When Crying "Help" Is the Most We Can Do; Psalm 107:1-9, sermon for March 11, 2018

Rev. George Miller
March 11, 2018
Psalm 107:1-9

Today’s Psalm was designed to be sung in the Temple, and it plays out like its’ own little action movie.

Read all of Psalm 107 and you’ll see that is features folk who’ve been lost in a wilderness, people who’ve been in prison, souls who’ve been sick, and even sailors that were in shipwrecks.

One reads it and can’t help but to think “Wow, this congregation was a real exciting bunch!”

Makes me wonder what kind of scenarios Psalm 107 would address if it was written today:

“Some wandered south on 27,
There were those who passed
swiftly by on the right;
those who drove ever so-slowly
on the left.
Then I cried out to the Lord,
and God brought me to the CVS.”

Or:

“Some wheezed and coughed
Near the citrus groves;
their insides full of phlegm,
their head stuffed and sorrowful.
Then they cried out to the Lord,
and Claritin gave them a
24 hour reprieve.”

Or:

“Some hid in horror in the school halls,
the sounds of gunfire filling their ears.
Afterwards, they cried out to the lawmakers, adults, and teachers,
but their voices felt unheard
or denied…”

Life is hard. There is no denying that.

Whether one is battling the weather, facing many tasks, or dealing with current relations, there has never been an easy time to be alive.

Sure, we can point to the 60’s, but let’s not forget:

images of Vietnam that played out on TV, teenagers protesting segregation who were met with water hoses and biting dogs, or bomb drills in school, in which students had to pretend that a desk could do anything at all.

We can look at the 40’s as a much simpler time, but let’s not forget:

all the young men we sent off to war to battle a tyrant who was placing Jewish people in ovens, or those of Japanese descent who were put into internment camps, or the requirement to reuse and recycle things like aluminum foil, tin cans and rubber.

Was there ever a simpler time?

Truth is that many of our ancestors had it so bad oversees that they came to America hoping to have a better life.

Those that survived worked dangerous, low paying jobs, or spent hours out in the fields.

So, we have never really had “good old days.”

There has never really been a perfect time, a Camelot, or a Wakanda, in which everything was good for everybody all the time.

What most of us have had are hopes, dreams…and God.

Going back to Psalm 107, it’s a communal song, but more than that- it is a communal calling out to the Lord.

It’s about having nothing left but the hope of hopelessness that causes one to cry to God “Help!”

And to trust that God hears, God sees, God acts.

To trust that God delivers, God frees, God heals, and God saves.

Read all of Psalm 107, and you’ll discover something interesting-

We are not told why God delivers, frees, heals, or saves these individuals.

We are not told that any of the people in this song were of the right faith, we are not told if any of them lived the right lives, we are not told that they were free from sin.

We are not told that they made the mark, followed all the orders, or stood upright, straight and tall.

No.

We are told one thing and one thing only about these people facing their own disaster-

Each and every one of them lifted up their voices and cried out to the Lord in distress.

In fact the phrase “Then they cried to the Lord” is repeated 4 separate times is this Psalm-

Some wandered in desert wastes, hungry and thirsty, then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and (God) delivered them from their distress.

Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery, then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and (God) saved them from their distress.

Some were sick, loathing any kind of food, then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and (God) saved them from their distress.

Some went down to the sea in ships, they mounted up to the heavens, they were down to the depths, then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and (God) bought them out from their distress.

Each and every time they face a certain peril, they face a certain death, and God brings salvation, God gives them life…

…It has been said that there are only 2 kinds of prayers:

Help, help, help.

And thanks, thanks, thanks.

Here in Psalm 107 we hear the most elemental form of prayer there is-

A crying out for help.

A singing forth of thanks.

There is nothing here that says in order for God to act or save one must have the proper doctrine, or the right version of the Bible, or membership to the right denomination, or the right amount filled in on their Pledge Cards.

The only thing here is “help.”

How simple. How revolutionary.

And yet, we see this in the ministry of Jesus.

The many who came to the home of Simon’s Mother-In-Law who were sick and demon possessed.

There is no word that anyone was made to make a pledge of faith or to prove their authenticity.

Jesus saw, he heard, he acted on their behalf.

The leper who comes to Jesus begging him with all humility “If you chose, you could make me clean.”

To which the Son of God says “I do chose.”

Or the day a foreign woman of a completely different faith begged to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, and Jesus was moved to bring about wholeness and healing into the life of the child…

…As a pastor I am amazed at how many people come to me to say “Pastor, can you pray for me.”

Or “Pastor, I need your prayers.” Or “I know God will listen to you.”

When the truth is that God listens to all.

There are no magic words. There is no required degree.

There is no right or wrong physical stance. There is no right or wrong political party.

All that is needed during those times of distress is a heart, a body, a spirit that is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

All that’s needed is the audacity, the humility, and the courage to cry out to God.

To cry “Help!”

To cry “Save!”

To cry “I’m in pain.”

Because God hears.
God sees.
God acts.

God delivers.
God frees.
God heals.

God saves.

God turns dry spots into an oasis of hope.

God takes the hungry and finds a way to make their bellies full.

God takes the distressed and makes them glad…

…Life has always been hard.

Times have always been full of waste lands, prisons, sickness and shipwrecks.

But God is always steadfast and sure.

God is always seeing and sweet.

Hearing us when we have the courage to say “Help!”

Delighting when we say “Thanks…”

For that, we can say amen and amen.