells the story about how his father would routinely remind him of one of the greatest blessings that he had as a Christian. He would ask him, do you know what is the greatest blessing for Christians that sets them apart from all others in this world? And then he would answer, Christians always have a place to be. Christians always have their home with God. Well, the psalmist wants you and me to remember that at one time, we did not have our home with God. But then, God, in Christ, by His Spirit, for those of you who are trusting in Jesus Christ, God stooped down to take you to be His own. This is something that the Word of God calls us to remember time and time again. We might think about how the book of Ephesians calls us to remember. Paul writes, therefore remember that you were once separated from Christ. You were once alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. You were once strangers to the covenant of promise. You at one time, you had no hope. And you are without God in this world. The call of Psalm 107 is to remember that this is who you once were apart from the work of God in Jesus Christ. And just as Paul goes on there to write in Ephesians, but now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Though you once were a wanderer, if you belong to God in Jesus Christ, you belong to Him. He is your eternal home. Now next, the psalmist pictures our plight by describing us as prisoners. You and I were once imprisoned by our sin. The psalmist says, they had rebelled against the words of God and they had spurned the counsel of the Most High. And so in our sins, we sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. You and I were once imprisoned by our sins. We were hemmed in by these afflictions and by irons. Now, I'm guessing that not many of us in this room know what it's actually like to be in prison. to have our freedoms removed from us so that we do not exercise agency over our own lives. And much less than that, I don't think that any of us can understand what it's like to be on death row, only to have the shadow of death growing greater and greater with every passing moment. And yet, spiritually speaking, those are accurate descriptions of who we are apart from the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ's mercy, that is who you and I once were. John Bunyan saw verse 16 in this psalm as a description of the Holy Spirit's work in his own heart. He described how the Holy Spirit broke through the bronze gates and the iron bars of his hard heart to set him free. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah, Isaiah 61, and there it says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. Well, if you are trusting in Jesus Christ this morning, you can add your amen to that work of Jesus Christ as you have experienced it in your own life. You add your amen when the Word of God declares that you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, but God, being rich in mercy, has made you alive together with Christ. You were once a prisoner, and you had no strength of your own to set you free, but Christ was sent to preach liberty to captives. The third picture that the psalmist gives to us is that of the sinful sufferer. In this description, we meet those who suffer affliction because of their own sin. Now, there are times in which the Bible describes us as sufferers, but it's not directly tied to our sin. We might simply think of Job as one example. But that is not the case here. There are also other times in which the word of God describes our sufferings in this life as a direct result of our sin. We might think of Psalm 32. There, David describes his experience under the crushing weight of guilt and unconfessed sins. He gives voice to his sufferings when he says, When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groanings all day long. The weight of sin and guilt can literally make you sick. The weight of sin and guilt when brought home to you by the Holy Spirit can literally crush you under its weight. I suspect that many of you know this from personal experience. John Bunyan portrays this in the main character of his classic work, Pilgrim's Progress, as Christian is made aware through the reading of God's word of his sin and guilt. He is pictured as having that great burden upon his back, and he has one desire. He knows that he lives in the city of destruction, and unless he gets free of that burden, he will die underneath its weight. Well, you and I, as we come to the word of God and the Holy Spirit reveals to us the weight of our own personal sin and guilt, we can relate to Bunyan's description of Christian and Pilgrim's progress. There, Christian suffered in torment while others did not. His wife and his own children thought that he had gone mad because he was so weighed down by something that they could not see. Well, here the psalmist describes this suffering as so intense that he drew near to the gates of death. When the Holy Spirit graciously begins to reveal to us the true nature of our sin before a holy God, all of a sudden we can become those who suffer under the weight and the guilt of our sin. Well, finally, the psalmist pictures us and saints of old as those who are storm tossed. It's interesting that the psalmist describes those