A reflection on Psalm 107 for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Today in churches around the world, two of the most beloved passages of the New Testament will be heard: 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  (John 3:16-17)

and

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the result of words, so that no one may boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

For many of us, these four verses are the crux of our faith.  They are verses we long ago memorized, learned from parents or grandparents or beloved Sunday school teachers.  We hold them near and dear to our hearts, and for good reason.  They help us understand God’s grace and how God works in the world.  They remind us that it is God’s work, and God’s gifts of love, grace, and faith that save us.   

Into the mix of these much beloved verses, comes today’s psalm.  Maybe it’s a beloved one for you, but I have to admit, it’s not one that I think to turn to.  It’s not one I have memorized.  But, after spending some time with it this week, it really is a beautiful one.

“O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever,” it begins.  And though the lectionary only gives us a tiny bit of it, if we read the whole thing, we see some phrases repeat themselves:

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress

and

Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

If we read the whole thing, we see that this is a psalm that tells the stories of people experiencing hard things in their lives--hunger, thirst, homelessness, sickness, prison, and storms.  It tells the story of how--even in these times of trouble--the people remembered God and God did not forget them.  It’s a powerful psalm that tells the story of God’s saving work in the world--God’s action, not our own, redeeming us from the powers that would hold us captive to sin and death.  It’s a psalm that gives examples of God’s love and grace at work in the world, among real people, our ancestors in the faith.  It’s a psalm that they probably sang together in the temple--gathered together from north, south, east, and west--remembering together and celebrating God’s enduring steadfast love.

It is something to celebrate, isn’t it?  Even in this season of Lent, we can celebrate, it’s okay.  Because most of us have a lot to celebrate, don’t we?  If we really start to pay attention to the ways God is at work in our lives, couldn’t we, too, join in the thanksgiving to the God who redeems us, and loves us, and calls us by name?

The psalm and John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9 all remind us that it is God’s work, not our own, that saves us.  It is Christ whom we turn to save us from the powers of sin and death that so badly want to hold us captive in the world.  And it is God’s love and grace that free us and set us loose in the world to tell of the marvelous things that the triune God has done.  And not only does God’s love and grace set us loose to tell about it, we are also freed to serve, to do something with the freedom that we have in Christ.  To be God’s hands and feet, to serve the hungry, thirsty, homeless, imprisoned, and sick.  To open ourselves to the possibility that maybe God will work through us, letting us be the vessels of God’s love.  To open ourselves to the possibility that in serving, we might also experience God’s grace through those whom we meet.  That they might show us a glimpse of that steadfast love the psalmist speaks of.  That we might be changed.

God’s steadfast love endures forever.  That is an amazing promise.  It frees us and fills us with hope.  It gives us plenty to be thankful for, even when the going gets tough.  It frees us to pray for our neighbor and our enemy and the stranger across the world whom we will never meet.  It frees us to do something for our neighbor and our enemy and the stranger across the world whom we will never meet.  It frees us from the burden of earning God's love and allows us to rest in the promise that that love is steadfast and endures forever.  And that there is enough to go around.  From north to south, and from east to west.  For the whole, wide world.

How have you experienced that steadfast love this week?  For what do you give thanks?