God Over Deserts and the Spring

Text

Psalm 107:33–42 ESV

33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. 35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. 36 And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; 37 they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. 38 By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish. 39 When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, 40 he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes; 41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. 42 The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

Prayer

Father, all things are in your hands. Though we struggle to understand even the simplest things of your creation, we rest in the truth that you know all things, and in you, all things hold together. You have set before us, this morning, a text that requires us to submit to both your power and your goodness. Help us this morning to do just that, with hearts that are full of faith, confidence, and cheerfulness. In Jesus name, amen.

Introduction

So far, in Psalm 107, we have been brought through four episodes of God's steadfast love.

In the first three verses, we were introduced to this concept of steadfast love.

This love is covenantal, which means that it flows through a relationship.

The way a husband and a wife love each other is a picture of the way God loves his people, and how they are to love him.

When marriage vows are made, even bad ones, there is some sense of commitment.

There is some sense of, "Come what may, I will love you."

You don't need to be married to know how hard that promise is going to be tested.

Spouses sin against each other regularly. Their love, in a sense, is not a perfectly steadfast love.

But God's love for his people is perfectly steadfast. It "endures forever."

Verses 4 to 8 show God rescuing a people wandering in the wilderness.

Verses 9 to 16 show him busting open the dungeon, breaking the chains, and delivering those who had rebelled against him.

Verses 17 to 22 show God healing those on the verge of death, by his word, and restoring them so powerfully that they "tell of his deeds in songs of joy."

Verses 23 to 32 picture sailors at the end of themselves in a storm at sea, and God bringing them safely to shore. He brings them to their desired haven.

Each of these episodes has a clear storyline.

Interestingly, the text for today is less clear in this regard.

The psalmist stops writing about specific events and begins reflecting on the pattern.

In each episode, the people who God saves in some way contributed to their own problems.

The souls of the wanderers fainted.

The prisoners rejected God and his word.

The afflicted fools committed iniquities.

The sailors despaired, saying, "There's no way God can save us."

"There's no way God can turn this [literal] ship around."

Verse 26 says, "their courage melted away."

Do you see the pattern?

Well, it's not the only pattern.

Where man sinned and brought about evil, God's steadfast love abounded and used it for good.

And in every instance, the redemption of God was so much greater.

The sailors were not led to just any port, they were led to their desired haven.

Those who were about to die from sickness were singing loud songs of joy.

Those who wandered in desert wastes were led to a city to dwell in, where their souls were satisfied and filled with good things.

This is the pattern of God's steadfast love: God's love judges and it redeems.

There are four verses of God’s judgment, here, but there are 6 verses of God’s redemption. The redeeming power of God’s steadfast love is what should be our focus, because it’s the focus of this text, and the whole psalm.

But in order to grasp the redemption, we must understand the judgment.

Exposition

Judgment

Psalm 107:33–34 ESV

33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.

This is the judgment of God in plain imagery.

Where there once was a river giving life to the land, there is now a desert.

Where water once sprung from the ground, there is now only a thirsty hole.

Where trees were once full of fruit, feeding God’s creatures, there is now only a salty waste.

Who is causing the climate to change, according to this text? God.

And why is God causing the climate to change in such devastating ways? Because, as the end of Verse 34 says, “of the evil of its inhabitants.”

As much fun as it might be to think about why California burns so well each year, the point of this text is not nature.

The point of this text is how God deals with a people.

And what this text plainly teaches is that God judges the evil of a people.

This could be parsed out in different ways, depending on if we’re talking about individuals, households, churches, or nations, but the general principle is the same.

Galatians 6:7 ESV

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

At every level of human society, there is a general principle of obedience bringing blessings and disobedience bringing curses.

If an individual disobeys the command of the Gospel, they are rejecting its blessings and choosing its curses. This is why keeping the Gospel pure and unfiltered is so important. Sinners need to know what is at stake. We need to understand the wrath that we are exposed to if we haven’t run to Jesus for salvation.

If a family is disordered and is disobeying God’s design for their lives, then there are going to be problems.

If a church grows continually in disobedience to Christ, it is only a matter of time until something explodes.

If a nation makes itself an enemy of God, then every day it exists without repenting is an expression of God’s amazing patience. Of his grace.

God patiently endures the wickedness of people according to his purposes, but he will not wait forever. This true for both individuals and for nations.

Acts 17:30–31 ESV

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

And, in Psalm 2, after explaining that “He who sits in the heavens laughs” at wicked kings, and “holds them in derision,” the psalmist writes…

Psalm 2:9–12 ESV

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Here is this principle. God is not mocked—what is sown is what will be reaped.

And if what is sown is a rejection or ignoring of God, then what will be reaped are the consequences of that. Judgment.

America’s Just Judgment

In Matthew 11, Jesus curses the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. He said...

Matthew 11:21–24 ESV

21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Why is it that these cities will experience a more intense judgment than these wicked cities of the past?

Because of the light that they had received.

The Godman, himself, walked their streets.

Where is Rome now, that once was the seat of Christendom in the world?

