Gathered In (Psalm 107:3)

 

Monday, 18 August, 2025

Psalm 107:1-22

2 Samuel 20:14-26

Acts 18:1-17

Gathered In (Psalm 107:3)

[The people God] gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

One of the Lord’s special skills (if I may use such a vulgar term) is making saints out of the least likely people. We only need remember our own state from which he saved us – and looking out at our fellow saints only reinforces the point further.

The Psalmist sings of people being gathered in from the four points of the compass. And we can have a sensible chuckle in appreciation of the prophetic nature of this. We can look at our own Anglican Communion, originally started by Mediterranean missionaries travelling to the British Isles, who then sent out missionaries of their own, and can now boast of a global geographical centre somewhere in Africa. God is really good at gathering people in to his kingdom.

Our Psalmist also sings of the awful places from which people were saved. This truly is wonderful – that the Holy One would leave the perfection of the heavenly places and dig around in the dust, bringing out his precious ones, going through death for them, and raising them up.

What are some of the less pleasant moments of your life? Where was Christ, walking through the darkness with you? Where is he now leading you?

God who stops at nothing to gather in your people: make your presence known in our darkness, that we may better appreciate the light towards which you lead us.