Psalm 107 is one of those places in Scripture that feels much like a freeway mixmaster to me, where three or four highways crisscross in layers, each loaded with humanity in motion, hurrying somewhere. In a relatively short span of Scripture we witness the intersection of:

• People being driven by circumstances beyond their control
• People going places they shouldn’t because they refused to listen to God
• People going places required by life, where troubles await
• God’s sovereign response to all the above, while he drives about in His EMS truck.

Through four highly condensed stories, the author shows how God responds to those who cry out to Him for help — yet another revealing glimpse of the heart of God. Each mini-story tells of how God, in His love, redeems (rescues) His people from the distress brought upon them by their circumstances, nature, God himself, and enemies. In some cases, He rescues those who are their own enemies.

After opening with a call to offer thanks and praise to God for his goodness and His enduring love, verses 4 through 32 tell the following stories of rescue and redemption.

First, God comes to the rescue of the wanderer who is searching for a place to settle and call home. The enemy here is homelessness, hunger, thirst, and the wasting away of lives, presumably due to circumstances and political forces beyond their control. After God settles them in a home, the Psalmist says,

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalms 107:8-9

Second, God delivers those who have rebelled against Him, who have deliberately despised His Word and His counsel. Having ended up in a very dark place, chained in a prison of their own making, the Psalmist says they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. God redeems them, breaking them out of their prison and setting them free from their dark place. After which the Psalmist says,

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

Psalms 107:15-16

Third, we have a story of those overcome by physical afflictions, whose very lives are threatened. But these aren’t just any illnesses; they were brought on because the rebellious ways of these people led them to become fools who made bad choices. Even so, when they cried out to God, the Psalmist reports of God:

He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Psalms 107:20-22

In the fourth story, God delivers those working as merchants on the high seas. When God’s voice stirs up a violent storm, they are in mortal danger and lose all courage. Then they cry out to the Lord, and it says God stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. The enemy here is nature and the havoc it can wreak as it responds to God’s power and presence.

As often happens with so-called “acts of God” we don’t know why, but we do know what happens for those who cry out to Him in the midst of it. As a result of God’s rescue, the Psalmist says,

They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

Psalms 107:30-31

I find such hope in these stories, Beloved. I have been in all of these stories in the course of my life, and my testimony is Yes and amen, thank you Lord for your unfailing love and your wonderful deeds for me!

When I was the author of my own troubles, God saved me.

When I have been the helpless victim of other people’s choices or circumstances, God rescued me.

When nature convulsed in a giant storm, the Lord brought me through.

I hope you aren’t in any of these bad places right now, but if so, take heart. No matter who or what brought you to this place of distress — even if it was your own fault — cry out to the Lord, and He will, in His unfailing love, rescue you and redeem your situation.

Because that’s just who He is. Don’t believe the lies of the enemy or of your own fearful heart that may be saying, God won’t help you, not after the way you’ve lived, or what you’ve done. Nowhere does Scripture say, “You made your bed, now God expects you to lie in it.”

If you’ve made your bed badly, or in the wrong place, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, do not spend another minute suffering, even if you believe you deserve it. Cry out to the One whose very heart is to redeem you!