Alright, this morning we are going to look at another psalm and that is Psalm 107, the same psalm that was read out by the congregation just now. Now I’d like to begin this morning’s message on this psalm by taking a look at the hymn that we are going to sing later on. Let me just read out a few lines from this hymn, that’s hymn 176. Now the first stanza the hymn writer wrote: “I am redeemed, O praise the Lord; My soul from bondage free, has found at last a resting place in Him who died for me. I am redeemed, I am redeemed, I’ll sing it o’er and o’er; I am redeemed, O praise the Lord; Redeemed for evermore. I looked, and lo! From Calv’ry’s cross a healing fountain streamed; It cleansed my heart, and now I sing, praise God, I am redeemed.”

Now this hymn is a beautiful hymn alright. It is a call to reflect- to reflect on the blessing of salvation. Now it is this that is the core of Psalm 107. And so Psalm 107 is a call to the redeemed to praise God. Now we see that in the first two verses: “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy (or steadfast love) endures forever. Now let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from” their trouble. And then we find this being echoed all through this psalm. We see that again in verse 8: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His (mercy or) goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!”.

And then we see that in verse 15: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!”. And verse 21: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!”. And then in verse 31: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, for His wonderful works in the children of men!”. And you see that that is very the theme of this psalm. The psalmist is calling the redeemed, those who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, those who have been forgiven of their sins.

Now I would like to ask you at the very beginning of this sermon: Have you been redeemed? Have you been delivered from your sin? Have you been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ? Then praise God! That is what the psalmist is saying. Let the redeemed say so. Let us praise God and thank God for His mercy. And the word ‘mercy’ here is the same word ‘hesed’. It’s the word that speaks of God’s lovingkindness, that speaks of His steadfast love as translated in the ESV. It is the unfailing, it is the tenacious love of God, a love that will never forsake us.

And that is the love that the redeemed has experienced, and that is what the psalmist is calling us to ponder upon. Have you experienced this mercy, this goodness, this unfailing or steadfast love of God? If you have, then praise God for that! Be joyful about it. Be thankful to God about this great and wonderful gift. And so that is what the psalmist is calling here in this psalm. And then that begs the question: Who are the redeemed that the psalmist is having in mind? Who are the redeemed in this world today?

Now verse 3 tells us. The redeemed are those whom God had gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Who are the redeemed? Who are the people that God had saved or delivered? And it is plain from verse 3. It is the people that God had gathered from everywhere, from every corners of this earth. From the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Yes, people of every tribe and tongue, of every nation. Not just the people from the west (we called the westerners). No, but also people from the east. Not just those from the north but also from the south. Not just those people who are educated but also the illiterate. Not just the rich but also the poor. Not just the professionals but also the bus drivers. Not just the old but also the young. You see not just the Chinese but also the Indians. Not just the Koreans but also the Filipinos. God had gathered people from every corners of the earth unto Himself, and let us all who have been gathered. Let us all who have been redeemed by the Lord, the psalmist says, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, for we have been redeemed.

And so the remaining of the psalm from verse 4 onwards, now what the psalmist does here is this that the psalmist goes on to give us or to use four pictures. Four pictures to describe the life of these people, to tell us something about the lives of these people, and to speak of their diverse experiences. You see the people who have been redeemed by God, they do not have a common experience in life. And so the psalmist gives four pictures to describe the lives of these people, to tell us of their diverse experiences. Four manifestations of lives, difficulties, or problems, but proving to us that in spite of all the appearances of diversity and differences, there is only one solution. There is only one hope for us because finally speaking, we all have the same problem.

It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, doesn’t matter whether you are a Chinese or an Indian, doesn’t matter you if you’re from the west or from the east. However different we might appear to be, we all have the same problem- the problem of sin. And therefore we all need the same solution and that is salvation through Jesus Christ. And so that is what the psalmist is doing in the remaining of this chapter. And so let us look at the four pictures that the psalmist paints here about the lives of the people on earth.

Now the first picture is in verse 4 through verse 9. Verses 4 through 9. Verse 4: “Some wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.”. Now that is the first picture. The first picture is that of a traveller, wandering hopelessly as it were in the wilderness. Now perhaps the psalmist in painting this picture had the children of Israel in mind and how the Israelites after leaving Egypt was wandering. They were wandering in the trackless desert. And they were looking for a homeland. They were looking for a city to dwell in. And so the psalmist says that when they first set out, they were full of hope and confidence. They were in pursuit of their dream as it were. Their dream home- the city.

