Don’t get seasick, keep looking at God

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Psalm 107 made me feel a bit ill, and I had to look a few times to work out why. It could not have started any nicer. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures for ever.” I know a song about that! It’s a joyous, upward-looking beginning to a worship session.

But from verse 4, there begins a series of increasingly deep dips and dives caused by people ignoring or rebelling against God, followed by upwards movement again as people turn to God and he saves them. Each cycle is like a wave, and they get upsettingly choppy.

Down go the people just wondering around, forgetful of God, but up they come as they cry out and get satisfied. Down into darkness go the rebels against God’s plans, finding bitter labour in the depths of their condition, but up into the light they come as God busts them out of their confinement. Down, down deeper go some rebels whose bodies suffered from their foolishness, but what happens when they cry to God? You got it! Up, up they come, healed and ready to thank God.

Then it gets a little stranger. Here comes the Merchant Navy, getting on with stuff. What are they doing wrong? The storm which forces them up and down seems to come from God! Maybe the point is that, surrounded by God’s work, they were self-absorbed with their own ability and courage until they realised, they didn’t just need nature on their side, they needed the creator.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

The creator’s power to recreate - knock down, build up, lay waste, redeem – gets seen on a national and international scale by the end. Through all these downs and ups, the writer gives God the credit, and I take two lessons from this.

First, whatever we think we can do, God can do bigger. Second, we think we control our personal worlds, but as we get rocked by the actions of people and God, we realise we are like boats on the ocean, at the mercy of power far bigger than ours thrusting us up and down. How do we avoid getting seasick? Just like in a boat - keep looking out, beyond ourselves and our circumstances, at the horizon.

It’s worth remembering that we can turn to God and be saved, but we might as well avoid the trouble and be wise – remember God’s goodness and keep our eyes on him.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I can pray about things I’m aware of, but I need to ask God to show me what he wants to change in my world that I might be ignoring, forgetting or blind to. If I can look to God, I can trust that he will do what he has done here for everyone who turns to him.

Who am I going to share this with?

Other people I pray with.