Psalm 107:10-15..."Some sat in darkness and in gloom, Prisoners in misery and in irons."
What a picture the psalmist paints for us here in these five verses. It's a picture of what sin does to an individual who is bound by sinful habits that destroy the soul as well as the body, a picture of darkness, gloom, misery and all this reminds one of a prisoner in chains of iron. We saw such an individual yesterday in a hospital clinic...a young man in leg chains with his hand in a cast and two gourds with him from the sherriff's dept. A pathetic sight really. The psalm writer indicates that the reason for all this misery is rebellion against the Words of God. Some folks are sick and lying on death beds because they have rejected the love of an eternal God. One might ask if that is God's judgement and I would say not necessarily, rather it is a result of a lifestyle that has no room for God and therefore no room for His blessing and divine protection. Paul says in Romans that the wages of sin is death.
It says in verse 12 of our psalm that "their hearts were bowed down with hard labour"...sin is a hard task master; the verse goes on, "they fell down with no one to help" Self help groups may be a help in some areas but only Jesus can save your soul, only Jesus can fill that emptiness and only Jesus can lift you out of sin. The rest of that portion of scripture verses 13-15 reads, "Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress; He brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder. Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love, for His wonderful works to humankind." What mercy and grace Jesus provides that when we were still sinners, He died for us...all we have to do is cry out to Him and He will hear us.
What a picture the psalmist paints for us here in these five verses. It's a picture of what sin does to an individual who is bound by sinful habits that destroy the soul as well as the body, a picture of darkness, gloom, misery and all this reminds one of a prisoner in chains of iron. We saw such an individual yesterday in a hospital clinic...a young man in leg chains with his hand in a cast and two gourds with him from the sherriff's dept. A pathetic sight really. The psalm writer indicates that the reason for all this misery is rebellion against the Words of God. Some folks are sick and lying on death beds because they have rejected the love of an eternal God. One might ask if that is God's judgement and I would say not necessarily, rather it is a result of a lifestyle that has no room for God and therefore no room for His blessing and divine protection. Paul says in Romans that the wages of sin is death.
It says in verse 12 of our psalm that "their hearts were bowed down with hard labour"...sin is a hard task master; the verse goes on, "they fell down with no one to help" Self help groups may be a help in some areas but only Jesus can save your soul, only Jesus can fill that emptiness and only Jesus can lift you out of sin. The rest of that portion of scripture verses 13-15 reads, "Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress; He brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder. Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love, for His wonderful works to humankind." What mercy and grace Jesus provides that when we were still sinners, He died for us...all we have to do is cry out to Him and He will hear us.
posted by Randall | 5:49 a.m.
3 Comments:
I worry about making a comment after some of these rich discussions/writings for fear that someone might think that I think I can ADD something to the thoughts. I can't . . . in fact, I am simply left in thought, deep consideration, of the scriptures you are sharing and of the thoughts of how they describe the church and us...me, who are part of the church and impacting who "I" am in the church.
Keep writing down your thoughts, Randall, and, although you do not get much of a notion of how your thoughts/writings are being received, please know that they are impacting many lives and enlarging how we think when we read these verses and how we think about the church and our part in it.
Blessings on you,
Naida
What mercy and grace Jesus provides that when we were still sinners, He died for us...all we have to do is cry out[ to ]Him and He will hear us.I think many times we cry out [ at ] Him ,putting the blame on GOd for our failures ,we want to blame someone else for everything we do or not do ,its easy to blame him [you know ] [ he could have stopped me or he should not have let me if it was wrong ....I think we all get the point.....reach out,call out don't strike out at Him for our faults and failures.
Coffee
We all tend to try and run from God at one time or another in our life. I know because I have done it more than once. Thank God that HE never leaves US....its always us that strays away from Him. We need to thank Him in our good times and bad times. I have so much to be thankful for right now at this very moment. I have gone through alot in the last couple years, but who hasnt? Jesus brings us out stronger if we let Him. He is my Saviour, friend and lover of my soul...even when I dont deserve it! Thank you Jesus for loving me right where I am today!!
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