Psalm 107:1-16 For the Homeless

Psalm 107
Let the redeemed of the Lord speak of his steadfast love.

I. This psalm starts off with a call to praise and worship God.

Why?

Because he is good and his steadfast love endures forever.

How do we know that?

Because he redeems people from trouble. He saves people. He saves all kinds of people. People from all places. He gathered them from the east and west, north and south.

Where are you right now? Wherever you are, God knows what you are dealing with. He can take you from any place.

II. Some of those he redeemed were homeless. They didn't even have a city to live in. They were in a desert where there is nothing. No food. No water. Nada.

What did they do?

They cried to the Lord in their trouble. You know, you can cry to the Lord. You can tell him all about it. He understands you better than anyone. Even better than you do. He made you. Don’t be mad at him for your troubles, he can save you out of them. Maybe that’s why he allowed them to happen to you, so that he can show you how much he cares for you?

He heard their cry. God hears. He knows. Remember, Jesus went through it, too. He was homeless, hungry, thirsty, rejected, tired, betrayed, beaten, murdered. He understands all pain, all betrayal, all mistreatment, all heartache.

God delivered them. He led them on the straight way. He gave them a permanent place to stay. This is why they thank him. He worked when they prayed. Some say, “Prayer works.” Well, God works. He satisfies the longing soul. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” God loves to satisfy those who are in need. This may be one reason why he allows trouble in our lives. Do you feel dissatisfied? Are you hungry for what is right and good in your life? Look to God. He doesn’t have the answer, he is the answer!

They thank him for his “steadfast love.” Love that keeps on keeping on, no matter what. God doesn’t stop loving. He loves those he redeems. There are those that God does not love. Just read Psalm 5 if you don't believe me. God will punish sinners for their sins in Hell. Hell never ends. Israel was God's chosen nation, a people he redeemed out of slavery for himself. he certainly wasn't going to let them starve in the desert, especially when they cried to him for salvation. The soul who seeks him will find him. God never let's anyone down who genuinely wants to be saved. He will redeem everyone that he chose from before the foundation of the world. That's what Ephesians chapter 1 says.

Are you redeemed? that’s the question.

Maybe you think your situation is different. So many say that for them, Hell is here on earth. It's not. Christ went back to heaven to prepare a place there for you if you follow him. Cry to him. Talk to him. Trust in him. He’ll show you.

Let’s move on...

III. Some were criminals. Stuck in prison. They rebelled against his word. They lived their own way. They didn’t listen to God’s counsel, his word, his instructions. You know, God gave us everything we need to know about living his way right here in the Bible. They ignored that. They did their own thing, and paid for it in chains and slave labor. Nobody cared for them.

Then what did they do after that?

It says in verses 13 & 14, “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.”

That’s why they should thank him. He loved them enough to pardon them. He loved them enough to set them free. It says he burst their bonds apart. He loved them so much he destroyed everything that held them captive.

What is holding you captive? Have you been rebellious against God’s Word? Are you sitting in darkness and bound by the chains of sin? Don’t fear. Don’t be downcast. Don’t be discouraged. You can cry to the Lord in the midst of your distress. He’ll set you free. Jesus said that only the truth will set us free. He is the truth.

Conclusion:
I wish I had more time to expound the rest of this Psalm. I could say a lot more about it. There is something here for everyone. Not all of us have the same problems, come from the same backgrounds, have had the same experiences, felt the same pain, cried the same tears, had the same anger or frustration. But all of us have one thing in common. We have a Creator who loves us enough to save us from our troubles when we call out to him.

Jesus didn’t die for nothing. He died to pay for the sins of his people. Everyone who comes to him will never be cast out. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know him. How can they come to him? Oh, certainly many people say they believe in him. They say they have a personal relationship with him. But how do they live their lives? Do they live as if their life depended on him? Because it does. Do they see him as their Lord who tells them what to do? Or do they see him as the one they get to tell what to do? See prayer is first about our submission to God, our love, delight and praise to God. We ask him to give us what he knows we need. Sometimes he gives us what we want. Sometimes he doesn’t. Most of the time it is because we ask for the wrong things and we have the wrong motives. But he loves to save. We see that from this Psalm. He loves to redeem people from every walk of life. He loves to help those who recognize they truly have a need for him. See, if you need God, then God is there for you. If you don’t need him, don’t expect to be blessed by him. Many people live as if they don’t need Christ. They live as if they don’t need anyone or anything but themselves. They tell their girlfriends that they need them, until they find another girl. Likewise, many women are just using men to get what they want. True love is not getting as much as you can from others, it is giving yourself away for the sake of the one you love.

