A reminder: This month, we are using our do-it-yourself method for reading the Psalms. Each day, after the reading, I’ll ask you to reflect on two questions:
What things in this Psalm can I relate to?
Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus? It could be something about his ministry, his suffering and death, his resurrection, his kingdom, or what God has done for us through Jesus.
But don’t worry if you can’t always think of something – just read, reflect and pray.
Introduction: Psalm 106 ended with the Israelites in exile because of their constant unfaithfulness to the Lord, and the psalmist cried out to the Lord to save them and gather them back from the nations. Psalm 107 is a great song of thanks to the Lord, after he answered their prayer and rescued them. So far, it has described different situations of despair and mortal danger that people had been in because of their rebellion. In each case, the Psalm has two refrains: “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress,” and “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.”
23 Others went out to sea in ships,
conducting trade on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the LORD,
and His wonders in the deep.
25 For He spoke and raised a tempest
that lifted the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths;
their courage melted in their anguish.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and all their skill was useless.28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and He brought them out of their distress.
29 He calmed the storm to a whisper,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They rejoiced in the silence,
and He guided them to the harbor they desired.
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
and His wonders to the sons of men.
32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people
and praise Him in the council of the elders.33 He turns rivers into deserts,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into fields of salt,
because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water
and a dry land into flowing springs.
36 He causes the hungry to settle there,
that they may establish a city in which to dwell.
37 They sow fields and plant vineyards
that yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
He does not let their herds diminish.39 When they are decreased and humbled
by oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 He pours out contempt on the nobles
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
41 But He lifts the needy from affliction
and increases their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
and all iniquity shuts its mouth.43 Let him who is wise pay heed to these things
and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
REFLECTIONS
Now think about the two questions:
What things in this Psalm can I relate to?
Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?
Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.