LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO

Proclamation:

“Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of The Lord tell their story; those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”  Psalm 107:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  This psalm is a song and the refrain in verse fifteen is repeated three times within it. (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31)  David uses the phrase, “O give thanks unto The Lord …” at the beginning of several psalms. (Psalm 105:1, 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, and 136:1)  Here he follows it with the same two reasons that he identified in the previous psalm, “The Lord is good and His love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)  In the remaining verses David recounts some of the things which The Lord had done for the children of Israel.  After they had messed up and suffered because of it, they cried out to The Lord and He delivered them out of their distress. (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, and 28)

Application:

We should all give thanks unto The Lord.  There are so many reasons for doing so that we cannot count them all.  Those of us who have been redeemed should say so, we should tell the world our story.  He has given each of us a testimony, which is uniquely ours, and we should tell others what The Lord has done for us.  “Oh that men would praise The Lord for His goodness …” (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31) We should be thankful and praise His Holy Name for all of the good things which He has done.

LET US LET THE SOUND OF HIS PRAISE BE HEARD

Proclamation:

“Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard; He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.  For You, God, tested us; You refined us like silver.  You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.  You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us to a place of abundance.”  Psalm 66:8-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm of praise and thanksgiving was written by an unknown human author under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalmist begins by encouraging group praise, (Psalm 66:1-4) then he presents evidence of God’s previous faithfulness to His people, (Psalm 66:5-7) and then he addresses God’s continual protection. (Psalm 66:8-12)  This is followed by individual personal praise and a personal testimony regarding answered prayer. (Psalm 66:13-20)  The psalmist invites people to “come and see” (Psalm 66:5) what The Lord has done and then he invites them to “come and hear” his personal testimony. (Psalm 66:16-17)

Application:

We should praise and thank The Lord God publicly and privately for who He is and for all that he has done in each of our lives.  God has allowed the golden moments of our lives to keep rolling on and not let us slip into death.  He has brought us through purifying trials of fire and suffering which made us stronger.  He has never forsaken us and He brought us to the place where we are now in life, enjoying the abundance of His grace and blessings.  The promises that we made to Him during our times of affliction should be honored. (Psalm 66:13-14)  When others hear our testimony they will also praise The Lord and be glad. (Psalm 34:2)

OUR BAD TIMES ARE JUST A TEST

Proclamation:

"... Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job 2:10 (NIV)

Explanation:

With the aid of The Holy Spirit of God Job spoke these words to his friends and his wife after he had suffered.   Job went from being on top of the world (Job 1:1-3) to losing all of his possessions (Job 1:14-17) and then losing all of his children. (Job 1:18-19)  Then he even lost he health (Job 2:7).  "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." Job 1:22 (NIV) God allowed Satan to test Job. (Job 1:8 & 2:3-6)  Job passed his test; he kept the faith and did not curse God.  He did eventually question God, but he soon repented for doing that.

Application:

No matter how bad things are going with us, none of us have it as bad as Job had it.  Bad things happen to good people.  Some times we are reaping the results of our own bad choices and some times we are just being tested.  Regardless of why we go through bad times, we are to continue to praise God. (James 1:2)  Satan can only do to us what The Lord God permits.  He knows just how much we can bear.  Remember, after Job passed his tests, God blessed him with twice as much as he had before the bad times began. (Job 42:10)  I am sure that there is a blessing in store for each of us if we keep the faith and endure until the end. (James 1:12)  When bad things happen to us, we should pray and continue to have faith in God.  He can bring us through it, whatever it is.  We can’t have a testimony until we first go through a test.  Bad times are only a test.