But as they continued in their journey, they never seemed to find that dream. They were going round and round in a meaningless way and not getting anywhere. And after a while, they begin to feel the desolation of it. They begin to suffer hunger and thirst and tiredness, and they begin to faint as it were. They begin to be wary of the journey. And you see that this picture provides a description of our life, is it not? The experience of many amends in this world. We can think of perhaps many young people when they begin as they set off in their life. They are in pursuit of the dream- a dream life, a dream home, a dream career.

And as they continued in that pursuit like the Israelites, they begin with hope and confidence. They do so with all their energy, putting in their heart and mind and soul and strength in their pursuit. They worked hard, they attend classes. But before long, they realise like the children of Israel that the psalmist is quite right to describe life as wandering in the desert and finding no city to rest. They were just restless in their wandering. They crossed river after river, they were deluded by mirage after mirage. They somehow never got to the place where they imagined. They wandered. Their dream seems to be so elusive, and then their souls begin to faint. And they begin to feel the futility of life, of all these pursuits, and the pointlessness of it all.

And what is life, they begin to cry out? It is so meaningless. They could cry out the same as Solomon in Ecclesiastes that it is vanity of vanity, all is vanity. And then what can they do? Now, what should they do? Now then we are told in verse 8, verse 9. Now verse 8: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness”. Now verse 6, I’m sorry. Verse 6: “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.”. Now the psalmist tells us that for these people, at this point in their life when they begin to faint as it were, begin to see the pointlessness of it all, they cried out to the Lord. And then something wonderful happens in their life.

Verse 7: “And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.”. And their life has been transformed when they cry out to the Lord. “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” Why? Because “He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”. See, when these people come to God for mercy, come to God through His Son, they found satisfaction. They found fulfilment. They found meaning in their life because the Lord has satisfied.

That is what the Lord said when He was on earth. When He looked at the people who were hungering and thirsting, He said: Come unto Me, and you will never hunger again, and you will never thirst again because I have come that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly. You might have it abundantly. And this is what these people experienced as they come to the Lord. Now the second picture is from verse 10 through verse 16. Look at verse 10: “Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons—because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High, therefore He brought down their heart with labour; They fell down, and there was none to help.”.

The second picture is that of someone in the dungeon or a prisoner, a prisoner that is bound in affliction and iron. Look at the full force of this description here and see how securely this prisoner is being bound. We see that the description is that of the prisoner being bound in iron. The gates are of bronze. The windows are iron bars. What a picture. What a picture of sinners on earth, and how true it is a description of us that we are bound. Perhaps we can think of certain people who are literally bound in this way. You can think of those who are bound to some of their habits, bound as it were, gripped by some of their lifestyle and their sin.

Well, this is in a sense the picture of us all. In a sense, all of us are bound by our sin. We can think of the enslaving power of evil in our lives, how difficult for us to free ourselves from pride, free ourselves from greed. Perhaps to free ourselves from evil thoughts and bad habits. Now all these have influenced our life and bound us like it is pictured here in these few verses that we are trapped in our sin. We are slaves of sin. We are bound as it were by these iron chains, unable to free ourselves of these people, of these things. Now, this is the second picture that the psalmist has painted.

Now what can they do or what can we do or what should we do? Again we read in verse 13 that these people cried out to the Lord in their troubles, and God saved them out of their distresses. Are you distressed by your sin, by those habits of your life that you cannot get rid of, by those things that are gripping you and controlling your life? Then cry out to the Lord, the psalmist says. And he says here: “And He saved them out of their distresses. (Verse 14) He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.”.

It is God and God only who can break us free from these chains, free from these bad influences and habits and evils in our lives. And here these people cried out to the Lord, and the Lord freed them, broke their chains in pieces. “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two.”. This is what God has done. We can hear of testimonies of people who have been saved by the grace of God that they have been freed from the chains. And “oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness”.

The third picture. The third picture is in verses 17 to 22: “Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.”. Now, this third picture is that of a man lying sick or ill in his bed. So we can here imagine the picture is that of a man bedridden because of sickness. And so we have a picture here not of a man pursuing great ambitions, not of a man perhaps indulging in immoral pleasure. Maybe he was doing that in the past, but now he is face to face with death and eternity.

He’s lying in his bed and he has lost appetite for food, for money, for pleasure because verse 18 says: “Their soul abhorred all manner of food”. Why? Because “they drew near to the gates of death”. They are dying. Perhaps here’s a picture of someone whose world has collapsed. Everything in his world has no more meaning to him. He is at the last lap of his life. He is facing death. He is confined to his wheelchair. He is lying in his bed, waiting for his death. Well, perhaps he has put so much hope in his career and children and investment, but now all hope has gone. All has gone. And so he pines away. He’s disillusion and disappointed.