Where are the European kingdoms who once named Christ as Lord?

They are spiritual deserts, because of the evil of their inhabitants.

Our nation has been blessed with light to a degree that I think exceeds all the nations that came before.

But we have become a spiritual desert as well, because of our evil.

So here’s the simple question: what does our nation deserve? What would be the just outcome of the election this week?

Judgment, many times over.

Redemption

Look now to Verses 35-38.

Psalm 107:35–38 ESV

35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. 36 And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; 37 they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. 38 By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish.

The same God who judges lands also redeems them.

This story is told, over and over, throughout the Bible and in human history. God ordains the rise of nations and the fall of nations.

He leads his people into captivity, and he leads his people into freedom.

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, and turned it into a salty waste. But, when this world comes to a close, and the new one begins, he will make it new. He will make all things new.

He will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched land into a spring of water.

What we are reading here in 35-38 is the reversal and redemption of 33 and 34.

The real evil of a land’s inhabitants brought about real consequences, but that was not the end of the story.

The salty waste became a fertile land that its inhabitants could sow a field in, and plant a vineyard. And their yield wasn’t minimal, it was “fruitful.”

The hungry people are allowed to dwell there. They are given a city to live in.

How does this happen? What makes the difference here?

Verse 38…

Psalm 107:38 ESV

38 By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish.

“By his blessing.” All this happens by the blessing of God.

All this redemption occurs according to the gracious blessing of God.

Application

So, is it possible for us to access this blessing of God?

Can we, as individual deserts, be made into springs of water?

Can our nation, whose evil has reached heights that would make Sodom blush, avoid becoming the salty waste it so richly deserves?

Repentance

Psalm 107 has already given us the answer.

When the wanderer’s despaired:

Psalm 107:6 ESV

6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

When the prisoners despaired:

Psalm 107:13 ESV

13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

When the sick drew near to death:

Psalm 107:19 ESV

19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

When the sailors staggered like drunken man:

Psalm 107:28 ESV

28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

God answered their prayer, and he protected his people.

Our first step towards God in a time of trouble is repentance.

If you have gone to church for years and years, and have never opened the door to the God who has been knocking, you must repent of your sin, and come to Jesus Christ.

If you have wandered away from God, and allowed yourself to grow cold in your faith, you must repent of your sin and come to Jesus Christ.

If you look inside yourself and see only a desert and a salty waste, come to Jesus Christ.

“Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.”

This is the promise that cracks deserts open, so living water may flow through them.

This is the God who is over deserts and the spring.

To repent of your sin and come to Christ is to let go of one thing and cling to another.

And the promise of God is this, that no desert is so ruined that streams of water cannot break forth.

There is no sinner who is too far away from Christ that he cannot rescue them.

There is no sin too great in the eyes of God that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away.

Isaiah 1:18 ESV

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

These are not poetic words in an old book. This is not a life lesson that Jamie Murray is teaching you.

This is life or death.

Heaven or hell.

Redemption or judgment.

Every person in this room, and every person on this planet, will stand before the God who made them and give an account.

That moment will be as real as the moment we are sharing now.

That place will be as real as 18335 Bowman Rd.

The Bible is true. God is real. Jesus is coming.

Are you prepared for the end?

When Christ comes, will he find someone whose heart is a desert towards him?

Or will he find a heart flowing with the water he put there?

I speak to you now as simply another human being: do not wait.

Repent of your sins, and run to Christ.

Revival

As this happens, when individual deserts start to flow with water, when the people repent of their sins, there is now hope for a nation.

Politics is actually pretty simple these days, for a Christian.

We’ve just read that God judges a land because of its evil.

Therefore, whatever we do as citizens, in the civil realm, ought to be aimed at reducing evil and promoting good.

And our only two choices as it relates to the presidency is 1) an acceleration of evil under Harris, or 2) a slight deceleration under Trump.

Harris/Walz, Trump/Vance, none of these people are Christians. If you want to debate that, come to Evening Service tonight.

One is Ahab, the other is Jehu.

Neither of them can deliver America from becoming a salty waste.

But here’s what can.

Men and women who repent of their sins and worship God.

Husbands and wives who love each other and orient their family around the worship of God.

Churches, full of these families, that worship God with gladness for his steadfast love.

A host of saints across the nation whose hearts overflow with living water then pouring that water into the land.

This is how revival starts—it starts with you, right where you’re at, then it flows into your family, then through your church, and then out into the world. This is the only hope for our nation.

Closing

So when election day is over, and while we’re waiting to hear the results, remember that no matter what the answer is, we already have our marching orders.

We already know the only thing that will save our nation from the judgment of God: the redemption he gives in the gospel of his Son, Jesus.

What saves a sinner can save a nation of sinners.

Voting won’t make this happen. Here’s what will make it happen:

God sends his Spirit

The gospel is preached

Sinners repent and believe

Those sinners marry each other and have children

Those families gather together and worship God for life

These churches then serve and disciple their nation

The people of God continue repenting, believing, and worshipping God in gladness

Literally, the gates of hell couldn’t stand against a force like this.