Give Thanks To The Lord

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 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.

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. 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.

Psalm 107:1-16

He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.

Psalm 107:35-36

Many of us like the thunder and lightning that comes from storms. Sometimes we don’t know whether we have fun from the storms, or whether we are truly terrified.

What we do know is the restoration that comes after a storm comes through. Everything has been watered. The sky is a bright blue. The air smells better, and it can sometimes be cooler outside. Look at a storm another way. We might be “hungry and thirsty.” We might be starving – for healing that never seems to arrive, we need more than a bit of hope. And when deep-rooted patterns of sin leave us trapped “in utter darkness,” our hearts need more than a little change.

That’s exactly the kind of transformation our God can bring. It’s never too late to bring our fears and shame to the One who’s more than able to break our chains and flood our darkness with his light.

God’s power transforms.

Our Daily Bread – August 2, 2018