Be In Worship & Thank The Lord, In Calmness & Calamity
Word-of-the-Day: ‘(29) He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. (30) They were glad when it grew calm, and He guided them to their desired haven. (31) Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind.’ (Psalm 107:29-31)
Sometimes we think of ‘boring’ as being ‘bad’. If we don’t have a small bit of excitement, we believe there’s something wrong, that we should always have events to go to, that if we don’t have our social calendar filled, we’re missing out on something. FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out, is an anxiety many people suffer from – ‘if they go on vacation, so should I’, or ‘if they’re going out on the town, so should I’. It’s a form of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, but as someone who led a rather interesting life as a younger man, I greatly prefer the quiet and calm days I enjoy now as an older, seasoned citizen.
Psalm 107 is a psalm of Thanksgiving to God, and is the opening psalm of the fifth and final ‘book’ or section of the entirety of Psalms. The context of Psalm 107 is one of the psalmist and those who endure trials and tribulations giving thanks to God for the central thread mentioned throughout the Psalm of ‘giving thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind’, a verse repeated in Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, and 31.
The picture painted is one of first turmoil for the people, wandering in the desert, hungry and thirsty. Others are held in bondage, either held by an enemy or by their own sin. Some encounter the storms in their life, either actual storms and natural calamities or the storms that we each face at some point in our lives; the disappointments caused by others or in our circumstances, or the losses we face in terms of loved ones leaving us or opportunities that disappear. There are always these occurrences in each life, in various degrees, but they are there. Our health can go from good to bad, relationships can sour, and – even though our lives in southwest Florida are typically mundane, a hurricane that can blow through in a matter of hours can cause havoc that lasts for months, if not years.
But the psalmist describes the hope that we have in our Lord. The first two verses after ‘giving thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind’ (8 and 15) provides God’s response to when we give thanks to Him. In Verse 9 He ‘satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things’. For Verse 16 He ‘breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron’. These tell of how God responds to His people when we reach out to Him, when we are in trouble or in angst.
When we become too uncomfortable and are in such angst due to situations that we either put ourselves into or circumstances around us changes negatively, God wants us to reach out to Him, and not only ask Him for resolution but to also remember why we are reaching out to Him – His track record is one of blessing His people when we are at a nadir, a low point in our lives when desperation and despair try to take away our Joy in Him. The circumstances may not change, and if we are in the wrong the consequences may still apply, but God will forgive us and provide us courage and strength to persevere and renew our Joy in order to weather the storm we face.
There are also instructions to worship God when He responds to our pleas of relief following verses 21 and 31; in Verse 22 He implores His people to ‘sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy’, and in Verse 32 we are to ‘exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders’. Don’t forget that we reach out in our troubles to God because He is the Creator, the Almighty. We need to recognize and praise Him, remembering all that He has done for us, and understanding God is always on the throne and in control, whether we are on calm waters or in the midst of a storm.
We sometimes forget to turn to Him and give Him praise; this often happens when things are good. We place Him on a shelf as we go about our lives until problems – problems we sometimes create due to ignoring Him – creep up, then we expect Him to come to get us like a lifeguard pulling someone out of choppy waters, and then once back on shore, we walk away as if nothing happened at all. This is not how He was to be treated by us at all. God wants us to pay attention, to be in continual worship with Him and always in thanksgiving to Him, especially in those times when its ‘boring’. We shouldn’t ‘FOMO’ on Him if we remain Faithful in our worship of Him.
The latter portion of Psalm 107 (verses 33 through 43) tells us of His grace (watering the desert to bring food to His people) but also His judgement to those who turn away (making a fruitful land into a wasteland due to their oppression and creation of sorrows). It is not that problems will not fall upon His people, as we may face persecution and the common issues that fall on all men, but that God will give His people peace and contentment, while those not with Him will face these problems without Him, and will be discontent and demoralized.
So be thankful for those times we have that are ‘boring’ and calm, and in these times be in worship and in continual prayer with Him. When you enter a time that allows ‘excitement’, may it be enjoyable – but often excitement is due to unpredictability and problems highlight these times; don’t forget the Lord is there with you, as you are with Him when times are calm. He will mitigate those times and place them in the perspective of your relationship with Him.
