ODJ: search and rescue

July 12, 2014 

READ: Psalm 107:1-43 

Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you (v.2).

Search and Rescue Stories is a website that captures the accounts of people who have participated in search and rescue missions or of the victims who were dramatically rescued from dangerous and life-threatening situations. There you’ll read nail-biting and heart-warming stories of the rescuers and the rescued.
Psalm 107 is a song of thanksgiving (vv.1,22) that recounts how four groups of people were helped in their distress (vv.4,10,17,23). They were facing adversity, jeopardy, despair and danger because of their own carelessness (v.4), foolishness (v.11), sinfulness (v.17) and recklessness (v.23). “ ‘LORD, help!’ they cried in their trouble.” And they received divine help: “He saved them from their distress” (vv.6,13,19,28).

But God didn’t merely save them. He did a whole lot more. “He led them straight to safety” (vv.7,30). “He [satisfied] the thirsty and [filled] the hungry with good things” (v.9). “He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom” (v.14). “He broke down their prison gates” (v.16). “He sent out his word and healed them” (v.20). “He calmed the storm . . . and stilled the waves” (v.29). Persistently calling on the worshippers to “praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done” (vv.8,15,21,31), the psalmist offered an invitation: “Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD” (v.43).

We have all wandered away, been lost (v.4), imprisoned by our sin (v.10), in danger of death (v.18), helpless and hopeless (vv.26-27)—but we have also been rescued! “Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you” (v.2). You have a story to tell. —K.T. Sim

365-day plan› Luke 8:22-56