1.
O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
2.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
3.
And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
4.
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7.
And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
THE RIGHT ROAD
“He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.’
Psalms 107:7
Who is He who led them, and still leads us, His faithful people, by the right way? Surely none other than the All-wise and All-loving Father, the Almighty and All-pardoning Saviour, the All-pure and All-enlightening Spirit, God with us, our true Emmanuel. There are three things for us to think of here: the leader, the way, and the end of the journey.
I. And first of the Leader.—Happy are the people who have God for their guide. Israel in the old days had Moses for their leader, and he delivered them from the bondage of Egypt; Joshua led them against their enemies, and carried them into the Promised Land; but thrice happy are we who have Jesus, the true Moses, who has delivered us from the bondage of sin, and brought us through the Red Sea of His blood; thrice happy are we who have Jesus, the true Joshua, who has conquered our enemies, and who leads us, and will lead us across the river of death into the Promised Land, the Heavenly Canaan.
O happy band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread,
With Jesus as your Fellow,
To Jesus as your Head.
He leads us; He does not compel us by threats of judgment; He does not sweep us along by the whirlwind and tempest of His wrath, He calls us by the still small voice of love, He takes us tenderly by the hand, even as a mother takes her child, and so He leads us in the right way.
II. And now let us think of this right way.—There are many ways through the world, but only one way to Heaven. Some there are who desire to walk in a path of their own choosing, and yet expect to rest with God at last. Some there are who say, ‘I will walk in the way of my affections and feelings, I will do as my natural impulse prompts me; what I like, that will I do.’ Ah! dear brethren, that is not the right way; it may be your way, but it is not God’s.
The principal street of ancient Rome was called the Via Sacra—the Sacred Way; our feet should ever be on the true sacred way, the path purchased with Christ’s blood, the road trod by Him, the wayfaring Man, who leads us poor wayfarers in the right way. So we pass through the gate of sorrow, and go on our journey in the right way.
III. At length we reach the last gate; it may be whilst our head is yet bright with the gold of youth, or when silvered with the frost of old age, but sooner or later we come to it. The way is very gloomy, cold mists as from a river rise around us, a horror of great darkness seizes us, and we see that the gate opens upon a deep river with a swelling tide, and the path ends there. No wonder that the bravest shudders to approach! How shall we enter that gloomy river, how cross those swelling waves? Still the same Hand is stretched forth to us, and the same Voice is heard saying, ‘When thou passest through the waters I am with thee: though thou walk through the valley of the shadow of death, My rod and My staff they comfort thee; he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live’; so we pass through the gate of death, for one bitter moment the dark waters close over our head, and then we are on the farther shore, and all is bright.
8.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9.
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
10.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
11.
Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
12.
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
13.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
15.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
16.
For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
17.
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18.
Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19.
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
20.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
22.
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
23.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24.
These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
25.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
27.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
28.
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
29.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30.
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
32.
Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33.
He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
34.
A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35.
He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
36.
And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
37.
And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
38.
He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
39.
Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
40.
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
41.
Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
42.
The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
43.
Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.