These words are repeated several times in the faith-building song, Psalm 107. Having spent most of my Christian life immersed in the King James Version, the repeated refrain in Psalm 107 resound in my memory, “O that men would praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” Regardless of the translation, the truth of God’s steadfast love—his covenantal commitment to his people—ministers comforting grace in our varied times of need.
This week, I have had opportunity to reflect upon this psalm in preparation for a wedding this Saturday of a very special young lady, one of my nieces. Over the years, Jill and I have, unfortunately, though understandably, missed out on many family weddings back in the United States. But in this case, with the encouragement and support of Jill, we have made an exception.
God’s steadfast love is not restricted to times of deliverance from affliction. Our Lord is gracious and faithful even when he wisely chooses to not deliver.
Many older members in our church know our niece and are aware of the many physical challenges that highlight the miraculous nature of her marriage this week. From her tender teen years until her late twenties, she has faced disease—including cancer—with the consequences of numerous surgeries, frequent hospital stays, chemotherapy, and months of continued discomfort. Over the years, our family has prayed often for her, weeping a lot of tears wondering what her future would look like, and for how long. That she is marrying this weekend is testimony to God’s wonderful works and it will be a joy to witness God’s kindness, again, on this day of bliss. My niece is the same age as our youngest daughter, Danielle. They have been close since toddlerhood and they resemble each other in so many ways. I look forward to watching Danielle standing alongside her doppelgänger cousin sharing in this miraculous expression of God’s steadfast love and his wonderful work.
My niece has been a testimony to so many as she has walked a difficult path. She has been a great help to my own faith. ‘Misery loves company’ the adage goes. But so does mercy. God’s mercies to her overflowed to me. She has taught me much.
When I went through a physically dark valley a few years ago, my niece and I were in contact with each other and, on a couple of occasions, had some long phone calls. As we shared our war stories of hospital stays, physical weakness, and the battles with discouragement, confusion, and even depression, she was a boon to my faith. We were close before our illnesses but are now even closer. Paul told the Corinthian church that the afflictions of Christians are attended by the comforts of Christ, and these in turn become a help to other afflicted Christians (2 Corinthians 1:1–7). So it has been with my niece. Her comfort-attended afflictions have served to help many afflicted saints to look to the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort.
After asking me to read Psalm 107 at her wedding, she then questioned whether the passage was suitable for a wedding. After all, the passage contains a lot of dark confessions of God’s beleaguered people. And yet this is what makes the psalm both so powerful and so appropriate for this special day. Though admittedly dark, at some points, the suffering stanzas set the stage for the light of our Lord’s steadfast love to dispel the darkness. It is this theme that does make Psalm 107 appropriate for her wedding. The Lord has been very kind to her and to her family—and, by extension, to our family.
Yahweh’s faithful love, mercy, grace, goodness, lovingkindness, covenantal faithfulness, merciful kindness (all legitimate translations of the Hebrew hesed) have been and continue to be on display in my niece’s life.
I am not happy about being away from our church again, nor to be out of the pulpit again. However, I am looking forward to having front row seat to view another of God’s wonderful works to the children of men (and women!). I am grateful for this opportunity to share in her joy, a joy grounded in the Lord.
Over the course of my life, I have probably read Psalm 107 a few hundred times, but on Saturday I suppose I might be forgiven if I choke up over these words: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
We would do well to remember that the experience of God’s steadfast love is not restricted to times of deliverance from affliction. Our Lord is gracious and faithful even when he wisely chooses to not deliver. Perhaps it is particularly at those times that Christians must reflect on the greatest deliverance he has provided—salvation from the eternal damnation our sins deserve as well as reconciliation to himself despite our rebellious alienation from him. When we consider that God sent his Son to earth in order to deliver him up to die on the cross to pay the price for this salvation and reconciliation (Acts 2:22–23; Romans 8:32), and that he then raised him from the grave for our justification (Romans 4:25), we have every reason to shout along with the psalmist, “O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”
Grateful,
Doug