Psalm 107
“Let the
redeemed of the Lord say so.” How often
do you think of yourself in those terms?
I’m sure that you do every once and a while. In those moments when we are keenly aware of
our sinful nature we tend to be grateful that we are redeemed. In those moments when a pastor is delivering
a particularly challenging sermon we might remember that we are redeemed.
However,
we are not just redeemed in those times.
Furthermore, we are not in need of redemption in only those times. We are redeemed all the time. We are in need of redemption all of the
time. Honestly, what good could my hands
ever do apart from God’s redemption of my action? What good could come out of my mouth unless
the Holy Spirit is there to redeem my tongue?
We live redeemed every moment.
Much of
the rest of the psalm deals with the people who were redeemed. Some were in desert wastes. These are akin to people who spend time
living while genuinely searching for truth.
I’ve known some people who spent a considerable amount of their time
honestly looking for truth before they heeded the call to God. Once they heard the truth of God they came
straightaway into God’s kingdom. But
that doesn’t mean that they didn’t go from one thing to another while looking
for truth.
The
psalmist mentions a second category of redeemed: those in darkness. These are akin to the people who heard truth
but rebelled against it. They had the
promises of God in their midst, but they turned against it and pursued their
own desires. I’ve not only known people
in this category, but I’ve been in this category. I grew up in a solid Christian home and was
taught the truth of God from a very young age.
However, that doesn’t mean that I always embraced God’s truth. Sometimes I pursued my own agenda. Although I knew where the light of God’s
truth was, I chose to dwell in darkness until God redeemed me.
Other
people are redeemed out of their foolishness.
These are people who knew the truth of God – and perhaps even desired to
follow it – but they had a tendency to just make the wrong decision. These aren’t necessarily outright rebellious
people; these are people in whom a lack of forethought leads into a life of
rebellion. Unlike the prior category of
people, who chose darkness, these people need redemption simply from their own
lack of good sense.
The last
group of people are those who “went out in ships and saw the mighty works of
the Lord.” These are people who aren’t
so much in outright rebellion as they are just self-interested. These are people who are interested in their
own agenda – in this case merchants looking to make some money. As they go out into the world, suddenly God
breaks into their world and gives a demonstration of His power. He redeems those who respond. God redeems us when we are in those moments
of being more interested in our own life more than we are interested in the
life that He would have for us.
God
redeems us when we are searching but not finding. He redeems us when we are outright
rebellious. He redeems us in our moments
of foolishness. He redeems us when we
are self-interested. There are many
times when we are redeemed in this world – not just when we think about it.
The really
cool part about this psalm is that God doesn’t have to do any of it. He could let us search knowing that we are
not worthy enough to find Him. He could
let us dwell in the darkness without calling us out into His light. He could let us destroy ourselves in our
foolishness. He could let us wallow in
our selfishness. But He doesn’t. He
redeems us. He calls us out of that life
and into a new life. He takes us out of
that unsatisfying life and gives us a life of redemption – of purpose!
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So what happens to those that God calls and they don't answer? They continue to struggle? Is there anything we can do to help those people? It sounds like God wants us to turn to Him...when we're in darkness, when we're making wrong decisions, and when we're being self-serving - yet that's not what we always do...we sometimes continue in those ways. (I see this quite a bit at work, those clients that profess to be Christian, but then continue to use drugs, or are cheating on their spouses, or doing things that are illegal - they say that they are walking in God's path, but really they are walking away from Him, I think?)
ReplyDeleteWell, quite honestly ... if they never respond to God then they never respond to God. The Bible is fairly clear what happens to those who never respond to God. They fall outside of God's grace.
ReplyDeleteThat being said ... I'm not sure that's really the question that you are asking. I think you are asking how do we handle the people who don't respond as we try and help them respond.
That answer is tricky. But it begins with one simple understanding: we can't ever do anything. All my works, all my words are filthy rags. It is not my work that is important but God's work.
Given this understanding, then what is important is that we go to the people to whom God has called us to go. We can't reach everyone. So don't try to reach everyone, try to reach the ones that God is calling you to reach. In this way our "filthy rags" are redeemed by God's hand and we can do something. we do something not because we do it, but because it is God doing it through us.
However, we also have to realize that sometimes we don't see the answer in the lives of others. Sometimes we don't see the answer because we have blinded ourselves. Sometimes we don't see the answer because the other person doesn't reveal it to us. So we must also understand that it is not our place to say who responds to God's call and who doesn't. God can sort those people out.
It's really pretty tricky work. This is one of the reason I advocate small group ministry so much. So often we think that we can change the world - or even change the lives of several dozen people. Yet I find that most of us really work best when we have that small group of people who are really trying to find God and work with them. Minister to all who will listen of course ... but work with those that God clearly has put in our life for us to work with them.