“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary… Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! … Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; they stumbled and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses…. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD” (Psa 107:1-2, 8, 12-13, 43).
I realize that the phrase “wisdom literature” is a technical term for a specific genre of books in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes). But because the Scriptures are God breathed, this title can also be applied to the Bible as a whole. God’s Word is wisdom literature intended to make us wise unto salvation (2 Tim 3:15). One way it imparts that wisdom is by teaching us how to understand God’s dealings with His people.
To be clear, God’s lovingkindness and covenant faithfulness are no less present when He breaks us and leads us to the “gates of death”…
Psalm 107 invites all who are wise to meditate on one particular attribute of God: His chesed (i.e., His covenant loyalty, faithfulness, and lovingkindness). God’s chesed is revealed not only when He hears Israel’s cries in their distress (Psa 107:6, 13, 19, 28), but also when He disciplines His wandering people by causing or allowing distress (vv. 4-5, 11-12, 17-18, 39). To be clear, God’s lovingkindness and covenant faithfulness are no less present when He breaks us and leads us to the “gates of death” (Psa 107:18) than when He redeems us from our enemies (Psa 107:6, 13, 19, 28) and provides for all our needs (Psa 107:9, 35-36).
It is only when we realize that it is by God’s chesed alone that we are preserved and protected from the enemy without as well as from the enemy within that we become not only wise but also genuinely thankful and content all the days of our lives. We learn to give thanks not only for His deliverance but also for His loving discipline. So let God’s wise people say,
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting” (Psa 107:1).
