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[0:00] Buenos dias. We're going to look at Psalm 107, part of Psalm 107 today, and I invite you to read along with me.

[0:13] We're going to try to read verses 1 through 32 and then verse 43. Okay, so it says, Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

[0:54] 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 works to the children of man, for he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

[1:11] 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.

[1:24] 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.

[1:34] 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.

[1:46] Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities, severed affliction. They loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.

[1:58] 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 and songs of joy.

[2:19] 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.

[2:33] They mounted up to heaven, and they went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight. But 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.

[2:48] He made the storm to 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.

[3:02] Let them extol him in the congregation of the peoples, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. And then verse 43.

[3:13] Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things, and let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated.

[3:23] Today we're going to look at this psalm, but as we begin our time together, I want to just ask just a general question.

[3:36] What has been your response to adversity? And we know we've all had some level of adversity, right? Different places, different times. Sickness, loss of a job, poverty, maybe addiction to drugs, alcohol, pornography.

[3:59] We've all experienced some level of adversity in life, and we will yet. We are yet to experience adversity in this life.

[4:10] Remember that sometimes the adversity we experience is because we live in this world that is fallen, because of sin in general. Sometimes, as is pointed out in the psalm, we face adversity through our own foolish decisions and our own sin.

[4:29] And of course, over it all is God's providence. He's guiding, directing, engineering, ordaining everything that comes to pass in our lives.

[4:41] I was thinking of a time in my life, in my wife's life also, back in the early, around 2001, I think it was. And we had to be back in the United States because our support account was not maintaining.

[4:59] And I really didn't want to be in the United States. And I had this really deep down complaining attitude in my heart.

[5:12] And I would say to myself, well, I'm not mad at God, but I'm mad at the churches. If they would just give, if people in the pew would just offer, would just give their tithes and offerings, I wouldn't have any need.

[5:29] Later, I came to see that really I was complaining against God. My complaint was against God. God, why aren't you providing? I don't want to be here.

[5:40] I want to be in Peru. Why do I have to be here doing this? And trying to go around, visiting the churches that supported us, trying to raise some additional financial support to go back to the field.

[5:52] And I'll come back now. I'll forget if I don't tell you the end of the story now. But in spite of my complaining attitude that did not change in that time, God provided.

[6:09] God met our need. I mean, it's like, well, why would he do that? I don't deserve that. My whole attitude's bad.

[6:21] But he did it. And he continued to do it. So let's look at this psalm and think about this. Because this psalm, I think, was written in relationship to Psalms 105 and 106.

[6:35] They probably, maybe the three psalms were written around the same time by the same author. And in Psalms 105 and 106, the author starts back with the time of Abraham.

[6:48] And he begins to recount the history of the people of God in the Old Testament. And how God took them. Of course, then they went to Egypt, became slaves.

[7:00] And then in Psalm 106, he begins to recount how God redeemed them out of their slavery. And they're wandering in the desert, in the Sinai Peninsula. And there's all sorts of complaints during those 40 years against God.

[7:14] And yet, throughout these two psalms, 105 and 106, you begin to see this phrase begin to appear. The steadfast love of the Lord. The steadfast love of the Lord.

[7:25] And then here in Psalm 107, it's like this is the climax. This is the peak. This is the pinnacle. This is the highlight of these other two psalms.

[7:36] The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. Verse 1. Verse 2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble. And gathered in from the lands, from the east and west, from the north and from the south.

[7:50] So this psalm is probably also written after the people have come back from exile in Babylon. And so the author of these psalms is giving them like a history lesson of their nation.

[8:06] And he's reminding them, look, this is it. It's the steadfast love of the Lord. This is the height of what I want to communicate to you today also.

[8:21] The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. And that phrase, especially the part, the steadfast love of the Lord, occurs six times in the psalm.

[8:32] Okay, we read those. Verse 1. Verse 8. Verse 15. Verse 21. Verse 31. And then verse 43. The steadfast love of the Lord.

[8:44] But what is this steadfast love of the Lord that we're talking about? How do we define it? How do we understand it? What, what's behind this idea? And there's a Hebrew word behind the two words, steadfast love.

[8:59] Love, obviously the Hebrew word has been translated that way. But the idea is simply this. It's a loyal love, an unfailing kindness.

[9:11] A love that is steadfast because it's based on a prior relationship. And interestingly, this, this phrase, or those two words, steadfast love, occur about 250 times in the Old Testament.