God gave everything. He gave his Son. Shouldn’t we gladly give ourselves to him? Our desires, hopes, dreams, aspirations, needs, wants, sins, burdens, troubles, hurts, fears, anxieties, angers, frustrations, complaints, love, affection, obedience, loyalty? He is waiting to hear us cry to him. Pour out your heart to him. You may not feel relief right away. It may take some time. You might not see your full reward until you reach God’s heavenly throne room. Remember, he raised Jesus from the dead. We must die also. We die to our way of life in order to live his way, by his strength and help. If we die physically, he will raise us to eternal life when Christ returns. After death, God's children get to be with him in heaven, waiting for the time when he will make this world new again.

Isn’t that something to cry out to him for? Isn’t it worth our pleas for help to be given what our souls most long for? They long for God. Jesus is God in human flesh, who reconciles us back to the Father. They long for life. Jesus is the life. They long for light. Jesus is the light of the world. They long for freedom. Jesus is the truth that sets us free. They long for satisfaction. Jesus satisfies completely. They long for peace. Jesus is our peace. They long for justification. Christ is our justification, who has taken away our sin, put it upon himself, and has given us his righteousness, making us accepted forever. He delights to save those who cry out to him!

You can apply this message to yourself in a couple of ways. First, if you are living your own way, doing things your way, ignoring God's Word, then you can apply this message by calling out to him for a change in your heart and for a change in your life. You need to be rescued from all the things we just talked about, and the only way for you to be redeemed, like the Israelites spoken of in this Psalm, is by putting your full confidence in Jesus Christ as your righteousness before God. Don't get me wrong. Christ demands repentance. To repent is to recognize your guilt for breaking all of God's righteous Laws and to turn back to him in confession, sorrow, humility, fear and obedience. Nothing less will be accepted. But Jesus also taught that you cannot come to him unless the Father draws you to him. That's why we need God's Holy Spirit to change our hearts and make us new first, before we can surrender and believe. Cry to him in prayer, confessing your waywardness, and trust fully in his power to save. Salvation is the gift of God from start to finish. You need repentance, you need forgiveness, you need a new way of life, you need to live by God's Word, you need to persevere, to keep on keeping on, you need to be faithful and to do what God wants. All of this must come by God's powerful grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Cry out to him in your prayers for this salvation.

Second, if you know you have eternal life and you trust fully in the King of kings, the Savior of sinners, the Judge who has pardoned every last one of your sins forever and has already accepted you as his very own, then you can take courage. You can be fully confident that he cares about every need of yours and hears when you call. By his help, you can live your life in obedience to Scripture. Just keep reading it and learning to do what it says in the power of God's Spirit. If you don't, you can be sure God will discipline you for disobeying, but he will never leave you or forsake you. If you are not disciplined by God as your Father, it is because you are not one of his children. In that case, you ought to examine yourself and seek the Lord for salvation and the assurance of your salvation, which only he can give.

Let us give thanks to him for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Let's pray.

Being Satisfied

As a single 26 year old Christian man, I am writing to my fellow single brothers and sisters in Christ about satisfaction with God's will in Christ Jesus our LORD.

Sometimes we can hear so much about what we "should" be doing, that we begin to think, "Oh no, not another reminder that I have to be satisfied with whatever God wants for my life, even if it is exactly what I dread."

But that is not the Biblical view of being satisfied with God's will. Biblically, God only gives to the wicked what they most fear and dread will happen to them (Prov. 10:24).

But to the righteous, God gives them the desires of their hearts, satisfies them with good things, renews them and fills them with joy (Psa. 34:9; 37:4; 81:16; 103:5 Prov. 10:24; Isa. 40:31; Rom. 14:17; 15:13).

This is His will for you in Christ: that you always rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything (1 Thes. 5:16-18).

If this is God's will for us, then why would we want anything different?

"Because what if God does not give me what I want," you might think.

But listen to me, if you know God's Son and you know the Father, and you know His great love for you, then how can you doubt that He wants anything but what is the best for you?

What it comes down to is this: are you satisfied with doing the will of God? His will is simple and clear: 1) always be joyful in Him, He loves you and is making you holy; 2) always pray, because God loves to answer the requests of His children in unexpected ways; and 3) always be thankful, because you are getting way more than you deserve and God is giving you good things to bless you.

If you are rejoicing in Christ, continuing in prayer and thankful in Christ, then you are doing God's will. You can be satisfied with that.

Whether we get married or not, live or die, have this or that, what matters is that we are doing the will of God in the midst of it. I believe that there is no other way for a married couple to not be disappointed with each other than for them to first be satisfied in Christ. There is no other way for singles to be who they are created to be than to first be satisfied in Christ.

I firmly believe that being content takes action. First let's be content with God's will for our lives, if we are saved it is always going to be good, even in hard times. Second, let's do what He commands us to do. This starts with loving Him and loving His people. Get out and work by visiting other Christians, be happy with the godly friends you have, help each other out more, out-do one another in showing honor to each other, do things to help the poor, encourage the downcast and build each other up in the faith, preach the gospel to the lost and visit the hospitals.

