Facing another birthday (and a big one at that), it’s been a real struggle. Ten years ago I launched into my 40’s with physical strength, the privilege of a fulfilling ministry, and (in retrospect) comparatively few cares. Nosing 50, I find myself praying for the Lord’s leading and diligently seeking what’s next as my body continues to heal from nine years of illness.
When we experience trials—sickness, the betrayal or death of a loved one, financial devastation, the loss of a career—it can be difficult to move forward again with the same faith we might have had in our youth. The longer our hopes are deferred, the easier it is for our hearts to grow sick (Prov. 13:12). Especially if our bodies are older, our capacities are changed, or the circumstances around us have moved on, we’re prone to wonder if God can raise anything beautiful from the ashes.
In times like these, passages like Psalm 107 draw our focus with the lighthouse-beam of God’s changeless character. Whatever else goes on in our lives, this will always remain true of Jehovah: “He is good…His steadfast love endures forever!” (v. 1)
That’s how the chapter begins. And it ends with the counsel: “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let him consider the steadfast love of the Lord” (v. 43). The truly wise person will ponder God’s loyal love and its numerous demonstrations. That should be the magnet for my mind.
Sandwiched between these two bookends of the chapter are four scenarios of severe distress, in which God’s people experienced His intervening love (vv. 4-9, 10-16, 17-22, 23-32). In each case, the turning point began when His children recognized their need and called out to the Lord for rescue (v. 6, 13, 19, 28).
Some who are suffering may wonder if they’ve exempted themselves from God’s help—if at least a measure of what they experience is a result of their own sinful choices or prideful heart. Even if that is the case, the clear implication of Psalm 107 gives hope. Both of the middle scenarios describe people whose refusal to be ruled by God’s Word brought on their trials (see vv. 11-12, 17-18). Our God shows Himself just as eager to deliver these believers when they turn to Him as He is to deliver those whose suffering is not a consequence of sin (cf. 13, 19; 6, 28). What faithful love!
But the image I’ve found most riveting this weekend before my birthday is the description in verses 35-42. It recalls what God can do when it seems He has basically nothing to work with. The verses picture the transformation of a desert to standing pools of water, an uninhabitable, parched land into a place of bubbling springs, productive fields and vineyards, and a city where formerly hungry people now live satisfied.
It’s a reminder that, no matter our age or circumstance, it should be easy to trust that the One Who spoke everything from nothing (Gen. 1) can bring something beautiful from the ashes. Though our lives may have changed, He and His love for us have not—and will not. He is the Wellspring of our faith for the future, whatever He may ordain.
When I ponder that, my heart joins the refrain of Psalm 107 (verses 8, 15, 21, 31):
Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness [steadfast love], and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
O Love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
(George Matheson — 1842-1906)