[9:25] They're repeated throughout the Old Testament. One, one lugar or one place that we see this phrase or these two words is in Exodus 34.

[9:39] Verse 6 and 7. This is where Moses has asked God, please show me your glory. And so God says, okay. And so it says, The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

[10:07] But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. So even there, the very beginning, this is, think about this too.

[10:22] Moses is saying, show me your glory. And this is how God declares his glory. He doesn't come and say, look at me, I'm glorious. No. He's talking about his faithfulness, his mercy, his steadfast love, his forgiveness.

[10:36] Again, Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 21 through 23. And this I call to mind. This is Jeremiah writing this.

[10:47] This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.

[10:58] Great is your faithfulness. Note two things here. This is after the destruction of Judah and the capital city of Jerusalem.

[11:11] Maybe the scene would be something like we see on the news when we look at Gaza. The destruction of buildings. Everything's torn down. People have been killed. Women have been raped. People have been taken off into captivity.

[11:23] Children and adults have died of starvation. I mean, it was a horrible scene. And in Lamentations, Jeremiah's lamenting. He's crying.

[11:34] He's lamenting these losses. This destruction of his people. But it says, I call this to mind and I have hope. In the midst of all this destruction, I have hope because the steadfast love of the Lord is forever.

[11:50] And note also that this is tied in with his faithfulness. His steadfast love, his faithfulness. They go together. In the New Testament, of course, we don't encounter the word steadfast love.

[12:04] But we do encounter the concept, right? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself in his ministry, his earthly ministry exhibits, demonstrates, shows God's steadfast love, his steadfast love for his people.

[12:23] And then in 1 John 4, 9 through 10, we're reminded. In this, the love of God has been made manifest among us.

[12:33] That God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love. Not that we have loved God. But that he loved us.

[12:44] And sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. I think one of the key ideas I want to get across to you right now is this. The steadfast love of God is not rooted in your worthiness.

[13:04] Okay. It's not because you made yourself good enough so that God said, okay, now we'll give you my steadfast love. And because it's not rooted in your worthiness, you can't earn more of it.

[13:20] And you can't unearn it. Okay. Now that's surprising. You might think, well, I could come to the point where God's not going to express his steadfast love to me anymore.

[13:32] But no. It's given freely by God. And it's not dependent on you. It's not dependent on me. It's his love. It's his steadfast love.

[13:44] Kelly Capik, the professor at Covenant College, wrote this about God's love. He said, The gifts of the Son and of the Spirit are not what secure the Father's love for us, but are the fruit of his love for us.

[13:56] Believers are those who have experienced the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit. What a wonderful thought.

[14:09] And I don't know where you are today in your personal walk with the Lord, or if you are walking with the Lord, if you know him. But God's steadfast love is expressed and given freely.

[14:26] You don't. It's not that Jesus earned the steadfast love of the Lord for us. He is expression of God's steadfast love.

[14:40] Okay, let's go back to our text now. We're going to look at the four instances where the author gives us four, not comparisons, four descriptions, like paintings, word pictures, of times when the people of God have experienced in some way or another the steadfast love of the Lord.

[15:01] We read those, so we won't go back to read them. But if you look at verses four through nine, he talks about those who are wandering in the desert places, the desert waste.

[15:13] Now, this could be a picture of Israel in the wanderings between their exodus from Egypt before they enter the Holy Land, Palestine. Or it may just be a general picture of being in a desert place, not necessarily a physical desert, but a desert time of life, if you will.

[15:34] A time of when we lack, when we're in great need. They are hungry and thirsty, it says. And then they cried out to the Lord and he delivered them from their distress.

[15:49] Then in verses 10 through 16, it said those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, they're prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of the Lord, the words of God.

[16:02] They rebelled. So here they're describing a time when the people had been in rebellion and their suffering. Because it says God bowed down their hearts with hard labor and they fell down with none to help.

[16:16] But they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them. Then verses 17 through 22 talks about those that are maybe physically sick here, but they loath any kind of food and they drew near to the gates of death.

[16:35] But why? Fools, it says. They're fools because of their sinful ways and because of their iniquities. They've suffered infliction. But what does it say?

[16:46] They cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them. He sent out his word and healed them. And then the last description is those who went to the seas, out to the seas.

[17:01] Commercial enterprises on the seas. Sailing the Mediterranean more than likely here is in view. And on the seas, storms arise.

[17:14] And he describes that pretty vividly, doesn't he? They saw the wonders of God, but then, man, these waves are huge and the boat's way up here and then the boat's way down here and the water's coming in the boat and we're going to drown and we're going to die.

