Psalm 107 - ”Trouble, Turnaround, and Testimony”

Hello. Our Old Testament scripture

reading comes from Psalm

107. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he

is good. His steadfast love endures

forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

whom he has redeemed from

trouble, and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west, from

the north and from the

south. Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way way to a city to dwell

in. hungry and thirsty, their soul

fainted within them, and they cried to

the Lord in their trouble, and he

delivered them from their

distress. He led them by a straight way

till they reached a city to dwell in.

Let them thank the Lord for his

steadfast love, for his wondrous works

to the children of

man. For he satisfies the longing soul,

and the hungry soul he fills with good

things. Some sat in darkness and in the

shadow of death, prisoners in affliction

and in irons, for they had rebelled

against the words of God and spurned the

counsel of the most high. So he bowed

their hearts down with hard labor. They

fell down with none to help. Then they

cried to the Lord in their trouble, and

he delivered them from their

distress. He brought them out of

darkness and the shadow of death and

burst their bonds apart.

Let them thank the Lord for his

steadfast love, for his wondrous works

to the children of man. For he shatters

the doors of bronze and cuts into the

bars of

iron. Some were fools through their

sinful ways and because of their

iniquities suffered

affliction. They loathed any kind of

food and they drew near to the gates of

death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their

trouble and he delivered them from their

distress. He sent out his word and

healed them and delivered them from

their

destruction. Let them thank the Lord for

his steadfast love for his wondrous

works to the children of man.

and let them offer sacrifices of

thanksgiving and tell of his deeds in

with songs of

joy. Some went down to the sea in ships

doing business on the great waters. They

saw the deeds of the Lord for his

wondrous works in the

deep. For he commanded and raised the

stormy wind which lifted up the waves of

the

sea. They mounted up to heaven. They

went down into the depths. Their courage

melted away in their evil plight. They

reeled and staggered like drunken men

and were at their wits

end. Then they cried to the Lord in

their trouble, and he delivered them

from their

distress. He made the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were

quiet, and he brought them to their

desired haven.

Let them thank the Lord for his

steadfast love, for his wondrous works

to the children of man. Let them extol

him in the congregation of the people,

and raise him in the assembly of the

elders.

He turns rivers into a desert, springs

of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful

land into a salty waste. Because of the

evil of its

inhabitants, he turns a desert into

pools of water and parched land into

springs of

water. And there he lets the hungry

dwell and they establish a city to live

in.

They sew fields and plant vineyards and

get a a fruitful

yield. By his blessing they multiply

greatly and he does not let their

livestock

diminish. When they are diminished and

brought low through oppression, evil and

sorrow. He pours contempt on princes and

makes them wander in trackless wastes.

But he raises up the needy out of

affliction and makes their families like

flocks. The upright see it and are glad,

and all wickedness shuts its

mouth. Whoever is wise, let them attend

to these things. Let them consider the

steadfast love of the

Lord. Our New Testament reading comes

from Luke 1 78 and 79. Because of the

tender mercy of our God, whereby the

sunrise shall visit us from on high, to

give light to those who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death, to guide our

feet into the way of peace. This is the

word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

So, I get the pleasure of introducing uh

Glenn, but to share a little bit of um

about the ministry um uh the three

ministries we support here really um

Christc centered, you know, and I think

that's a that's a great thing in in

today's society that Jesus is central

and in the work that we do. um

especially moving forward in to um as we

discuss more and think about what it

means to do deacon work in in the church

and to meet the practical needs of

people and Bridges has done a a

beautiful job of doing that for over a

decade in in the Colona area. Uh I just

recently joined the the board uh for

Bridges to New Life in in January and

I'm just even more impressed by what

they're doing and and the type of

character that they have. So, Glenn, why

don't you come on

up? Do you mind if I pray for you?

Absolutely. That'd be great. Thanks.

Awesome.

Well, Lord, we thank you for Glenn and

the heart you've given him for broken,

the destitute, those that are bound and

and locked up, Lord, the wounded heart,

Lord, and and thank you for his ability

to facilitate this restoration process.

and and the heart ultimately is that

people will come to know you as the Lord

and Savior, Lord, that those very needs

would be met uh spiritually for them,

Lord. And just uh thank you so much for

taking some time and sharing with us

today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

Awesome. Thanks, Jason. Yeah, excited to

have Jason join our board and be part of

what we get to do in our community here,

supporting people that have been um

impacted by the criminal justice system.

