Take your Bible. We want to continue our study through the great divine perfect hymnal that God gave to his covenant people. And that is the book of Tehillim, Psalms, the praises of God to the Jewish people. Of course, not only to the Jewish people, to all nations, and we benefit as well. Tonight, we come to Psalm 107, and I want us to think deeply on the loving kindness of God, the loving kindness of God. I want to begin by reading the opening three verses. Follow with me as I read Psalm 107, beginning in verse one. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. And then if you would, let your eyes skip down to the very end, verse 43. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things and consider the loving kindnesses of the Lord. Father, now we come to the reading and preaching of the Word really to prepare us for the prayer meeting. We pray, O Lord, that you would speak to all of our hearts through the living and enduring Word of God, for this is the very Word that we are preaching. We pray that as newborn babies that we would long for the pure milk of the word so that by it we may grow in respect to salvation, because we have tasted the kindness of the Lord. We pray that you'd be glorified in this time of study. In Jesus' name, amen. Our God is a delivering and a rescuing God. Our God delivers and He rescues. In fact, that's what He does best. He is a perfect God who rescues those in great need. And there's no way to miss that theme when we come to Psalm 107 tonight, that our God delivers people from trouble. He rescues His people from danger. Look with me just at a couple of verses by way of sampling this. Verse 6, they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. Verse 14, he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. Verse 16, he has shattered gates of bronze and cut bars of iron asunder. Verse 19, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. Verse 20, he sent his word and healed them, and God delivered them from their destructions. Same thing in verse 29. He caused the storm to be still so that the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad because they were quiet, so he guided them to their desired haven. Our God delivers. Our God rescues. And all that we're going to look at tonight is bound to these couple of verses, like verse 20, which reminds us that we ought to, pardon me, verse 21, that we ought to give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness. At the end of verse 22, we should tell of his works with joyful singing. Even in verse 32, we should extol God in the congregation. Do you need to remember that tonight, our God? is a God who rescues. Our God is a God who delivers. Maybe you need to hear that tonight. Maybe you go through difficulty and trial and afflictions in your life. This is a psalm, verse two, for the redeemed. It is a psalm, according to verse 14, for those who were wandering, but God brought them out of the darkness and out of the shadow of death, and God delivered them by his mercy. It's for those who offer sacrifices of thanks to God. Maybe that's a good question for all of us by way of beginning. Are you here tonight as one who has been redeemed and one who has been rescued? One who has been forgiven of all of your sin? One that hell will never ever be a destiny that you will know because your Savior has taken it for you in your place? Have you been set free from the bondage of sin? Are you a recipient of covenant love? Maybe you can take the words of Charles Wesley and personalize them. Long my imprisoned spirit lay. Fast bound in sin and nature's night, thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed thee. Amazing love, how can it be? that thou, my God, shouldst die for me. All of those introductory statements really are sort of hovering around the theme of our psalm tonight in Psalm 107. Our God delivers and our God rescues because he is a God of great covenant love. Great covenant love. Although did you notice If you look in your Bible at Psalm 107, if you look just above that, in your Bible, you probably have something that says book five or something like that, book five. So the book of Psalms was divided into five sections, five divisions. We might call them five units within the book of Psalter. I believe that these five units correspond with the five books of the Torah. In your outline, you see a little bit of detail there. I don't want to get lost in all this detail, but book one, Psalms 1 to 41, corresponds with the wisdom of the beginnings in Genesis. Book two, Psalms 42 to 72, corresponds to Exodus, the redemption of God, the bondage of his people, the afflictions of God's people. Book three, Psalms 73 to 89, corresponds to the book of Leviticus, which highlights worship, the temple of God, the tabernacle of God, the presence of God. Book four in the Psalms, Psalms 90 to 106, corresponds with the book of Numbers, not only the wanderings of God's people, but the kingship of God over everything in life. But I mention all of that because now we come to book five. We come to Book 5, which I think corresponds to the Book of Deuteronomy, which is reflecting, it is on the Messiah, it is on the Passover, it is on salvation, and we are about to see more than 40 Psalms that are going to teach us to reflect on the great praises of God, the Messiah of God, the Passover of God, the worship of God. And it begins with this great theme. The covenant love of God delivers helpless people. The covenant love of God delivers helpless people. Now, because we're technical already, bear with me for one more moment. Verse 1 and 43 bookend the whole psalm with the key word lovingkindness. Everything is sandwiched in the middle between verse 1 and 43 on the loving kindness of God. When we read about the love of God, we need to remember that this psalm reminds us of the loyal, the covenant-keeping love of our God. God's love is an initiating love. You didn't love God first. 