Songs of Joy - Psalm 106-107

by Diana Durrill


"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.  Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!"  - Psalm 107:19-22

These verses in the middle of chapter 107 jumped off the page to me today.  It wasn't that the Israelites took action by crying out the to Lord in their trouble.  That is an important part of the story, for sure, but it wasn't what jumped out to me today.  Nor was it the part that talks about his steadfast love, although if you park on the words steadfast and love long enough, you will no doubt be amazed, humbled, and in awe of your loving, gracious Savior.

No, what jumped out today was how God delivered them from their destruction.  He didn't send in a little boy with big faith like we talked about here.  He didn't topple walls or deliver a substitutionary ram.  He simply sent out his word.  His word.  God healed them with his word. (For those of you who love to connect the dots, don't you love the glimpse of John 1 you see here?)

And as we keep reading we see that the next two verses lay out what their natural response should be.  The psalmist begins the next two verses with the words, "Let them...".


"Let them thank the Lord...."


"And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy."


What was expected in return the for the saving word of our God?  Words.  Words of thanksgiving, praise, and songs of joy!

I don't know about you but I love, love, LOVE music.  I love to sing and play music.  I have music going on in my head all. the. time.  My family grows weary of the tunes I am humming or tapping or singing throughout the day.  I just love music!  And I am thrilled that God wants my songs of joy and my sacrifices of thanksgiving in return for my salvation through his word.

Because I adore music, especially worship music, the words of this passage brought an oldie-but-goodie to mind (well it's not that old, but it is by an artist that was better known by my generation and older).  I love sharing good music with others so I've shared the link to it on iTunes here.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and I hope that it brings to mind all the things you can use your lips to praise the Lord for and begin singing your songs today!