So, um, some of you have probably heard

me speak here several times and I I see

a couple new faces that maybe have never

even heard of Bridges to New Life. So,

I'll do a brief introduction and then if

you want more information, you can come

chat with us after the service at our we

have a little kiosk there set up and

Cliff, my friend here, as one of the

board members as well. So, we have Cliff

and Jason as board members that can chat

with you and share a little bit more.

Uh, but what we do is uh we work with

people that have impacted been impacted

by the criminal justice system.

primarily uh we go into prisons to

connect with men and then when they are

um getting close to being released or

they're looking for bail uh we support

them in transition back into community.

You know, imagine you went into prison

and there was no smartphones and you

come out and you're like what is this?

You know, uh we even have people that

have a hard time, you know, they've been

in prison for so long even just crossing

the street they have to convince themsel

even though the light says walk just to

even go across the street is a bit of a

stretch for some of them. So yeah, just

working with guys, helping them uh get

their feet back under them and support

them. The person that started the

organizations named Rob Baskin. What he

found was he was working mostly the

provincial guys. They would be coming in

and out and in and out and in and out

and in and out. So he started to ask

them what why like what was going on and

kind of the common thread was either

they couldn't find work or they couldn't

find a place to stay that was kind of

solid for them. So we provide

opportunity to help guys find work. Um,

so if you're here today and you're like,

man, I have a business and often looking

for some casual labor, I'd love to chat

with you. Uh, giving guys a chance uh

when maybe other places wouldn't give

them a chance. And we have 10 beds that

we have as support for guys and they can

stay there for it's transitional

housing, so 2 months to two years, and

it's reduced rent, so it makes a little

bit easier for them to get their feet

back under them. So yeah, that is kind

of the gist of it. I'd love to share

more stories, but today you came to hear

from the word of God. And so I wanted to

get into uh something with you. So today

we're talking about Psalm 107 uh which

I've entitled the sermon today trouble

turnaround and testimony. I've been

reading through the Psalms in my

devotions. It's about 150 chapters.

Easy, right? If you read a chapter a

day, it takes five months. Me, I crushed

it in nine.

That's with some bonus days where I read

two or three. I'm basically like the

tortoise in a race. If a tortoise

stopped for snacks and naps. Anyways, I

I I really enjoy the book of Psalms and

found many times actually that it spoke

about what I get to do for my job, which

is set people free from prison. Quite

literally, some of the men I work with,

ex-offenders on bail, would still be in

prison if it wasn't for Bridges to New

Life Society. And in some ways, some of

the men I work with uh at our

transitional housing are in prison. Um

we have some guys who come in, they have

uh what's called an ankle monitoring

system put on their ankles and if they

leave our property, the police will go

and find them and pick them up. So

similar actually to Paul. Paul was on

house arrest when he wrote most of the

New Testament and he was chained to a

guard literally and stuck and could not

go. The men I work with have gotten in

trouble and are seeking to turn their

lives around.

and those that do, we get to share a bit

of their

testimony. So, in this um in this

passage that we're going to be looking

at, we're going to be looking again at

kind of this theme. And you can if you

got your Bibles cuz Oh, it's there. Oh,

no, it's not. Uh it's there behind me.

Uh but if you got the Bibles, you can

grab the hymn Bibles there and uh you

can turn with me there. But as you're as

you're going to Psalm 107, let me ask

you a few questions to maybe get you

thinking about this psalm and kind of

getting our our minds and hearts aligned

here. Number one, are you in

trouble? Have you in these recent days

been

wandering? What trials are you currently

facing? Are you imprisoned by a habit?

Are you suffering maybe from even your

own mistakes?

Is there something happening in your

life that you just feel completely out

of control with? Well, good news is

you're not alone. Uh the psalmist wrote

about these things and talked about

that. And um we're going to be looking

at Psalm 107. It's um if you look there

and you kind of think it says book five.

So there's five books within the book of

Psalms. And this one is Psalm 107 and

150 are the lessons from the saints.

Within the psalm, there's this rhythm of

trouble, turnaround, and testimony. And

if you're familiar with the psalms, the

psalms were were were music. They were

put to music and so that they can

memorize them and and they were sung as

songs

together. This is a psalm of praise to

the Lord. So the first part of the psalm

is an introduction, an appeal to give

thanks for deliverance.

I wonder if this course they sang uh

between the the four sto there's kind of

the the first part which the first three

verses and then there's four stories and

then there's kind of like a prel uh a

thing at the end there. So I kind of

like was trying to think like I wonder

how this was all sung and if it kind of

got sung like we sing hymns you know I

was curious about

that. Anyways uh let's look at Psalm 107

Psalms 107:1–3

verse 1 to3 says this. Oh, give thanks

to the Lord, for he is good, for his

steadfast love endures forever. Let the

redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has

redeemed from trouble and gathered in

from the lands, from the east and from

the west, from the north and from the

south. God is a kind and good God. He

redeems many and redeemed here is not

necessarily mentioning referencing

salvation but actually rescuing people

out of trouble. just a redemption of

anyone who has been redeemed or

supported by God. And the Lord rescues

many people from trouble trouble. Even

those that don't follow him, he redeems

them. He supports them and helps them.

The reference here of kind of east,

west, north, south is used all

throughout the Bible to show how God

pulls people together from all areas to

worship him. A worldwide sense of God's

love and care for humanity.

So, the stage has been set and I wonder

if they uh read these next there's kind

of four stories we're going to look at

and then they went back to this and then

they sang it again. Uh so, I'm not sure

how it all worked, but that's kind of in

my mind's eye how I imagine this psalm

being sung. So, the first story is all

about a

desert, not a desert, a desert. I almost

wrote it wrong a couple of times. Uh but

verse four and five, it says this. Some

wandered in desert waste, finding no way

to a city to dwell in. hungry and

thirsty, their soul fainted within them.

So this was the trouble they were

encounting. They were stuck in a desert.

They couldn't find their way. And verse

six and 7 says, "They cried out to the

Lord in their trouble and he delivered

them from their distress. He led them by

the straight way till they reached a

city to dwell in." So this is their

turnaround. They were in trouble. They

were stuck. And then there was this

turnaround and they found their way out.

They went back to a city.

Then verse 8 and N it says, ' Let them

thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wonderful works to the children

of man, for he satisfies the longing

soul and the hungry soul he fills with

good things. So then it finishes with

this testimony, this excitement of like

what God has done for them. And they're

like, "Yay, God helped me and rescued me

from the situation I was in." Which begs

the question for me, have you ever been

in a desert? Anybody? Oh, a couple

people. I I've never been in a desert.

I've never been stuck there. Um but

they're there and they're stuck in a

desert and uh there's no rest. There's

no sleep. Everywhere they look would be

the same as they looked

around. I find it's often when I reflect

and look back that I see how God

provides for me. I call out to God and

he provides for me and provides for me

places to go. Have you ever heard of the

app called Ways? I don't know any couple

people. Waves. So it's like Yeah. Okay.

There's a couple ways people. My brother

got me onto it. He lived in Vancouver

for many years. He just moved up here,

but that takes like every traffic thing

into consideration. And he'd be going

down like back roads and back streets

and all these things. And he told me

about it. And so I often now when I'm

about to leave my house, I'll put in

ways and see the quickest way to get

here. I'm like, "Oh, if I go this way to

the church, it saves me 2 minutes." So I

went the fastest way obviously when I

came to church today. But it's

interesting. It kind of takes all these

different stop lightss and where you're

going into consideration.

I love using it and and I love getting

there the quickest possible way to make

sure that I'm using my time efficiently.

But have you ever been to a place before

uh where maybe you're kind of stuck?

Maybe you're you're you're use your GPS

and uh you know you get to this place

and you've never been there before. Um

maybe you've been in a place where all

of a sudden it stops working. Have you

ever been there like there's no service?