[17:26] It says that their courage melted away in their evil plight. And they were at their wit's end. But they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them.

[17:40] The most vivid image in my mind when I read that is when Jesus is with his disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee that night trying to cross the sea. And the storm comes up and Jesus is asleep.

[17:53] Because it says in this that God just calms the waves and the wind dies down. He delivered them. Now this paints for us or pictures for us several different comparisons as well as contrast.

[18:09] I would suggest to you that the first and last scenes, the first and last, the desert and the sea, is a picture of God's people in time of distress, but not necessarily because of their own sin.

[18:25] It's just the general condition of humanity. And we've all experienced it at some level. The world is just not an easy place to live.

[18:39] This life is not easy. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's really not. It's hard. So these, I think, the authors giving us the bookends, if you will, of the suffering and the distress and the anguish that come into our lives.

[19:00] No particular reason. Just the way it is. But the middle two scenes seem to me to be painting a picture that depicts God's people or, yeah, God's people suffering because of their rebellion against God.

[19:15] Verse 11, we saw they rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Verse 17, they were fools through their sinful ways and because of their iniquities, they severed affliction.

[19:27] So again, here you see the descriptions of pain and suffering and anguish that seems to be directly related to our own sinful choices, our foolish choices so often.

[19:43] I guess this is a word, idiocies. In Spanish, we don't use this word, but we can in English, our stupidities.

[19:57] And sometimes that's the bottom line of our sin, isn't it? It can be addictions. It can be different diseases that we inflict upon ourselves through our behaviors.

[20:11] Oh, there's just numerous things. It can be the sin of other people against us. But each time here, now this is a comparison. Each time, we already saw this, each time that they cried out to the Lord into their trouble, each time, verse 6, verse 13, verse 19, verse 28, what does it say?

[20:34] He heard their cry and He delivered them. He responded. Their need was great. They were near to death. They were in pain.

[20:45] They were in anguish. Great distress. But God delivered them. Again, if you read the Old Testament, you'll just see example after example of God's delivering His people when they cried out to Him.

[21:05] And God gives them what they need. That's the amazing part. Those that were in the desert, He satisfies the longing of their soul. Those that were in prison and captivity, He brings them forth, bursts their bonds, shatters the doors of bronze, cuts into the bars of iron.

[21:25] Those that had sickness of heart or physical illness, says He sent out His word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction. And then those that were on the high seas, He made the storm to be still.

[21:40] He calmed the winds. He brought them to their desired haven. So each time God delivers and He does so in a way that provides specifically for their need.

[21:53] One thing I think we need to note here, and that is to realize that God's...

[22:04] Well, it seems to me that the psalm many times paints a picture here of these are immediate responses. Okay? And sometimes God does deliver immediately.

[22:18] Praise His name, no? Praise His name. He comes and meets us. We cry out. He comes and meets us. And it's almost instantaneous. But there are many other times where we're crying out to the Lord and crying out to the Lord and crying out to the Lord and we don't see an immediate response.

[22:36] That also is true in the Scriptures. So, my point is, don't... Don't... Don't let your heart faint.

[22:55] Don't think that God has... Well, we will think. We do think. God has abandoned me. Okay? But try to resist that temptation.

[23:09] Work against it. Because God does not always do things in our timing. Well, usually He never does anything in our timing. But that doesn't mean He doesn't hear and He's not responding.

[23:26] How long were the people in Egypt crying out to the Lord in their slavery and it took God 40 years to prepare Moses for He could go back? As we think about the steadfast love of the Lord, and His greatness, His faithfulness, His mercies, I think that there...

[23:51] Well, I'm going to say there... I believe there are three basic responses that the Scripture is calling us to. The first one's not directly in the text. But I believe it's in the context of the whole Bible.

[24:06] And it's this. Repentance. Repent. Repent. What are we repenting of? How about those times that we've been grumbling and moaning and complaining against God?

[24:24] But that does not become the person who's been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the steadfast love of the Lord is yours in Christ.

[24:39] But we are prone to moan and complain. Grumble. And I think perhaps it's one of those evils or sins that we don't take too seriously.

[24:53] We don't see it as a big sin. But I think maybe it is a bigger sin than we realize. Because we're expressing to God our ungratefulness. You are denying me something.

[25:04] Remember that was part of the temptation for Adam and Eve. The devil came and said God's withholding from you guys.

