Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Psalms of Honesty and Truth

We get all bent out of shape when we work hard, very hard in life, on a project, at work, at church and we feel we are not appreciated for all our efforts for good. Admit it, we work harder when we are appreciated for a job done well. But Who helped us? Who really should we appreciate? It’s time we appreciated our Father in Heaven for giving us what we need at the right time to accomplish His will and purpose in us.

I think of this as I read Psalm 107 from The Message. The phrase, “He got you out in the nick of time” is repeated four times throughout the telling of God’s story of saving His people from themselves and the consequences of their sin of turning away from God. When they stopped complaining and humbly cried out to God, He showed His deep love for His people and pulled them out…in the nick of time. His Time.

How many times have we wallowed and complained about our current situation or troubling circumstance, forgetting that God loves us and can help us? He will allow us to live in the consequences of turning our backs on Him with other resulting sins, but He has not left the building, so to speak.

He is here now. Waiting patiently and mercifully for us to turn around, take a long look into His eyes and humbly ask for forgiveness and help to live with Him in the lead. His deep love for us is so great we cannot fully understand it. It is hard to wrap our minds around Someone who loves unconditionally, Who truly wants to bless us with His best for us, and Who waits patiently for us to make up our minds about Whom we will choose.

This Psalm is retelling the story of what God can and will do for His people who turn to Him and love Him back. It’s ends with a profound statement of reflection for our own lives…”If you are really wise, you’ll think this over–it’s time you appreciated Yahweh’s deep love.”

Psalm 107, The Message

1-3 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
from the four winds, from the seven seas.
4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
He got you out in the nick of time;

He put your feet on a wonderful road
that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.
10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God’s Word,
for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.

He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!
17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.

He spoke the word that healed you,
that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.

He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.

If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for saving us from ourselves! We love you back and appreciate your deep love, even when we don’t fully understand just how deep Your love goes. Our desire is to go through this day in the flow and rhythm of your will and way. Help us to keep the beat, the beat of Your heart in us.
In Jesus Name, Amen