It's like you're going up to Coke or

something like that and you're like try

to send a message like oh no service I'm

stuck. Um when I think about that I I

remind I don't know if you guys remember

these. This is a map like a physical map

and in the middle right here is Colona

right in there. And I'm like oh I had to

go find a map. I found this map. It was

it was like $20 for this map whenever it

was there. And it's like the whole area

there's Lake Okonogan and stuff like

that. And yeah. So I found this old map.

But imagine that you're stuck in

someplace maybe like right there and

there's a few different directions and

you're like, "Oh no, I don't know where

to go and my GPS isn't working. Like I'm

out of cell service." You're like,

you're stuck and you're like, "God, I

don't know. I don't know how to get out

of this place. No signal, no landmarks,

and no idea." And maybe you're getting

short on gas. You're like, "If I go the

wrong way, how am I going to get back?

Like, I don't have enough time to get

back. Maybe there's no extra food." And

you're sitting there and you're thinking

and all of a sudden another car comes

from another direction and you flag them

down. You're saying, "Hey, how do I get

out of here? Which road do I take?" It's

like, "Oh, no problem. Just follow me.

I'll show you the way out." And he takes

you and he says, "Okay, just go down

this road and you'll be good to

go." When I think about a map, I think

about a way to go. That's what I think

about. This person is stuck in a desert

with nowhere to

go. He says, "Just follow." And then

somebody comes along and says, "Just

follow me. I'll show you the

way. When we go through times with

outdirection and we need help, God can

be there for you. For me, when I think

about this, I I think about a story for

me. I before I came to Victoria, and I

couldn't remember if I told you guys

this story before or not, so just um

roll with me if you've heard this

before, but um I lived in Victoria, I

was a youth pastor for a while, and then

I got a job in government. Uh but it was

a temporary contract, like a nine-month

contract. And so I started working in

government. I started doing my thing and

I started to apply for other jobs that

were like permanent contract jobs. And I

kept applying and applying and applying.

I applied for 50 jobs and got nothing. I

was like second sometimes. I was really

close but got

nothing. But then this turnaround

happened for me. Um my father-in-law

told me about the opportunity to work at

Bridges Life Society. I'm like okay. And

I applied and I got the job. And I and

I'm like here praising God saying, "God

provided for me when I was going through

this job

transition." When we get to something,

when we go through a difficult time, the

psalmist is reminding us, we need to

testify to God's faithfulness. We need

to say, "God provided for me." We need

to share how God has blessed us. Because

sometimes we go through difficult things

and we have this struggle and we have a

turnaround and then we don't tell

anyone. But this passage is saying the

testimony, the telling is really

important. We need to make sure that we

do that because we all wander at times

uh emotionally, spiritually, even in

relationships. And God is the one who

not only gives us direction but becomes

the road

home. So the first story is someone in a

desert and there's this rhythm that

we're going to continue to see of

trouble, turnaround, and testimony. So

story number two is talking about

prisoners. So, spoiler alert. This is

why I picked Psalm 197. See, I work with

prisoners and uh this psalm speaks

delectly about prisoners. That's right.

The Old Testament didn't forget about

them. Neither did I. So, yes, I picked

the psalm with a little of professional

bias. But hey, when the Bible lines up

with your job, you run with it. Anyways,

Hebrews 3:13 says this, "Remember those

Hebrews 3:13

who are in prison as though you are in

prison with them and those who are

mistreated since you are also in the

body." So, an encouragement to you. I

don't know how many times you think

about those who are in prison, but

Hebrews actually says you need to

remember them. You need to be thinking

about them. So, here I am today to

remind you to think about those who are

maybe in prison in difficult situations.

The writer of Hebrews said it's

important and I just want to encourage

you to be thinking about that. Okay, so

let's get back to Psalm 107. Remember

the same rhythm, trouble, turnaround,

testimony. So trouble first of all,

verse 10. Some sat in darkness and in

the shadow of death, prisoners in

affliction and in irons, for they

rebelled against the word of God and

spurned the council of the most high. So

he bowed their heads down with hard

labor. They fell down with none to help.

To be honest, some of the men that I

work with actually kind of need to be

corrected. They need to be disciplined.

They need to be put back on the right

path. And some of them um have been put

actually literally in chains. Um maybe

not chains like this. Uh but back in the

old days, I think they used chains. They

would actually put chains on people's

ankles and they would put them on their

arms and they would be stuck and they'd

be stuck in chains. The guys that I work

with, they're literally chained to their

prison. they cannot leave. I've been

into prison many times. They have these

huge doors and there's a there's a spot

in each prison where when you come in,

there's a door that closes behind you

and the other doors will not open unless

one door is shut. So, there's three

doors. There's a door into this place

where these guys sit to control that

room. There's a door you come into and a

door into the prison. And nobody can get

in or out unless they go through those

three those doors. It's prison. They're

stuck in there. They cannot get out.

They're they're stuck in iron. We just

had our annual fundraiser and some of

the stories of mens whose lives have

been impacted by bridges to New Life

Society are amazing. Uh I'd love to

share more of them with you sometime and

and if you'd like to hear some more

stories, come chat with us after and

provide an opportunity to chat with you.

However, maybe you are actually here

today and you feel like you're stuck in

a cell. You're stuck in a place and

nobody even knows about

it. You're stuck wishing that you could

get some

help. Eventually, I hope for you, for

me, that we experience a turnaround. So,

check this out. In verse 13 and 14, it

says this, "Then they cried out to the

Lord in their trouble, and he delivered

them from their distress. He brought

them out of darkness and the shadow of

death and burst their bonds apart. Their

chains were broken free and they are

able to get out. It's like this was

broken apart and they're able to get get

released. Oh, I feel like this thing

might dip over. There we go.

Some of the guys I work with have

committed a crime or allegedly committed

a crime and are put in

prison if they're looking occasionally

uh for something called bail which is

they've been uh charged with something

but they're still awaiting their trial.

I literally get to go to some of those

people and say you can come and be with

us cuz they're not allowed to go

anywhere else. We have security systems

and they maybe have ankle monitoring and

I literally get to call them up and say

you're free. You get to come to Bridges

to Life. You get to be released from

prison to come to be with us. They've

petitioned the port the court often

times. They've called out to God and

they've called out to us to Bridges to

me and we get to accept them. I get to

be the one who says your bonds are free.

You get to come and be here. And then

there's this testimony. I was chatting

with a guy this week who who's going to

be coming next week to be and he's like

he just he was just like, "Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much."

He just kept on saying it over and over

and over

again. Verse 15 and 16 says this, "Let

them thank the Lord for his steadfast

love, for his wonderful works to the

children of men. For he shattered the

doors of bronze and cut into the barns

of iron." We just had our annual

fundraiser and the story of men's lives

is just amazing.

However, like I said, maybe you are here

today and you feel like you're in a cell

and no one knows. You have shame or an

addiction and no one knows about it. Re

the reality is not all prisons have

bars. Some are

internal, but God breaks both kinds

open. Okay. Okay. Story 3 verse 17 and

18. If you want to continue all kind of

along in your Bible there says this.

This is about sick people. People being

sick. Some were fools through their

sinful ways and because of their

iniquities suffered affliction. They

loathed any kind of food and they drew

near to the gates of death. I went

looking through my medicine cabinet to

find some a pill bottle. Right? We we've

all probably everyone here maybe maybe

some of you have been really lucky have

had some sort of prescription from a

doctor where you've had to have some

sort of medication to help you to

support you uh as you go through a

difficult thing. This is about someone

who did something to themselves. Have

you ever been so sick that you don't

want to eat? Um when people are near

death, they often stop eating because

their their body starts to shut down. At

times it appears God in this scenario

punishes us with sickness like when

we're

rebellious. I've

seen way too many people get sick on

their own accord. Maybe uh maybe

drunkness. Have you ever been around

somebody who's so sick that they've

thrown up because they've gotten too

much to drink. They did it to

themselves. This is the classic example

of punishment for unwise drinking too

much. We go through something. You've

done it to yourself. You've put yourself

in the scenario by the way that you've

lived your life. maybe or by the things

that you've chosen to do and you've done

it to yourself and yet even when we do

it to ourselves. Look at this verse 19.

They cried out to the Lord. We do that.

We put ourselves in difficult situations

and we still cry out to God and he

delivered them from their distress. It

says he set out his word and healed them

and delivered them from their

destruction. God turns things around for

those who call out to him.