[25:17] He doesn't want you to be happy. And they believed it. But that's not true. The other aspect of repentance here is that it is the steadfast love of the Lord that leads us to repentance.

[25:33] Does that seem surprising to you? It's the steadfast love of the Lord that leads you to repentance. Not His anger. Not His wrath. If you're fearing God and thinking He's going to punish me you'll never repent.

[25:52] You can never really even admit your sin. You've got to hide it. But if you see the steadfast love of the Lord in all this then it makes it easy to repent.

[26:04] In Joel chapter 2 Joel calling the people to repentance he says and even now declares the Lord return to me with all your heart and with fasting with weeping and with mourning and rend your hearts and not your garments.

[26:19] Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and He relents over disaster. And then Romans chapter 2 verse 4 or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

[26:42] If you can catch a glimpse of God's steadfast love for you it will lead you to repentance. Repentance obviously for more than just grumbling and complaining but it opens the door.

[26:57] John Miller or C. John Miller Jack Miller in a book called Repentance of the 21st Century Man or 20th Century Man said this what we all desperately need to see is that the love of the Holy God is manifested covenantally in the cross.

[27:16] In the sacrifice of the Lamb of God the Father promises to receive contrite sinners on a day daily no hourly basis. the cross says no matter what your sins unlimited mercy is available to those who turn to God through Jesus merits.

[27:34] Having satisfied the demands of his own holy law the Father must open his mighty arms and embrace every returning son. He must do it every day.

[27:45] He has promised to do it and he cannot lie God cannot lie. Can you imagine this that God is opening his arms to you and saying come to me come to me repent confess your sin because I am committed to forgive you.

[28:08] My steadfast love is before you. The psalm in the psalm itself the second response that I see clearly here is that we are to give thanks.

[28:20] verses 1 8 15 21 31 Oh give thanks no give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love.

[28:32] Give thanks let us give thanks let us remember it let us rejoice in it be thankful for it what has it's a greater gift than any of us can really comprehend we can try but it's so great so wonderful and then finally the last thing we're asked to do in the psalm in the very last verse he says remember and reflect on this whoever is wise let him attend to these things and let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord now obviously and truly well maybe it's not always so obvious but truly we are mostly prone to forget God's steadfast love we are so the psalmist is saying look on that think if you're wise this is wisdom okay whoever is wise let him attend to these things let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord

[29:37] I think the idea here almost is the idea of meditating of reflecting on it recalling it to mind God's steadfast love is towards me and my family and my church God is expressing and has expressed and will express and give his steadfast love again and again in the psalm the psalmist is painting this repetitive picture distress crying to the Lord in trouble deliverance thanksgiving remember whoever is wise whoever is wise are you wise am I wise maybe sometimes sometimes I'm not so wise but I do think there's one other event in the scriptures that will help us more than anything else to remember and meditate and delight in God's steadfast love remember when our

[30:43] Lord Jesus Christ the night of his betrayal after all the events there in John and the other gospels after he they've gone out into the garden to pray and he's about to be Judas is about to come with the Roman guards and the chief the priest and etc and they're going to arrest him but in that before they get there he's praying and he keeps praying it says in Luke and Matthew that he prays three times Lord Father if it's possible let this cup pass from me let this suffering pass from me I don't want to go to the cross and three times the answer is no Luke tells us that so great was his stress and his distress in that moment that his sweat became like drops of blood and then they came and they arrested him and later that day he's hung on a cross and one of the last words that Jesus says on the cross as he's dying is my God my God why have you forsaken me and what was the response from heaven silence there was no response think about

[32:18] Psalm 107 all those times the people cried out in their distress and trouble and God delivered them the son of God the perfect son of God cries out my God my God why have you forsaken me and there's that is the greatest proof in the scriptures that is the most vivid image I think that we can that that exists of God's steadfast love for his people that when his own son cried out he did not respond he had to take our place and he did take our place so if nothing else as you think about God's steadfast love focus on this think of your Lord Jesus Christ of him if you're not a believer if you've never trusted in Christ think on him who took your place who died and received the full wrath of

[33:27]  God against sin so that you could know the steadfast love of the Lord let's pray thank you dear father that you love us you care for us you're watching over us always your steadfast love is steady and firm and has been confirmed many times not just in our experience but in the cross in the cross Lord when your own son cries out you do not respond to deliver him thank you for that sacrifice made on our behalf help us to remember it and in spite of whatever circumstance we're in right now that we would reflect and know your steadfast love through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen