Psalm 106
describes the wonderful salvation of the Christian so well that it must be prophetic of the salvation we all share.
Its theme statement is, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, who he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,” (Psalm 106:2). Those who have obeyed the gospel through faith, repentance, confession and baptism and remain faithful have been redeemed, or bought back, from sin.
This is something we just can’t keep to ourselves! God has extended his lovingkindness to us by saving us from sin and spiritual death! We should extol his wonderful grace and mercy to everyone we can reach.
The psalmist wrote an accurate picture of what the redeemed were before God made them his. “They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty,” (Psalm 106:4-5 NASB). Doesn’t this show what we were before we were saved from our sins?
In 1988, several students and I decided to leave Tennessee and go to New Orleans, La. to find work. The stretch of interstate highway between Montgomery and Mobile, Ala. was the most uninhabited landscape I had ever seen. There might have been people there, but it didn’t look like it. There were few exits from the road, few gas stations, and few restaurants. We felt abandoned.
Before we obeyed the gospel, we wandered in the lonely land of sin. It was like a deserted place. There might have been people with us while we were in sin, but it was a lonely existence for us, wasn’t it? There might have been places that advertised refreshment, but there was none for the soul.
NOW, however, we have been rescued from the desert of sorrow and sin. We are refreshed (Psalm 106:8-9). We have been released from our bondage to sin (Psalm 106:13-14).
We should offer thanksgiving for God’s wonderful salvation today, shouldn’t we? When we sing, let us lift up our voices like never before! Let us lift up our hearts in prayers of thanksgiving to God for his lovingkindness! The Psalmist wrote, “He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his lovingkindness, and for his wonders to the sons of men! (Psalm 106:21).
Amen, and may it ever be so!
#god, #praise, #thanks