1 John 4 says, he loved us first. We learn in the Bible of the love of God that it is a very undeserved love. Ezekiel chapter 16 highlights that perhaps more than any other chapter. It is an undeserved love. We don't deserve the love. We were enemies. We were ungodly. We were helpless. We were sinners, Romans 5 says, but God, loved us. It is an unconditional love. The love of God for you is so great right now that it will never be increased in eternity. He loves you to the max right now. It is also a very faithful love. The love of God is a faithful love. He will never turn his back on you. He will never turn his back on his covenant ones. The covenant love of God is also an immeasurable love. The height, the depth, the breadth, the length of the love of God, Ephesians 3 says. The love of God is beyond knowledge, Paul says. It cannot be measured. It is a protecting love. Will anything separate you from the love of God? Nothing. Nothing in all creation, Romans 8 says. It is an eternal love. It is an unbreakable love. Hosea 14 talks about the great, secure love that God has for his people, and all of this love comes to a glorious climax in the person of Christ, the crosswork of Christ, the security of Christ, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of the love of God biblically, Think of it as three strands that are woven together. When you think of the covenant love of God, number one, it means strength. Number two, it means steadfastness. And number three, it is tender mercy. It is a strong, steadfast, tender mercy. It is the warmth of fellowship with God and the security of God's faithfulness married together. This love of God is absolutely breathtaking. Now, with that, let your eye look at the last verse of our psalm again. Who is wise? Who is wise, let him give heed to these things and let him consider the, don't miss the plural, the loving-kindnesses of the Lord. God wants you tonight to think deeply on the loving-kindnesses of God. He wants you to be overwhelmed by his loving-kindnesses of God. Or maybe we could take the holiness and marry it. we ought to think about the holy love of God. There's something set apart about this love. There's something unique about this love. There's something so unrivaled about this love. Think deeply about this love. Our psalm tonight, you see in the box there in your outline, is gonna call you and me to call upon your God in troubles. Now, in your outline, you see this. The psalm, Psalm 107, is a wonderful psalm, full of hope. It's actually very difficult to outline, and it's pretty technical, because the psalm gives all of these different vignettes, different situations, different scenarios, and it shows how God is faithful to deliver his people in their troubles in different scenarios of life. Like he gives rest to the wanderers. He gives freedom to the prisoners. He gives healing to the sick. He gives peace to the restless. And he gives crops to the farmers. What I wanna do this evening is walk through this psalm in a really brief kind of a survey fashion. But I wanna continually ask this question. Do we take the time to thank God for His love? Do we take the time to thank Him for His love? He's rescued me. He's rescued you. He's delivered me. He's delivered you. He is a God who hears us when we are afflicted. We cry out to God. He hears. He answers. But do we take the time to thank God? for his love. We want to think deeply on the loving kindness of God tonight, which, by the way, that will prepare us for our opening time of prayer to thank God for his love in a few minutes. So in your outline, let's walk through verses one through nine together. God gives rest to the wanderers. Could you imagine this scenario in life, almost this vignette that the author brings out? Imagine somebody who's homeless, somebody who's wandering, wandering in a desert region. That's what verse four talks about. Verse four, they wandered in the wilderness in a desert region. They didn't find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty. Their soul fainted within them, but they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And he delivered them out of their distresses. He led them also by a straight way to go to an inhabited city. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness and for his wonders to the sons of men, for he has satisfied the thirsty soul and the hungry soul he has filled with what is good. Wanderers, anybody relate to that? Maybe metaphorically, spiritually in your life ever feel like a wanderer? You relate to this? I was wandering. These people were hungry. They were thirsty. They were faint. And yet they cried out to God in verse six and he heard them and he answered them and he delivered them. Of course, I think maybe the specific application is the Jewish people in the 40 year wilderness wandering. The book of Deuteronomy highlights this, how those in that wilderness generation called out to God and God continued to hear, God continued to answer, God continued to provide, God continued to rescue. Why? Because of his covenant love. Because of his covenant love. So how do we respond? Verse 8, let them give thanks to the Lord. for his loving kindness and for his wonders to the sons of men. Maybe you could read these opening nine verses and say, yeah, that was me. I was hungry and I was thirsty and I was wandering. And at some point in my life, when God opened my eyes, I cried out and God heard me and he delivered me. Have you taken the time to thank God for his love? Not only does he, number one, give rest to the wanderers, but in your outline, number two, he gives freedom to the prisoners. This is in verses 10 to 16. Again, the author's just giving