Sometimes the guys I work with uh are

new to connecting with God and and they

call out to God and and you know they're

in prison or something like that and and

I've talked to them. They're like, "I've

been praying. Why isn't God answering

me?" These turnaround happens and our

timing is not God's timing. And and in

some cases for some of the guys I work

with, God is saying, "No, I'm not going

to rescue you. You've done this to

yourself and you're going to have to pay

the cost of what you've

done." But again, some people are

rescued. And then there's testimony

verse 22 21-22 it says let them thank

the Lord for his steadfast love for his

wonderful works to the children of man

and let them offer sacrifices of

thanksgiving and tell of his deeds in

songs of joy. And they're singing this

song. This is a song they're singing

out. So how do we express our thanks to

God? Well, we tell others. We share God

how God has been helping us. Um just a

little while ago uh about a couple years

ago I was reading this Time magazine on

marriage and was talking about uh the

benefits of marriage and one of the

things it talked about actually uh was

men live longer when they're married and

it went on to explain that women live

about the same amount of life life

especially whether they're married or

not but men live longer and it went on

to explain the reason why is because

when men are married they're more likely

to go to the doctor they're more likely

to deal with whatever that ailment is

even though they did it to themselves.

they're just actually going to do it.

I'm not stubborn. Okay, I am stubborn,

you know, and like sometimes my wife has

to kind of like go deal with that thing,

you know, and and that's what it talks

about. Sometimes we do it to

ourselves. The reality is we often

suffer from our own choices. Even then,

even then, God responds not with

condemnation, but often with healing and

mercy when we call out to him and ask

Okay, story number four. Uh, do we have

any sailors here? Anybody who here's

like done some sailing like on the sea,

like on the ocean. Oh, yeah, there is.

That's awesome. Okay. Um, so um yeah,

that's what we're talking about. Um,

anybody been like a commercial

fisherman? Maybe. Maybe that because

there is some commercial fishing in in

Lake Okono. Anyways, okay. Um my brother

uh used to work on tall ships in in

Australia and then here in in Vancouver

he worked on tail ships and he actually

got this this is a literal helm uh from

a ship. It's like super heavy solid

wood. It's pretty pretty amazing and uh

so I got that today kind of as an

illustration for you. You know um

whenever I come uh Emry he's so good at

having like cool slides and stuff and I

didn't didn't have time to do it but it

all worked out because it's not working.

So So I have I'm old school. I'm like

literal physical illustrations for you

today. So this all this all worked out

great again. So let's get into the

scripture just talking about uh about

this and this and the the ship that's

happening. So verse 20 23- 27. Some went

down to the sea in ships doing business

on great waters. They saw the deeds of

the Lord. How wondrous works in the

deep. For he commanded and raised the

stormy wind which lifted up the waves

the sea. They mounted up to heaven. They

went down to the depths. Their courage

melted away in their evil plight. They

reeled and staggered like drunken men

and were at their wits

end. So the first thing that came to

mind when I was thinking I was like,

"Okay, they're staggering. They got like

up and down and all the waves and all

the stuff that's happening." The first

thing that came to mind even before I

started to study this, I kind of did

some notes. Jesus, I don't know if you

guys remember the same thing happened to

Jesus and his disciples. They were like

stuck and they're staggering in the wind

and going up and down and and they were

at their wit's end.

And this is where Jesus was sleeping. I

if you remember the story and they're

like, "Wake up, Jesus. We need your

help. Help. Help." And then there's the

turnaround. So verse 28, it says, "Then

they cried to the Lord in their trouble

and he delivered them from their

distress. He made the storm be still and

the waves of the sea were

hushed. Then they were glad that the

waters were quiet and he brought them to

their desired haven." Jesus did this,

right? Jesus and the seas were calmed

and he asked, "Where is your faith?"

When he he was woken up by the

disciples, he's like, "Where's your

faith? Even the wind and waves obeyed

Jesus." And then there was

testimony. Verse 32, it says, "Let them

thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wonderful works to the children

of man. Let them extol him with the

congregation in the congregation of the

people and praise him in the assembly of

the

elders. I wonder if after Jesus calmed

the storm, they sang this song. He's

like, "Now you've lived it. You'll never

forget this psalm." You know, like I I

don't know. I' in my mind I kind of

think I'm like, "Oh, that would be a

pretty amazing like, haha, here you go."