who go down to the sea seeking to do business. They simply want to get along with their lives in this world. And instead of doing business on the sea, they find their lives interrupted. They are lifted up by the waves of the sea and then they are plunged to the depths. And in that raging storm, they find that their courage melts away. And the Bible often portrays God's power through his acts of nature. Simply think about how the Bible began in the way in which God created all that we see by simply speaking a word. Think about how God split the Red Sea in the book of Exodus, or how the prophet Jonah is swallowed by a large fish. In Matthew 4, I'm sorry, Matthew 11 and Mark 4, Jesus' disciples cower in fear as they find themselves actually in a boat being raised up high on the stormy sea and then plunged down to its depths. And there, they are crying out and cowering in fear because Jesus Christ is asleep in the stern of the boat. Oftentimes, when God begins to work in our lives, we realize that we too are storm-tossed. And we need the work of Jesus Christ as he spoke to the wind and the waves on that day and he said, peace be still. You and I need that peace that surpasses understanding, that peace that can only come when Jesus Christ speaks to us by his word and he speaks peace into our lives. In John chapter 14, Jesus promised his disciples that he would not leave them alone. But then he proceeded to go directly to the cross and then to the grave. And then from the grave, he rose on high and was seated at the right hand of the father. And yet he sent forth his spirit to fulfill his promise that he would not leave them when he said, peace I leave you, my peace I give to you. Well, our lives in this world are truly accurately described as storm-tossed, but we can have the peace of God knowing Jesus Christ. And save for the grace of God in our lives, you and I would still be homeless wanderers. You and I would still be imprisoned by sin. You and I would still be suffering under the weight of our guilt and tossed about by the raging waves of sin. But one of the refrains of this psalm says, let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous work to the children of man. How is it that we come to know Jesus Christ as our Redeemer? Well, let's consider that next. I want you to remember now your Redeemer. The other refrain of this psalm is found in verse 6, 13, 19, and 28. Four times we hear these words, then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. He delivered them from their distress. The refrain of this psalm recognizes in each picture of peril that it is God alone who redeems. It is God alone who delivers. Well, how is that? Well, you know that the redemption that God has purchased was very costly. Remember that in Romans 3, 26, there it speaks of the redemption that is through Jesus Christ. And it says that that came so that God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. You know that God is holy and righteous and that he cannot simply turn a blind eye to sin. He cannot simply turn a blind eye to your rebellion. No, he is just. He is just, but he is also loving. Ephesians 1, 4, and 5 tells us that it was in love that he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. And so, being both loving and just, he sent forth his only son to redeem those whom he predestined. Well, Hebrews 2.17 tells us that Jesus had to be made like us in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of His people. How was it that Jesus Christ was made like you in every respect, yet without sin? How was Jesus, the sinless Son of God, made like you, though you were once dead in trespasses and sins? Well, let's simply use the categories of Psalm 107. You were once a wanderer without homes. Well, in Matthew 4 we read about how Jesus, again, the sinless Son of God, was made to wander in the desert without food for 40 days and 40 nights. And I want you to simply think upon Jesus Christ this morning. Israel was made to wander in the desert because of their sinful unbelief. And you and I, we wandered about in this world because of our own sin. But Jesus, He wandered in the wilderness for 40 days and for 40 nights without food, feeding only upon the Word of God to be your Savior. Think of Christ's condescension to redeem you. Jesus enjoyed perfect belonging within the Godhead from eternity past. And yet he took on flesh to experience what it's like to be one who wanders without a home in a desert waste. Jesus was made to be that wanderer in the desert so that he might be your perfect savior. Jesus, though he had committed no sin, he was imprisoned. And again, just simply meditate upon this today. In Matthew 26 and 27, we read about how, again, the sinless Son of God, He had taken on flesh so that He might know truly what it's like to be imprisoned. You and I know what it's like to be imprisoned by our sins. And though it was through Jesus that all things were created, Jesus was imprisoned. He was mocked and he was beaten and he sat alone as a prisoner in order to set you free. Again, this is what the sinless son of God has done for you who trust in him. Similarly, we can simply go on and think about how Jesus suffered because of sin. You and I suffer affliction in this life because of our own