BIG IDEA:
THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS BAILS OUT THE DISTRESSED WHEN THEY CEASE THEIR REBELLION AND HUMBLY CRY OUT FOR HELP
(:1-3) INTRODUCTION:
THE REDEEMED SHOULD THANK THE LORD FOR HIS LOVINGKINDNESS
A. Call to Thanksgiving Focused on the Lord
“Oh give thanks to the Lord”
1. For His Goodness
“for He is good”
2. For His Lovingkindness
“for His lovingkindness is everlasting”
B. Testimony of the Redeemed
1. Responsibility to speak out
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”
2. Freedom from oppression
“Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary”
C. Restoration to Place of Blessing
“gathered from the lands”
“from the east and from the west “
“from the north and from the south”
I. (:4-9) THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS BAILS OUT THE LOST AND THE STARVED
A. Provides Guidance to the Lost
1. Lost
“They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region”
“They did not find a way to an inhabited city”
Stedman: “They are what we might call the restless ones. They are the ones who wander about from place to place or from job to job from marriage to marriage, filled with questions and seeking to find where the answer lies. There are a lot of them today. They cannot find the answers. They are looking for something but they cannot find it. They keep wandering from place to place and from experience to experience, trying to find something to satisfy.”
2. Found
“He led them also by a straight way,
To go to an inhabited city”
B. Provides Food and Drink to the Starved = the Hungry and Thirsty
1. Starved
“They were hungry and thirsty;
Their soul fainted within them “
2. Satisfied
“He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good”
C. Deliverance Depends Upon:
1. Ceasing from Rebellion
2. Humbly crying out for help
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble”
D. Deliverance Results in:
“He delivered them out of their distresses”
E. Refrain:
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!”
II. (:10-16) THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS BAILS OUT THE PRISONERS IN BONDAGE
A. The Misery of Bondage
1. Darkness / Death
“dwelt in darkness” / “in the shadow of death”
2. Confinement
“Prisoners in misery and chains”
Stedman: “These we might call the hostile, the rebellious ones. Notice their condition. They sit in darkness and gloom. That is always the figure in the Bible for hopeless ignorance. They cannot figure out what is wrong with them. Their lives are filled with gloom, they have no hope, but they do not know what is wrong. They cannot understand their condition.”
B. The Cause of Bondage = Rebellion
“Because they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High”
C. The Deliverance from Bondage — Depends Upon:
1. Being Humbled
“Therefore He humbled their heart with labor:
they stumbled and there was none to help”
2. Crying Out for Help
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble”
D. The Deliverance from Bondage — Results in:
1. New Life
“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death”
2. New Freedom
“And broke their bands apart”
“He has shattered gates of bronze”
“And cut bars of iron asunder”
E. Refrain:
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men”
III. (:17-22) THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS BAILS OUT THE AFFLICTED
– those afflicted with physical infirmities
– those afflicted with emotional infirmities
Stedman: “Here are the neurotics. They are sick people, either physically or emotionally sick. How many millions there are like this today! Some, perhaps, are here this morning! The characteristics of them are, first, they loathe food. Now food is what the body requires and, figuratively, it is what the soul requires. It is that which ministers health and strength. But these neurotic people are characterized by the fact that they do not want healthy things. They do not want good food. They do not want the plain fare of meat, potatoes and gravy; they want whipped cream and caramel sauce. They do not want to read good books; they want highly spiced literature that sets them a-tingling, and panders to their lust. That is all they will eat. That is all they will read. That is all they want to live on. Therefore they get worse and worse. “They draw near to the gates of death.” Here are sick people, neurotic people, who are unable to handle life. They are fearful, nervous, anxious, afraid to go out and face life as it is.”
A. The Cause of Affliction = Acted as “Fools”
1. “because of their rebellious way”
2. “And because of their iniquities”
B. The Intensity of Affliction
1. “Their soul abhorred all kind of food”
2. “And they drew near to the gates of death”
C. The Deliverance from Affliction — Depends Upon Humbly Crying out for Help
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble”
D. The Deliverance from Affliction — Results In:
1. Deliverance from Spiritual Distress
“He saved them out of their distresses”
2. Deliverance from Physical Distress
“He sent His word and healed them”
3. Deliverance from Emotional Distresss
“And delivered them from their destructions”
E. Refrain:
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men”
Added Testimony:
“Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing”
IV. (:23-32) THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS BAILS OUT THE AGITATED = THE STORM-TOSSED SOULS
A. The Cause of Agitation: The Powerful Forces of Nature
-
Can Scare Even the Big Shots of the Business World
“Those who go down to the sea in ships,
“Who do business on great waters”
2. Are Under the Control of the God of Creation
“the works of the Lord”
“His wonders in the deep”
“He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea”
B. The Intensity of Agitation
1. Height and Depth
“They rose up to the heavens,
they went down to the depths”
2. Utter Despair
“Their soul melted away in their misery”
“They reeled and staggered like a drunken man”
“And were at their wits’ end”
C. The Deliverance from Agitation — Depends Upon Humbly Crying out for Help
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble”
D. The Deliverance from Agitation — Results in:
1. Relief — “He brought them out of their distresses”
2. Peace and Quiet — “He caused the storm to be still, So the waves of the sea were hushed”
3. Gladness — “Then they were glad because they were quiet “
4. Secure Guidance — “So he guided them to their desired haven”
E. Refrain:
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!”
Added Testimony:
“Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders”
(:33-43) CONCLUSION:
A. (:33-37) THE LORD CAN EITHER BRING CURSING OR BLESSING
1. Cursing: The Lord Can Turn Good Into Bad
“He changes rivers into a wilderness”
“And springs of water into a thirsty ground”
“A fruitful land into a salt waste”
Why? “Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it”
2. Blessing: The Lord Can Turn Bad Into Good
“He changes a wilderness into a pool of water”
“And a dry land into springs of water”
“And there he makes the hungry to dwell,”
Why?
-
So that they may establish an inhabited city,
-
And sow fields
-
And plant vineyards
-
And gather a fruitful harvest
“Also he blesses them and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle decrease”
B. (:39-43) THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS BRINGS DELIVERANCE FOR THE OPPRESSED BUT HUMILIATION FOR THE OPPRESSORS
1. Deliverance for the Oppressed
a. Description of the Oppressed
“when they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, misery, and sorrow”
“the needy”
b. Description of their Deliverance
“But he sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,
And makes his families like a flock”
2. Humiliation for the Oppressors
a. Description of the Oppressors
“princes”
b. Description of their Humiliation
“He pours contempt upon princes,
and makes them wander in a pathless waste”
3. Testimony to All of the Lord’s Lovingkindness
a. “the upright see it, and are glad”
b. “But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth”
c. “Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things;”
d. “And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord”