107:1 Oh, thank GOD--he's so good! His love never runs out.
Psa 107:2 All of you set free by GOD, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Psa 107:3 Then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas.
Psa 107:4 Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live,
Psa 107:5 Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Psa 107:6 Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to GOD. He got you out in the nick of time;
Psa 107:7 He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live.
Psa 107:8 So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Psa 107:9 He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.
Psa 107:10 Some of you were locked in a dark cell, cruelly confined behind bars,
Psa 107:11 Punished for defying God's Word, for turning your back on the High God's counsel--
Psa 107:12 A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy, and not a soul in sight to help.
Psa 107:13 Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
Psa 107:14 He led you out of your dark, dark cell, broke open the jail and led you out.
Psa 107:15 So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Psa 107:16 He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors, he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!
Psa 107:17 Some of you were sick because you'd lived a bad life, your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
Psa 107:18 You couldn't stand the sight of food, so miserable you thought you'd be better off dead.
Psa 107:19 Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
Psa 107:20 He spoke the word that healed you, that pulled you back from the brink of death.
Psa 107:21 So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Psa 107:22 Offer thanksgiving sacrifices, tell the world what he's done--sing it out!
Psa 107:23 Some of you set sail in big ships; you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Psa 107:24 Out at sea you saw GOD in action, saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
Psa 107:25 With a word he called up the wind-- an ocean storm, towering waves!
Psa 107:26 You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out; your hearts were stuck in your throats.
Psa 107:27 You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk, you didn't know which end was up.
Psa 107:28 Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
Psa 107:29 He quieted the wind down to a whisper, put a muzzle on all the big waves.
Psa 107:30 And you were so glad when the storm died down, and he led you safely back to harbor.
Psa 107:31 So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Psa 107:32 Lift high your praises when the people assemble, shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
Psa 107:33 GOD turned rivers into wasteland, springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Psa 107:34 Luscious orchards became alkali flats because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Psa 107:35 Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water, arid earth into springs of water,
Psa 107:36 Brought in the hungry and settled them there; they moved in--what a great place to live!
Psa 107:37 They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards, they reaped a bountiful harvest.
Psa 107:38 He blessed them and they prospered greatly; their herds of cattle never decreased.
Psa 107:39 But abuse and evil and trouble declined
Psa 107:40 as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away. He gave the poor a safe place to live,
Psa 107:41 treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.
Psa 107:42 Good people see this and are glad; bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
Psa 107:43 If you are really wise, you'll think this over-- it's time you appreciated GOD's deep love.