Let The Redeemed Of The Lord Tell Their Story
An Teaching and Introduction to the Winter Journey 2023
Written by Ben Cox
Psalm 107:2-3 says: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story, those He redeemed from the land of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”
The Journey Magazine and journeync.com that you hold in your hands or are reading online, is all about “letting the redeemed of the Lord tell their stories!!”
Since Psalm 107:2-3 is an Old Testament passage of Scripture this is talking about the many ways that the Lord redeemed people in Old Testament times. Thus we see something that is very important for believers in the redemption that comes through the Messiah Jesus to understand. That is, from the very beginning of our Lord God Almighty’s creation He has been the God who redeems humanity though we don’t deserve it!!
I bring this out as part of the introduction to our Winter 2023 edition of The Journey Magazine, because I am aware of a movement among evangelicals who are disavowing the validity of OT passages because they erroneously say that God’s wrath against the evil paganism of ancient times is a misrepresentation of who He really is.
They say that God is only a God of love who would never approve of judging the evil that exists in the world through holy wars or unjust wars. They say that God is a God of love who would never reveal His wrath or judgments on the Earth through natural disasters like droughts, or floods, or fires, or earthquakes, or hurricanes or tornadoes.
Ben Cox, owner of High Country 365 and publisher of The Journey, with John & Pat Pope.
The fact of the matter is that much of the evil and chaos in the world can be attributed to man’s depravity that greedily serves our own selfish desires while giving no thought whatsoever to God’s Higher Ways and what He would require of us. For example, some of the causes of climate change could be and probably are linked to human greed that takes from the planet without thinking about the effects of the pollution we cause or how to replenish or mitigate that which we have done.
However, that doesn’t negate the fact that God’s wrath has been and will be poured out on the Earth because we humans blatantly disregard and disobey the very things our consciences try to warn us of until we become hopelessly hard-hearted and depraved, going so far as to completely deny the existence of a self-existent Creator God who loves all humans and has always made ways for us to find our way back to Him.
That also doesn’t negate the fact that Satan is real and that there are indeed powerful supernatural forces of evil that exist in the world. These evil forces have great power to deceive humans whose foolish pride refuses to even consider that a battle between Satanic forces of darkness and the God of the universe is a reality that we should be aware of.
Jesus addressed the reality of Satan and demons often in His teachings and His miracles. In fact, a major part of His ministry had to do with taking authority over demonic forces that were destroying people’s lives. Truth be told, Jesus still does that today in people’s lives through the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His Word.
At this point, it would be good to consider Jesus’ own words about this in one of His teachings and in one of His end time prophecies about the ultimate plan He, His Father and the Holy Spirit will bring to pass when He brings His final judgments on the Earth. He will do this as a prelude to creating a new heaven and new Earth where Satan, his minions and his followers will not be allowed access!! Praise the Lord! I’m looking forward to that day!
Here are the words of Jesus that I want to share with you from John 10:7-11 & Matt. 23:3-14.
John 10:7-11
“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’”
Matthew 24:3-14
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Now that we have laid that foundation, let’s go back to Psalm 107 to consider how Old Testament redemption foreshadows the New Testament redemption that God makes available to “whosoever will believe in Jesus.” Such a person, Jew and Gentile sinner alike, who does put their faith in Jesus like our Holy Scriptures prescribe “will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:16-17.
What does God save us from? He saves us from having to bear the penalty of all the sins we have ever committed. He also saves us from the power our sins once had over us so that we can live in victory over our sinful natures. And because of that the Lord also saves us from experiencing the wrath of God that comes on the Earth and the Great Wrath which is to come.
In Psalm 107 the psalmist recounts the many ways that the Lord redeemed His people Israel and other believers as well. As God’s people who know for a fact that God has redeemed our lives from the land of our foes, we know that this Scripture very much applies to us who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb….. Jesus Christ our Lord!! I will joyfully highlight from this passage the ways God has redeemed many of us.
For over 2000 years now we have seen this play out in Christendom since the time of our Savior’s crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. We know all of the Messianic prophecies that Jesus took the time to highlight in both His teachings and miracles that proclaim the coming Messiah to do all of the above!
And in Joel 2:28-38, which Peter quoted when he was explaining to the crowd what had happened to the 120 of them in the upper room when when God’s Spirit was poured out on them, we discover the power that’s behind the type of deliverances that the Psalmist outlines in Psalm 107.
Joel 2:28-32 (NIV) says: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
With all this in mind, some of us:
“Wandered in desert wastelands” (v. 4)
“Sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against the Most High.” (v. 10)
“Became fools through our rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of our iniquities.” (v. 17)
“Went out on sea in ships…(v. 23) There are ways that this could be applied to our lives as metaphorical in nature, but it could also be literally true for commercial fishermen or Navy recruits and anyone who makes their living on boats. Metaphorically it could be applied to any military recruit of law enforcement officer, EMT, etc. I say this because the effects of their careers and the lifestyles that accompany them can sometimes make them “reel and stagger like drunkards at our wits’ end” (v. 27).
The world has always been subjected to sudden natural disasters and also random acts of violence by crazy people or senseless wars where man’s inhumanity to man has been made manifest in genocides fueled by our human propensities to exalt our ways above the Lord’s or anyone who gets in our way. When this happens due to our own wrong choices, “He (God) turns rivers into deserts, flowing springs into thirsty ground and fruitful land into a salt waste because of the wickedness of those who lived there (vv. 33-34).
Sadly, Psalm 107:39 applies to groups of lost people “whose numbers decreased and were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrows (v.39).
Psalm 107:40 also tells of how “He (God) who pours contempt on nobles, made them wander in trackless waste (v. 40).
But then Psalm 107 ends with good news for God’s chosen ones back then. Verse 41 says, “But He (God) lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.”
God was a covenant-keeping, compassionate, forgiving God when the Old Covenant was in effect, but since our Messiah came we know that He came to redeem anyone who would acknowledge their need for His redemption! Therefore the Good News is that whenever any human in any one of the dilemmas that is described in Psalm 107, truly humbles themselves and cries out to God, Jesus will act as our redeemer, responding to our cries with mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
That’s why we devote ourselves to sharing the story of the redeemed in this magazine you’re reading right now. Therefore the purpose and vision for this magazine that we have faithfully produced for over 16 years now is to “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their stories.”
