“Some of you”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday. May 26, 2023
Psalm 107:1-32 (Forward, p. 28) CEV p. 622
When parents repeat something, especially a warning, it is worth thinking that it might ‘just’ be important, and likewise when health or safety experts say something over and over again. So, I think that it is fair to say that, in the Holy Scriptures, when something gets repeated over and over again, that it is likewise worth taking note of.
In today’s portion from Psalm 107, the phrase ‘some of you’ comes up a surprising four times (verses 4,10,17 and 23)—at least in my present translation—and each time introduces some sort of calamity or misery that has come upon those folks referred to as ‘some of you’.
The first instance (verses 4-9) speaks of those who were lost, hungry, thirsting and in grave peril in the desert—indeed, they were almost ready to give up--and speaks of how God intervened to help them in their distress;
The second instance (verses 10-16) refers to those who were prisoners destined to hard labour because of their rebellion and disobedience, their refusal to heed God’s advice. There, too, God will rescue them and set them free;
The third instance (verses 17-22) makes mention of who were guilty of serious sin and were in pain and sickness as a consequence of it. Food was distasteful and abhorrent to them and they felt that they were on the verge of dying, and yet God healed them and delivered them, saved them from destruction;
The final instance (verses 23-32) talks about mariners, sailors, those who make their living upon the sea. While they had indeed seen the miracles that God wrought there, they had also experienced serious and terrifying storms, such that they feared for their lives. And yet God stilled those storms and brought them safe again into port.
A serious student of the Scriptures can probably point to specific occasions when God actually intervened in these particular ways, such as Jesus stilling the waters for the disciples on the Sea of Galilee (see Matthew 8:23-
27; Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25), but let me suggest a different way of looking at these four instances, namely looking as how we have felt like this at times:
-our times of desolation and isolation when we felt distant from any
solution or recourse;
-our times of entrapment and helplessness, when we felt ‘stuck’ and
had lost any hope for meaningful change;
-our times when we felt sick inside because of our sin, because of
our regret or sorrow over stupid things or hurtful things that we had
said or done—or not said or done;
-our times of fear and panic because of circumstances outside of our
control.
I think that all of us can pick up on at least one of these, and so it is good to know that God is there, there with us in them, and can help and rescue us in them, if only we will let Him. Help is always there for the asking, but sometimes we are too proud or foolish to allow this to happen. Amen.
Forward notes: “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress” (verse 13).
“When I have given a lecture on social support—that is, providing physical or emotional assistance to people in need—my students have been surprised to learn that the recipients of these kindnesses often felt worse afterward. Why? Because receiving others’ assistance forces us to realize that we are in trouble. We begin to convince ourselves that we are unable to care for ourselves, and our distress deepens.
“But there is a paradox about strength and weakness that runs throughout the Bible. Recognizing our weakness and relying on God’s strength, along with the strength of our siblings in Christ, can be truly liberating. In truth, we all have moments when we need to borrow strength. Rather than beating ourselves up for weaknesses, we can learn to embrace the sustaining strength of faith and community.”
Moving Forward: “Read 2 Corinthians 12. What does it say about strength and weakness in the light of this psalm?”