Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980405.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Seven - Appreciating And Giving Thanks For God's Great Grace
(Psalm 107:1-43)
  1. Introduction
    1. Scripture states that it is wholesome to give thanks to the Lord for His goodness to us, Ps. 92:1.
    2. Medical experts have discovered the physical benefits from a thankful spirit (Claudia Stahl, "The Healing Power of the Gratitude Attitude," Advance for Occupational Therapists, Nov. 24, 1997).
    3. Psalm 107 catalogs how we must observe all aspects of life to find in each one cause for thanking God for His great loyal love to us, enabling us to praise the Lord and enjoy the benefits of thanksgiving as well!
  2. Appreciating And Giving Thanks For God's Great Grace, Psalm 107:1-43.
    1. Verse 43 summarizes the Psalm's thesis: it shows the reader that its contents are structured for him to observe intelligently so as to consider diligently the loyal love of Jahweh.
    2. In doing so, we note the presence of four unique accounts of God's deliverance: (1) His deliverance from wandering in a wasteland, v. 4-9; (2) His deliverance from man's oppression by incarceration in a prison, a problem caused by judgment for sin, v. 10-16; (3) God's deliverance from oppression by disease, a problem caused by judgment for sin, v. 17-22 and (4) His deliverance from trouble at sea for mariners, v. 23-32.
    3. In view of Hebrew poetic and linguistic structure, we have two major figures of speech laid out: an antonymical pair and a chiasmus as follows:
      1. The first account deals with hardships of wandering on the land, the last account with just the opposite scenario, that of trouble at sea as mariners. This reference to land and sea, like speaking of heavens and earth, are antonymical pairs, opposite subjects that represent all geographical locations on earth!
      2. The second and third account, sandwiched in between this antonymical pair deal with troubles from men and troubles from disease cause by sin. Since these accounts are sandwiched in between the antonymical pairs, the whole outlay is a chiasmus, or an a-b-b-a in thematic structure!
    4. Whenever a chiasmus occurs in Hebrew writings, the reader is to take note of the importance of the subject at hand: When we do, we learn the following lessons:
      1. Lesson One - We believers on earth owe the Lord deep appreciative thanksgiving for His help of us in dire straits all over the world geographically speaking. Whether we are at home, or away from home, or, as in our day in a jet plane high above the earth, or in a submarine below the deep blue sea, we all owe God thanksgiving for His loyal love expressed in rescuing us from dire straits in these areas.
      2. Lesson Two - We believers owe God appreciative thanksgiving for His deliverance of us from His disciplines for our sins (the accounts of the prisoners and the sick). At times we have been disciplined by oppressors due to our r ebellion against God, and at other times we have come under the oppression of unseen diseases in discipline. However, always faithful, God has forgiven us when we have called in confession unto Him and He has relieved us from these dire straits.
      3. Lesson Three - Since the subject of relief from bondage to sin is sandwiched in between the accounts of the rescues from the wilderness and the sea, those accounts of the relief from prison and from illness are the most important ones. As such, above all, GOD asserts that we APPRECIATE and thus THANK Him for rescuing us from discipline for our SINS when we confess them to Him!
    5. Following these vignettes, or collection of accounts of God's rescue of various people, the psalmist recorded general provisions of God in rescuing Israel from divine disciplines for sin, Ps. 107:33-41.
    6. As a result, the upright see and rejoice where the wicked sut their mouths, unable to rejoice or thank God because they have not confessed the error of their respective ways, Ps. 107:42.
Lesson: All believers in Christ owe God praise and thanksgiving for His rescuing us from various dire straits in our lives. However, above ALL rescues, we owe Him appreciation and thanksgiving for His rescuing us from straits caused by His discipl ine of our sins when we have confessed them, for such rescues are so UNDERSERVING! Yet, God is so PERPETUALLY loyal in His love to us, His matchless grace abounds to forgive us when we LEAST DESERVE it!

Application: It is very WHOLESOME to recall how UNDERSERVING we are of God's grace, and yet how BOUNTIFUL has been His grace unto us! We really owe God constant praise for His grace.