If you are a young man and you don't have the gift of celibacy, then get busy ordering your life and finding a wife for yourself. I know she is already getting tired of waiting for you to do something. Remember you can only pick one, so find the one you like and stick with her. Learn to be the kind of guy noble women are crazy about. Read the book of Proverbs as many times as you can in one year and by the grace of God practice it. Experience knowing Christ for real and be gentle, kind and gracious.

If you are a lady, then do all you can to encourage, support and help others out as you wait for that guy to finally do something. Babysit people's kids, learn to be a great cook, help your sisters out, delight in the Word of God, be self-controlled. Every relationship in your life matters. Remember, God knows what you need.

If you are doing these things already, then don't get tired of doing it. Keep in mind that God is blessing you and has great things in store. Maybe your future husband or future wife will see you doing these things and will be irresistibly attracted to you?

Maybe it won't matter to you if anyone sees you or not, because you know what it is to be saved by grace? You know what it is to be loved by God, to have His Son die and rise for your redemption, to be eternally, irresistibly and stubbornly loved in Christ Jesus, to receive His Holy Spirit and to have a future hope of an eternal inheritance. You will one day reign as kings in the Kingdom of our Lord.

If this is you, be happy and keep doing good. If not, then get alone, get silent, get on your knees, get your Bible open and plead to know this love of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

"Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."
(Isaiah 40:30-31 ESV)

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
(1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV)

"Trust in the LORD and do good..."
(Psalm 37:3)

Hope this helps you out a little my friends,

Penn T.

(If you have anything you would like to add, comments or questions, please do.)

Hope Does Not Disappoint

This is a passage from my Bible study over on As It Is Written. I thought I'd post it here for encouragement to anyone who does not read my Bible studies. I hope you enjoy!

(On Romans 5:1-5)

Romans 5:4... What is the third thing sufferings produce? Or, what does tested character produce? Character produces hope. Hope is a really good thing. It means to be waiting with expectation. When I was studying this word in the Bible, I thought of this example for hope: The Bible's definition of hope is similar to the feeling you get when you know it is sure your team is going to win. You are watching a football game, or playing soccer or something else, and everything is intense, then the time starts running out, and your team does something like scores or whatever, and you realize it's all over. The game is over - your team is going to win and now it is just a matter of time until it ends. And you begin to rejoice, even jump for joy, because you know it's finished. You know what the outcome is going to be, and so you are filled with hopeful expectation. That is the idea we get here. Suffering produces endurance in the justified believer's life, which produces tested proven character, which produces joyful hope.

Verse 5
and hope does not put us to shame because the love of God has been
poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us.

What does hope not do for us? Hope does not put us to shame. The NASB says, "and hope does not disappoint." Verse 5 is the climax of all the spiritual blessings listed in Romans 5:1-5. Hope, which means "waiting in expectation" does not leave the justified ashamed or disappointed. Why not? How could someone have hope, and then end up disappointed or put to shame? Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."

...Now, we are reading here that while Christians may suffer extremely in this life, and we are promised that it will be so, nevertheless, this hope will not be deferred, it will be fulfilled. Christians may die, yet Christ, who is our hope, will return and will raise the dead. And this is how we know our hope will be fulfilled, because it says, "the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." I have often thought, how could I ever doubt God's love? How can I doubt His love when He has given me everything? He gave His Son, as we will see in verse 6, and He gave me His Holy Spirit to be in me and with me. Through the Holy Spirit, God has poured out His love into the hearts of those of us who are justified. The Holy Spirit is given as a down payment, or as an engagement ring. He is the seal of God's promise that He will save those who are justified by faith. This love of God is poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. So if you have the Holy Spirit, then God's love has been poured into your hearts through Him and you have this hope that will never put you to shame, because it will be fulfilled!

Hope really does produce joy, and that is what I was attempting to show throughout the study of this section of Romans. To read the entire article and get the context of the lesson on hope, click here.

Grace, peace and love to all who hope in God through Jesus. (Romans 5:11).
Here is a song I found on UTube by Sarah Groves. I think it relates big time to hope, because it convicted me to look forward to the promise of God instead of back to "Egypt."

Grace for the Homeless

A dearly beloved brother came back to Philadelphia today (I won't mention his name, but if you read this, brother, just know I'm sharing it with joy). He had been traveling around the country for the past few months visiting various shelters and ministries. He is homeless, but has been taken in by a gracious family. He has been looking to Christ through all of his trials and loves the Word of God. More good news was that today, he received a letter that his late father had left him all his life insurance money. After his father died, his name was not on the will, so he was disheartened, until now. So perhaps this is the end of his long history of homelessness. The believers there were rejoicing with him, but mostly rejoicing to see him again. We had, what I believe to be, a Spirit filled prayer meeting and Bible study. God's grace is powerful.

Note: the ministry I labor with in W. Philly is not a homeless ministry, but an evangelistic ministry. We are not your typical anything, just a few sinners looking to Jesus for everything.

Rejoice in the Sovereign grace of God with me! Grace, grace!