Now I believe that everyone who has ever suffered a big blow or crisis in his life can understand this picture. Perhaps an illness has come to you. Perhaps a death in the family. Perhaps a broken relationship. Everything, and then suddenly your world crumbles. Your world crumbles, and the mainstream of your life, as it were, has disappeared. Is there hope for such a person? Verse 19: “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.”. The same thing.

You see, whatever background you might come from, whatever differences there might be, the circumstances of your life. We all have the same trouble, but we all need the same solution. When we come to the Lord, you see the same testimony when they cry out to the Lord, the Lord delivered them out of their distresses. “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!” Now that is the third picture- one who is sick and dying in his bed.

And then we come to the fourth and final picture painted by the psalmist about life on earth. The fourth picture, we see in verses 23 through 31. Verse 23: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, they see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, and they go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.”. Here is a picture of the merchants in the ship sailing in the sea, but then being tossed about by the storm.

Now, this is a familiar picture of life. Life as we say is like a journey with many dangers. Now the storms or the dangers that we face are many. It can be all kinds of struggles we face or challenges or dangers we face in life. Sometimes we’re caught in a particular lifestyle that is like a storm destroying us, and then we have lost control. But whatever it is, it shows us once again that our lives is not in our control. Our life is not in our control. We are often victims of circumstances.

Perhaps you are stark poor all through your life and never seem to be able to get off this cycle of poverty. Or maybe you’re stuck in a war zone country and you never seem to get out of that situation. Or perhaps some other disasters strike you. And then you see that you are like this ship in the sea. When the storm strikes, you are at your wit’s end. You just do not know what to do about your life. And so what can you do? For these people, verse 28, again they did the same thing: “Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. And then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven.”.

You see there is a dramatic change when these people cry out to the Lord, and they were led to safety. Verse 31: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”. Now, this then is what this psalm is about. It is a call to the redeemed to appreciate their redemption, to appreciate the fact that they are now saved. And then we are here seen in this picture painted by the psalmist the kind of troubles that these redeemed went through and how when they cried, the Lord saved them.

Now let me now end as it were by making three (a few) conclusions here. Number one, we learned from this psalm that it doesn’t matter which is the picture of your life. Every type of life, every type of people, we all have a common problem. Doesn’t matter which is the picture, we all have the common problem and we are all equally helpless in the face of this problem. Could be an illness, it could be a lifestyle, could be a habit, could be some disaster that strikes you. Doesn’t matter because we all are equally helpless in the face of this problem. And therefore, every type of people can cry out to the Lord or should cry out to the Lord like in verses 6 and verse 13 and verse 19 and verse 20: “Then they cried out to the LORD”.

Secondly, only those who realise their problem will cry out to the Lord. The fact is not that some have problems and some do not have. This picture tells us that whatever the picture is that of your life, we all have problems, but not everyone realises it. And so the psalmist by painting these four pictures of life helps us to realise our problem. You may not agree with him, but the fact is that you will come to see that there will be a point in your life that your problem is too big for you. But only those who can see their problem will cry out to God.

And thirdly, all those who would cry out to God can testify the great change that God has produced in their lives. All testimonies of Christians can bear testimony to this fact when they turn to God from their sin, God has done a wondrous work in their life, a big change in their life. We see that also again in verse 7 and verse 9, verse 14 and verse 16, verse 20, verse 29, speaking of the change that came to these people’s lives when they cry out to the Lord and they see wonders of God.

When they cried out to God, they experienced that wonder of wonders that God actually hears. Then they cry out to the Lord, the Bible says, and He brings them out of their distresses. You see, the psalmist tells us that if you cry out to God, the wonder of wonders is this that God does hear the cry of His people. Have you called upon God? Have you called upon the Lord as these people in this psalm did? Have you been redeemed? Then praise God, you have been redeemed alright. Praise God, you’re redeemed.

“Our dear Father in heaven, we thank You for these precious words that indeed we are people who have sinned against You and rebelled against You and fallen into all kind of troubles. And Lord, we want to thank You this morning that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Help us to understand something of the marvel of it and glory in it and rejoice in the fact that indeed we have been saved. And we want to gather again to praise You and to thank You for that redemption. Indeed we are redeemed, and we want to praise You. For we pray all these in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.