Um, but have you ever been at your wit's

end?

This is where Jesus was. And they were

they were sleeping and they're they're

saying, "Where are you,

Jesus?" Then they gave testimony and

said, "Let them thank the Lord for his

steadfast love, for his wonderful works

to the children of man. Let them extol

him in the congregation of the people

with everybody around and praise him in

the assembly of the

elders." Imagine your

response if you had the hardest day of

your life. It felt

like and you get home to your parents if

you're a young adult or a teenager or

you get home to your spouse or you get

home to somebody and they're having a

nap. Can you imagine? Wake up. I need I

have something to tell

you. The reality is life is very

unpredictable. Storms of life are

unpredictable. In fact, just this last

uh two or three weeks, I've had a couple

people um a previous board member and

then one of our volunteers say um they

had a sibling or in the one case a child

in their 40s, 50s pass away just

unexpectedly. One was a workplace

accident. Uh one was unexpected

accident. Reality is life is

unpredictable. And yet in the midst of

chaos, God is still here. He is still

sovereign, still in

control. As Jesus showed, he is even in

charge of the wind and the waves. Maybe

there's a storm you're going through, a

personal crisis. Maybe you're dealing

with cancer, divorce, job

loss. As with the story of Jesus and his

friends in the boat, God is with you in

your boat. God is with you in your

storm.

There's a big difference between

something called uh empathy and

sympathy. Sympathy drives disconnection

where it's like, "Oh, you'll be okay.

Well, at least you're not that sick. At

least you've got this. At least this."

But empathy is this place in which we

climb into the boat with other people

and say, "And go there

ourselves. Allow ourselves to empathize,

to be with the person." Empathy is

choosing to join people in the boat. And

Jesus was with the disciples on the

boat. He is one who came and was human.

He gets it. He's lived the human

experience. And God desires us to

connect with him on that level to

desires for us to connect with others on

that level to get with them on the boat.

So there's these four different stories

and yet the exact same

rhythm within each of those stories.

There's one thing that I

noted. Where does the turnaround start?

As you look at each of those four

stories, they all have this turnaround.

And they all say the exact same thing.

Verse 6, verse 13, verse 19, and 28, it

says, "They cried out to the Lord, and

he delivered them from their distress.

In order for us to have things changed,

first of all, we have to admit there is

a problem. We have to admit and say, "I

need help." You have to be humble enough

to go before God and say, "I need help."

Vulnerable enough to maybe tell a friend

or a spouse or a neighbor, somebody that

I need help. I need to

change. If you realize today that you're

over your head, we need to rely on

God. And God wants us to rely on him to

call out to him

daily. And then each of these start end

with a thank you. It reminds me of

Jesus. Uh he healed 10 lepers. And how

many came back to thank

him? Just

one. How many times do we thank God when

we're calling to God, please God, thank

you for this food. Even a simple thing

like that. Are we call to God? Give me

safety as I'm traveling and when you get

there, do you thank him? Maybe you've

been through a difficult thing recently,

have you thanked him? And in this

passage, it's saying they told other

people. They said, "This is what I was

going through and God rescued me." And

then they shared with others to say,

"This is good. God is with me." Because

it encourages other people to say, "Hey,

I've gone through this difficult thing.

God turned it around and now I'm

rejoicing." because it encourages us

when we're going through difficult

things. If God turns it around for

somebody else, maybe he'll do that for

me, too. And we continue to call it to

God and ask for him to help us. Notice

that each of these crisises are

different, but they all have the same

structure. It's a rhythm, not a one-time

event. No matter where we're at, we need

to constantly recognize our need for

God. That when we're in trouble, he's

there. We need to turn towards God for

help and then and confession. And then

we need to tell others. We need

testimony to tell others that God has

helped us and that we turn to God and he

was there. He rescued

us. Are you here today in a difficult

situation,

lost? Are you faced with prison? Are you

sick? Are you being tossed around like a

sailor in rough seas? The

turnaround in each of these is when they

called out to the Lord. Have you called

out to the Lord yet? Whatever it is

you're going through, the Bible is not

like complicated and sometimes we just

need to be reminded. So, I'm here today

saying, "Have you called out to God? Are

you going through something? Have you

called out to God yet? You need to turn

towards God

today." In my mind's eye, uh this final

part of um of this song is kind of like

the bridge if you're a musical person.