different vignettes, different situations of trial and difficulty and trouble. Verse 10, there were those who dwelt in the darkness, in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains. They rebelled against the words of God. They spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore, He humbled their heart with labor. They stumbled and there was none to help. But then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness and for his wonders to the sons of men, for he has shattered gates of bronze. I find it pretty, pretty neat that in Isaiah chapter 61, Jesus, as the servant of the Lord, said that God had delivered him as the servant to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners. That was me. And that's you. Verse 10 tells us in our psalm about those who dwell in darkness, the shadow of death. They are prisoners in miserable chains. They were those who rebelled and spurned God. So God humbled them. But in their trouble, they cry out to God and he delivers. I don't know about you, but I, I can't speak of one who's literally been in bonds and chains. I've not been behind prison bars, and God has delivered me. But every true Christian, though, can speak of being delivered from the prison house of sin. And the only way that a sinner can be unchained from our misery. The only way that we can be unchained from our imprisonment is to cry out to Jesus, to cry out to him by faith. He is the only one who has the power to release you from the bondage of sin. It's like that great verse. I love this in Revelation chapter 1 verse 5. To him who loves us and releases us, he frees us from our sins by his blood. That's what Jesus did. He released me from my sins all by his blood. This is the great power of our God that he gives freedom to the prisoner through the Messiah Jesus. But have we taken the time to thank him for his love? Have we made the time to thank our Savior, the suffering servant, that he has liberated me from my sin, that he has brought freedom to the prisoners? another vignette here in the psalm, third in your outline. God gives healing to the sick. He gives healing to the sick. Now, interestingly, in these verses, there are those who may live in folly, rebellion, sin, iniquity, and they almost die, like at the gates of death, but they call out to God and he delivers. Look at the language, verse 17. Fools, because of their rebellious way and because of their iniquities, they were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food. They drew near to the gates of death, like they're at the very doorstep of death. Verse 19, but they cry out to the Lord in their trouble and he saves them out of their distresses. He sent his word and he healed them. and delivered them from their destructions." Maybe someone in this room could say, I was at the doorstep of death, and God had mercy on my life. I could have died, perhaps I should have died, but God saved me. He delivered me. I can't help but remember the man Hezekiah in Isaiah chapter 38, wonderful king of Judah, the nation of Judah. He became mortally ill in Isaiah 38 one. In fact, it was the illness with which he was going to die, but Hezekiah prayed to God. And then the text says, God heard, he saw his tears, and then God mercifully added 15 years to his life. or the ten lepers. Remember the ten lepers in Luke 17? These, these, kind of like the walking dead. Such a, such a foul disease it was. And, and they come to Jesus, and they're crying out, and they say, Jesus, have mercy on us. And Jesus replies, and he says, go. And as they went, they were cleansed. But only one of them turned back and came to Jesus, glorifying God, worshiping God, and thanking Him. It reminds me of the power of our Savior in Mark chapter 1. Immediately, they came out of the synagogue and they came into the house of Simon. And Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever, and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. And he came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her. And then they began bringing to Jesus all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door, and he healed many who were ill with various diseases." What a Savior. Maybe that's happened to you. Have we taken time to thank God for His love, His deliverance, the fact that God hears our cries, He hears our prayers, He delivers us out of our illnesses and our afflictions to thank Him for His love? That's what the next verse says in verse 21. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness and for the wonders to the sons of men. And here is a fourth vignette. Look in your outline number four. God gives peace to the restless. Now this is quite amazing. I've never been a sailor or a seaman. But I could only imagine how terrifying and frightful that could be when things go wrong. Verse 23 is the vignette about a sailor at sea in the troubles of a storm. Look at verse 23. But verse 28, but then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still that the waves of the sea were hushed and they were glad because they were quiet and he guided them to their desired haven. You know, the vignette here, the situation here is, is a sailor. a seaman whose work is in the deep. He works on the ship and he sees all of the power of God. He sees what God does, but then the storm raises up and he's fearful at his wit's end, reeling, staggering. gonna die. Acts 27, the shipwreck of Paul and all those who were on board with him, they all thought they were gonna die. What do you do but you cry out to God and he hears and he delivers. That reminds me of Jesus in Luke chapter 8. You probably know exactly where I'm going here. Luke chapter 8, when Jesus is with the disciples, they're in a boat, and he falls asleep while they are sailing along, and a fierce gale of wind ascended on the lake, and these