A Deeper Foundation for Gratitude (Psalm 107)
Thankfulness be harder than we might think.
Sometimes we find it difficult to thank God because we have a wrong view of God and ourselves. We might be a hardworking person, and feel as though we have earned what we have. We have worked hard, achieved a certain level in our career, or built a comfortable life. We might think, “I deserve this. I have earned the right to enjoy my success.” Yet in thinking like that, we can find it hard to give glory to God and thank him for the blessings in our lives.
At other times, gratitude is difficult because life feels uncertain. It is not that we think we have achieved everything ourselves; instead, we feel as though we do not have enough. Life is unsettling or disappointing. Gratitude does not come naturally because we cannot see very much to be thankful for.
Psalm 107 speaks to all of us, however easy or difficult we find thanksgiving. It gives us a deeper and more solid foundation for gratitude. It invites us to look back, not simply at our week or our year, but at the whole story of God’s grace.
God is good. He is unfailing in his love and astonishingly faithful to his people.
God calls us to give thanks because he is good.
Psalm 107 begins:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story.”
This is not merely a polite thank you, like the kind we might offer to someone at Woolworths who helps us find something on the shelves. This is thanksgiving from people whose lives have been saved.
The psalm was likely written after God’s people had been taken into exile and then rescued by the Lord. God had delivered them from their enemies and gathered them from many different places. The psalm therefore calls everyone who has been saved by God and known his love to join in thanksgiving.
That includes Christians today.
God has delivered us through Jesus Christ. He has saved us from the grip of the evil one, set us free from bondage to sin and death, and given us new life in Christ. We have experienced the everlasting love and goodness of God.
Thankfulness should therefore characterise us as Christians. Let us never forget what the Lord has done for us. Let us never allow thanksgiving to disappear from our prayers. Let us always remember our Saviour Jesus and everything we have received through him.
Four Pictures of Rescue
Psalm 107 gives us four pictures of the way God rescues his people: salvation from wandering, imprisonment, sickness and storms.
First, some wandered in the wilderness. They were hungry, thirsty and close to death. But when they cried out to the Lord, he delivered them from their distress. He led them out of the desert and brought them to a city where they could settle.
We all know something of this tendency to wander. As the hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” Yet God, in his kindness, keeps bringing his people home. He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. He brings us back to the safety and nourishment of his Word.
The second picture is of prisoners sitting in darkness. They had rebelled against God’s commands and despised his plans. Yet when they cried out to the Lord, he heard them. He broke their chains and set them free.
This is a wonderful picture of the gospel. Jesus came to proclaim freedom for prisoners and to set the oppressed free. Sin holds us. We cannot release ourselves from its guilt and power. But the light of the gospel shines into our darkness. Christ breaks the chains and calls us to follow him.
The third picture is of people who are sick and close to death. Yet God sends out his word, heals them and rescues them from the grave.
Jesus is the great doctor and physician. His healing miracles show us what he came to do. He came to heal people and ultimately to heal this sin-sick world, which has been broken by the fall. The sickness of sin within us needs a cure, and that cure is Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, he heals and restores us to our Creator. One day, even our bodies will be raised and made whole.
The fourth picture is of sailors caught in a terrible storm. They stagger around. They are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord, and he brings them out of their distress. He stills the storm and guides them to a safe haven.
These verses capture the feeling of being overwhelmed and helpless. The waves of sorrow, struggle and pressure threaten to sink us. Yet the storms of life are not outside God’s control.
This points us forward to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. With only his voice, he calmed the wind and the waves. The one who has power over nature has power over every part of our lives. God is our comfort and help. He stills the waters and guides his people safely home.
The Foundation of Gratitude
These four pictures describe what God has done for his people. By his mercy, he brings wanderers home, frees prisoners, heals the sick and rescues those overwhelmed by storms.
The repeated response is thanksgiving in verse 31: “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.”
The psalm finishes by showing us the foundation of this gratitude, that God is in control.
Our lives often include hardships, trials and pain. Sometimes we cannot see how we will get through them or where God is in the middle of them. Our circumstances change, and sometimes they change because of our own failures to follow God and his ways. Yet God does not change.
Even when we wander, God remains merciful to those who come to him in repentance and faith. His love for us in Christ endures forever. Our experiences change. Our emotions change. We do not know what will happen from one day to the next. But God and his love for us in Christ do not change. They will remain the same every day for the rest of eternity.
The psalm ends with a call to wisdom:
“Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD.”
If we struggle with gratitude, let us be wise and think deeply about the love of God. Think about what God is like. Think about what he has done for his people. Think especially about the love that sent his only beloved Son into the world to be our Saviour.
God’s love in Jesus is the deepest foundation for gratitude. Because his love endures forever, with God’s help, we can give thanks in every season.