It's kind of like the the interlude at

the end. Um, and it's this list of

reasons for praising God. It's got some

struggles and then some praises. So,

let's read read it together. Verse 33 to

41. It says this. He turns rivers into

deserts, springs of water into thirsty

ground, a fruitful land into a salty

waste because of the evil of its

inhabitants. So

struggles and then and there he lets the

hungry dwell or and sorry he turns the

deserts into pools of water. Then he

does this change parched land into

springs of water and there he lets the

hungry dwell and they established city

to live in. Verse 37 they sow fields and

plant vineyards and get fruit to yield.

By his blessing they multiply greatly

and he does not let their livestock

diminish.

When they are diminished and brought low

through oppression, evil, and sorrow, he

pours contempt on princes and makes them

wander in trackless waste. But he raises

up the needy out of affliction and makes

their families like

flocks. If we looked at somebody's life

or or a city or a province or a country,

if we looked at Colona as a whole and

saw 50 years ago it was not doing well,

maybe somebody 10 years ago was really

struggling in life and they had a

turnaround. and they that the the city

turned towards God or the person turned

towards God and it changed their whole

life got switched upside down and there

was increase and justice and the needy

were cared for and there was the family

increased. We'd pay

attention. I was thinking about a a

story to kind of highlight this. I don't

know if you guys remember in Daniel 4 uh

Nebuchadnezzar this this happened to

him. He was the king. He was in charge.

He was so powerful and yet God struck

him down. In Daniel 4:33, in fact, it

Daniel 4:33

says he ate grass like an ox until he

called out to God and his riches were

restored. Look at verse 40. It says,

"Pours contempt on princes and makes

them wander in trackless

ways." James 4:6 says, "God approes the

James 4:6

proud but gives grace to the humble.

Serving God is an upside down kingdom to

show his justice and forgiveness."

Have you humbled yourself before the

Lord? Have you come to him and said, "I

need your help." Verse 41 talks about

raising people up out of affliction or

trouble and increases their family,

which is this symbolism of

blessing. If you saw a turnaround in a

country or in somebody's life or you

heard one of these stories that we

talked about in it and and everything

kind of seemed to turn

around, you would pay attention. You'd

be like, "Okay, what's going on there?

What's happening?

This is what's happening in verse 42 to

43. This is how the whole psalm ends. It

says this, "Good people see this and are

glad. Bad people see this and 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.

confession of sin, prayer for divine

favor and

restoration. If you are wise, you will

ponder this structure. If you are wise,

you will consider maybe where you are at

in this cycle. If you are wise,

understand it's not just about where

you're you're at, but there is a rhythm.

And you can be grateful that other

people have been through the same kinds

of rhythm and God has redeemed them. He

has restored them. Reflection turns

deliverance into wisdom. It's not just

about weathering the storm or trials we

go through. It's about learning from

them. And we learn from them by

reflecting on them and then sharing them

with others that they might learn and

maybe not go to the same path that you

went down in your life. Where are you

at? Are you in trouble? Turn around. Or

are you giving

testimony? God wants to hear from you.

So call out to him. trust

God, but learn from them and trust that

God is giving you wisdom. Let me pray

for you as we wrap

up. God, I um I don't know many of the

folks here, but you do. And you know

where they're at. You know the struggles

that they're going through. You know the

things that they're working on. And God,

wherever they're at, whether it's

trouble, they're in the turnaround, or

they're they're here praising you for a

testimony. they're excited about what

you're doing in their life. God, I pray

that you would change lives. God, if

they need to be humbled, I pray they

would be humbled. If they're sick, God,

I pray they would find the change that

needs to happen. They would walk away

from the things that are causing that

struggle. And if they're in a storm,

God, that you would you would remind

them that you are there with them. And

thank you for your word. And thank you

for a chance to chat a little bit today

about it. Ask all this in the name of

your son, Jesus. Amen.