professional fishermen, these professional fishermen came to Jesus and woke him up, and they said, Master, Master, we are perishing, and he got up and he rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped. and it became calm. You cry out to Jesus, and he hears, and he delivers. Maybe that has happened to you and me. Maybe not at sea, but maybe we were reeling and staggering at our wits' end in another situation of life. And you call out to God, and he answers. But have you taken the time to consider the loving kindnesses of the Lord. The psalm ends with the final, the fifth vignette. It's the God who gives crops to the farmer. He brings produce. He can cause there to be lack and he can bring productivity. We see the power of God here. Verse 33, God changes rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into a thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salt waste because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it, like Sodom and Gomorrah. God can do that. But then, verse 36, but there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may establish an inhabited city, and sow fields and plant vineyards, and they gather a fruitful harvest. That's what God does. God is able to give crops. He is able to give a fruitful harvest. He is able to provide for all of our needs. This is who our God is. This is the power of our Almighty God. His power is not limited. He's provided for me and He's provided for you. But have we taken the time to thank Him for his love. It's an amazing psalm. The way the psalm ends in verse 43, if I could just highlight it quickly again, who is wise, almost turning this psalm into a wisdom psalm. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things and, see that word consider? It's a word in the Hebrew that means to mull it over in your mind constantly. Constantly mull over in your mind the loving kindnesses of the God, of God. Any situation of life, any scenario of life, any circumstance of life, any difficulty that you're in or you've been in or you will be in, call out to God and he will hear. And he will answer and he will deliver. And the repeated chorus is that command, let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindnesses. Your outline, I give a couple of takeaway points just by way of conclusion. Number one, suffering is real. I have a lot in my notes, but I'll leave it at that. We all know that suffering is real. Let me pause on this. Number two, more on this on Sunday. Prayer is powerful. Prayer is powerful. Did you notice the repeated refrain in our psalm? Then they called out to the Lord and he heard and answered them. We are in suffering, we are in afflictions, all the different situations of life. We cry out to God in faith because we know that our God is a God of covenant-keeping love. And it's like what God said to Solomon, I have heard your prayer. It's like James 5.13. Is anyone among you suffering? Let them pray. And then the twin to that, not only should we pray, because it's powerful, but third, Christ will hear. Like the hungry and the thirsty, Christ hears and answers them. Like those in prison, Christ will release them from the bondage of sin. He gives freedom and he sets people free. Like those who are in the storms and drowning and they need his rescue, Jesus hears and he calms the storm. Our Savior hears the cries of his people. then we ponder the covenant love of God. So, hear it again. Have we taken the time to thank God for his love? Whoever is wise, let him, let him, let him give heed to and consider these things. The covenant love of God. I want to end with this story. I just, I think it is such a great, great account of a fitting summary. Alexander Duff. Alexander Duff was a pastor and a missionary sent out from the Scottish Presbyterian church in the mid 1800s. He was going to go to India. He was going to start a Bible college there. So he left Scotland, sent out from the Presbyterian church, and he was going to go to India to start a Bible college. And while they were traveling, the ship that he was on with a number of hundreds of passengers, it ran aground while attempting to navigate the Cape of Good Hope right around the South Africa bend there. And the pounding surf destroyed the entire ship. Everything was lost. All of the books that Alexander Duff had for this library in India were all gone. Amazingly, all of the passengers and the sailors made it safely to shore. Nothing remained of all the cargo, of all the suitcases, of all the clothes. But one day, there was a sailor walking along the shore looking for food. And he saw along the shore, two small little books. And the sailor went over to the two books and he opened them up and on the inside cover was written a book belonging to Alexander Duff. One book was his Bible and the other book was his Psalter. The sailor took both of the books in his hand and he walked them over to Alexander Duff. Alexander Duff, of course, full of joy and gladness that his two books had been found. He took his Bible, he gathered the people, and he turned to Psalm 107. And he turned to Psalm 107 and he read the entire psalm, but especially commenting on that last verse, whoever is wise, let him give heed to these things and consider the loving kindnesses of our God. How good God is. To Alexander Duff and all the passengers, yeah, but also to you and me. Let us be wise and consider the loving kindness of the Lord. Amen? Father, thank you for your word. What a profound and a needed and a timely word from the Psalter for us tonight, that we would mull over this glorious doctrine of the loving-kindnesses of the Lord, that in any and every situation of our lives, O God, that we would consider deeply, that we would think regularly on the loving-kindnesses of you, our great God. We thank you for this time of study.