God uses these various trials to make us look to Him, and to make us look more like Him. “Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). So you don’t have to wait for deliverance to begin worshiping God. You can worship Him right in the middle of the affliction. “For He is good, His steadfast love endures forever.”
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 Psalm 107:1-2
Our God is good, and His steadfast love endures forever. Notice that God doesn’t ask permission or seek validation: He is good. And our God is willing to bend that goodness out to us. That’s what is in view in these beautiful words, steadfast love. God is good, and His willingness and ability to bend that goodness toward His people never ends. It has no expiration date. And it endures in every circumstance. And the people who know this the most are those whom God has “redeemed from trouble.” What we see in Psalm 107 is a testimony to God’s goodness and His steadfast love toward those who are in trouble. When the people of God find themselves in a variety of affliction, there is a glorious truth that should comfort them: God is sovereign in all their affliction.
Sovereign in Our Deliverance
We should see God’s sovereign, almighty hand of deliverance when we consider how He delivers from trouble. We see it in Psalm 107: The afflictions of the outcast (4), the rebellious prisoner (10), the foolish and sinful (17), and the storm-tossed (23) are undone in a moment, by a word (20). God is not like us. He doesn’t fret when He sees affliction. It is a small thing for Him to deliver. “Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death” (Psalm 68:20). God is sovereign in our deliverances.
Sovereign in Our Affliction
But God is also sovereign in our afflictions. Read Psalm 107. God is active in the affliction.
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