sin. But Jesus is the sinless Son of God, and He experienced the greatest of afflictions to purchase your redemption. Isaiah 53, 5, But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with His wounds we are healed. You and I deserve The suffering that comes into our lives because of our rebellion against God, and yet Jesus Christ left the glories of heaven to suffer in your place. And finally, Jesus was tossed to and fro by the fury of God's wrath against sin. And really, we should make this personal. As you trust in Jesus Christ, we need to understand that Jesus was tossed to and fro by the fury of God's wrath against your sin. In the Gospels, we see Jesus going to the garden of Gethsemane, and there he's pleading with his father. Jesus is there trembling before the cruelties of the cross. He's thinking not only of the great physical suffering that he will experience, but he's also thinking of the great emotional or soul torment that he will experience as the wrath of God is poured out upon him for sin. And so Jesus cries out to his father saying, if there be any other way, take this cup from me. And this is why Jesus, again, think, the eternal Son of God cried out as He hung upon the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This is why we read in Psalm 102, those words of Christ's experience. There we sing the words, because of your indignation and anger, you have taken me up and thrown me down. Jesus Christ was tossed to and fro by the fury of God's wrath for your sins as you trust in Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, the psalmist writes this morning as he turns our attention to these things. He says, whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. Let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. This is why that Scottish minister, Alexander Duff, this is why he could, even though he had just lost all of his earthly possessions, he could stand upon the shore and open his Bible to Psalm 107 and he could call his brothers and sisters to give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his steadfast love, knowing that it endures forever. We simply need to turn our attention to the fact that Apart from Jesus Christ and His gracious work in our lives, you and I would remain wanderers. We would remain imprisoned in our sin. We would suffer not only the miseries of this life, but we would then suffer the eternal wrath of God. And though we might describe our lives in this world as storm-tossed, a much greater storm would await us in eternity. Apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ, you and I could only expect to be crushed under the weight of God's eternal wrath. But that is why we need to go and we need to understand the refrain of this psalm. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. Have you cried out to God yet in your trouble? The Word of God is encouraging you this morning. If you have not yet cried out to the Lord, it is encouraging you with the history of the saints throughout the ages that if you will only cry out to the Lord in your trouble, He will deliver you from your distress. It's not saying that He will deliver us from the trials of this life, but ultimately He will give us a home with God in Jesus Christ. He will set us free from the prison bars of sin. He will ultimately deliver us from the suffering that awaits us in eternity. And for those of you who are trusting in Jesus Christ, for those of you who have cried out to God, Well, then this statement is true of you. He has delivered you from your distress. You have been brought near to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, and you are a citizen of heaven. And though you are still a pilgrim in this world, you're on a pilgrim journey that unchangeably ends at your eternal home. You have been set free from the law of sin and death, and you have been made alive to God in Christ Jesus. And so, instead of facing an eternity of affliction for your sin, you wait an eternity of blessedness, where you will have the favor of God's face shining upon you forever. And so it's for these reasons that we need to hear the call of God's Word. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. for his steadfast love endures forever. Let's pray together. Our gracious God in heaven, we are thankful for your word. Far too often as we live our lives in this world and we are caught up with the things of man rather than the things of God, we can forget. your goodness to us. We can forget all that you have done for us in Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that as we attend to these things, that we would be those who are filled to overflowing with thanksgiving for your goodness and for your steadfast love. We pray that in a storm-tossed world, we would be those who can go about with a steadiness of thanksgiving because of the unchanging nature of your steadfast love for us. Father, we are thankful for the fact that we always have a place to be, that we belong to you, that we have been set free from sin and reconciled to you through the work of Jesus Christ. And we pray that more and more our hearts would abound with thanksgiving to your glory, to your honor, and to your praise. So we pray these things in the name of Christ, our Savior. Amen.