And He rescued them from their distress.

 

Friday, August 18, 2023


Psalm 107:1-22

2 Samuel 19:24-40

Acts 17:15-21


And He rescued them from their distress.


Sometimes it is difficult to listen to programs designed for working professionals. There was a recent discussion on the radio involving some sort of workplace productivity specialist, where she was extolling the virtues of not allowing perfect to be the enemy of good. Far better, said she, to ration out one’s daylight hours ruthlessly, and should a particular task threaten your weekend, simply leave it done as “good enough”. Shivers ran down my spine: working in restaurant kitchens as I have, there is a clear list of tasks to complete. If someone in my position were to simply leave tasks unfinished, I would have committed the unforgivable crime of leaving customers hungry. But having since moved away from that rockstar lifestyle and into the romantic world of the domestic, it starts to seem quite reasonable to simply leave certain things for tomorrow. Sleep is calling, and there will always be more dirty dishes to wash.


Compare our attitude to God’s. God has many tasks He has set before Himself, and one of them is to bestow His grace upon us. Unrestrained by human frailty, God’s grace continues forever (Ps 107:1). Not only is the timing of God’s grace an infinite blessing, so too are the circumstances. Note the first three dire situations from which people are rescued in today’s section of our Psalm.


Wandering through the wastes, life ebbing away: God takes us, and, grace upon grace, rescues us by the direct path, the fastest way home. Bound in chains, in the death-dark gloom of our own stubbornness: God shatters those chains, and leads us out of the darkness into His glorious light. Foolish, suffering affliction, miserable and ashamed because we are getting our just desserts for our sinful deeds: healed from that which we did to ourselves.


No matter how much we might not deserve God’s blessing, God’s grace is there, infinite and eternal, for all who would call on His name. In our trouble, we must cry to the Lord, for there is no one else like Him. He never shuts up shop, He never leaves things for later. God loves to bless, for He is good, for His grace continues forever.

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