God is Good

See Psalms 107:1-8

Psalm 107:1–8 NASB95

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty; Their soul fainted within them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. He led them also by a straight way, To go to an inhabited city. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Introduction

Many years ago, a boat was wrecked in a storm on Lake Michigan at Evanston, Illinois. Students from Northwestern University formed themselves into rescue teams. One student, Edward Spencer, saved seventeen people from the sinking ship. When he was carried exhausted to his room, he asked, “Did I do my best? Do you think I did my best?” Years later, R. A. Torrey was talking about this incident at a meeting in Los Angeles, and a man in the audience called out that Edward Spencer was present. Dr. Torrey invited Spencer to the platform. An old man with white hair slowly climbed the steps as the applause rang. Dr. Torrey asked him if anything stood out in his memory. “Only this, sir,” he replied, “of the seventeen people I saved, not one of them thanked me.”[1]

Before we let ourselves digress into complaining ingrates; take just a few moments to think about the things that you must be thankful for. So many times, people allow the pain of the moment, the problem of the hour, or the preoccupations of the day to block their capacity to think. They let their minds wander and stray aimlessly from one idle thought to another without giving any real attention to the fact that the Lord is blessing them right now. But all they can see is what somebody else has, what they don't have, and how much better their life would be if they were in a different situation.

It is no mystery why these things are set against you; as a matter of fact, it is strategic! Did you not know that you cannot "remember" unless you think? That is the reason that we must forever protect our thought life, so that, we don't ever get to a place where we forget what the Lord has done for us. When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for me…That’s why I praise him.

I believe that is what the psalmist had in mind when he penned this psalm. In this psalm we see the request, the reason, the response, and the refrain.

THE REQUEST (v.1a)

Gratitude is an emotion, not just a choice. You can make yourself say, “Thank you” when you do not feel gratitude, but everyone knows the difference between the words and the feeling. Gratitude is a spontaneous feeling of gladness because of someone’s goodwill toward you. Their gift may not even arrive. It may get lost in the mail. But if you know that you were remembered, and that someone took the trouble to buy you something that you would have enjoyed, and that they sent it to you, you will feel gratitude, even if the gift never comes.

Which means, secondly, that the emotion of gratitude is directed toward a giver. Gratitude is occasioned by a gift but is directed to the giver. Third, gratitude is a kind of joy. It is not a bad feeling or a neutral feeling. It is positive and pleasant. We do not regret feeling gratitude— unless we were deceived, and the gift turns out to be a trap. Begrudging gratitude is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. No one feels gratitude out of duty when they really don’t want to. Gratitude is spontaneous and pleasant. It is joy in the goodwill of the giver.

THE REASON (v1b-2)

The dominant link in the Bible between our gratitude and God is that God is good. “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Ps.106:1). The link between our thanks and God’s goodness is repeated over and over (Ps. 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1; 1 Chron. 16:34; 2 Chron. 7:3; 5:13; Ezra 3:11). What is most significant about this link is that our gratitude is ultimately rooted in what God is, not in what he gives. The Bible does not say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he gives good things.”

Psalm 106:1 NASB95

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 107:1 NASB95

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 118:1 NASB95

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 118:29 NASB95

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 136:1 NASB95

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

1 Chronicles 16:34 NASB95

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Ezra 3:11 NASB95

They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

Often, I have heard people say, "How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic and look at the lovely weather!'" Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allows our storms. Corrie Ten Boom recalls: My sister, Betsy, starved to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsy that I thought God had forgotten us. "No, Corrie," said Betsy, "He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: 'For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.'" Corrie concludes, "There is an ocean of God's love available--there is plenty for everyone. May God grant

THE RESPONSE (vv.3-7)

He calls for a response to the request to give thanks from those who had reason to rejoice: The Redeemed.

Eerdmans Bible Dictionary REDEMPTION

REDEMPTION. †Release from bondage, usually by means of a price paid, though in some instances biblical usage focuses on the aspect of liberation alone.

Willmington’s Bible Handbook Book Five (107–150) BOOK FIVE (107–150) Psalm 107 Gathered from around the globe. The psalmist called on the redeemed to acknowledge their Redeemer (107:1–3). He told four stories of lostness and redemption, beginning at 107:4, 10, 17, and 23, each ending with the same plea: “Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for all his wonderful deeds to them.” The stories seem to describe Israel’s history, with Israel sinning (107:11, 17) and God punishing them but then delivering them because of his love. The psalm ends with another two images of desolation and redemption (107:33–38 and 107:39–43). “He has gathered the exiles from many lands” (107:3) suggests that this psalm was composed after Israel’s return from exile, making it a fitting first psalm of this final book, which many believe was compiled after the exile (see Background). Israel’s regathering was, of course, only a dim foreshadowing of the great regathering the Messiah will bring about in the last days (see Matt. 24:31).

The redeemed are dependent on God for all. All that we have-- wisdom, the pardon of sin, deliverance, acceptance in God's favor, grace, holiness, true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory--we have from God by a Mediator; and this Mediator is God. God not only gives us the Mediator, and accepts His mediation, and of His power and grace bestows the things purchased by the Mediator, but He is the Mediator. Our blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of God; the blessings are purchased of Him; and not only so, but God is the purchaser. Yes, God is both the purchaser and the price; for Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings by offering Himself as the price of our salvation.

Jonathan Edwards, Closer Walk, July, 1988, p. 15.

If anybody can talk about the goodness of God it is the redeemed; we ought to say so because we have been...

Rescued

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Psalm 107

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses

Restored

In the United States, businesses use millions of wood pallets each year to haul products. After a pallet has borne heavy, sometimes crushing weights and taken abuse from truck travel and forklifts, eventually it can no longer be used. Now cracked and smashed, or loose and floppy, pallets are something businesses must pay other companies up to five dollars per pallet to dispose of. Disposal companies burn the pallets, chew them into wood chips, or dump them in landfills.

One nonprofit company in New York had a better idea, writes Andrew Revkin in the New York Times. Big City Forest in South Bronx takes other companies’ junk and turns it into treasure. The raw material of pallets is valuable hardwoods like rosewood, cherry, oak, mahogany, and maple. Big City Forest workers dismantle the pallets, salvage the usable wood, and recycle it into furniture and flooring. Recycled wood chips are worth only $30 a ton. But when used as flooring the value of the recycled wood is $1,200 a ton, and as furniture $6,000 a ton.

If that is what can be done with lifeless wood, how much more can people be restored to lives of value. Like Big City Forest, God is in the business of restoration. He takes people that seem worthless, people broken by the weight of sin, and transforms them into works of beauty and usefulness.[2]

THE REFRAIN

Four times in this one psalm, the writers arrives at the point of saying "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works toward the children of men. And although He has been good to all (Psalm 145:9) some who will not Say so. But is there anybody here today that will heed the request, testify to the reason, and respond like you've been redeemed and restored?

Go on and say so! Tell your neighbor that He's so good....I just can't tell it all !

Observe Pss. 107: 8, 15, 21, 31

Psalm 107:8 NASB95

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Psalm 107:15 NASB95

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Psalm 107:21 NASB95

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!

31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

[1]Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 203–204. [2]Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 455–456.