Welcome to Day 2778 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Day 2778 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 107:1-16 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2778

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day two thousand seven hundred seventy-eight of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.  

The title for today’s Wisdom-Trek is: The Great Gathering – From the Wasteland to the Broken Gates.  

Today, we cross a major threshold in our expedition through the Psalms. We are stepping into Book Five of the Psalter, the final collection of these ancient songs.  

We begin this new leg of the journey with Psalm One Hundred Seven, covering the first two stanzas, verses one through sixteen, in the New Living Translation.  

To understand the power of this moment, we must remember where we left off. In our previous trek, we stood at the end of Psalm One Hundred Six, which was the conclusion of Book Four. That psalm ended with a desperate, heartbreaking prayer from the exile: "Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations."  

It was a cry from the diaspora, a plea from a people scattered to the four winds because of their rebellion. They were asking God to reverse the judgment of the exile.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven is the thunderous answer to that prayer.  

If Psalm One Hundred Six ended with a plea to be gathered, Psalm One Hundred Seven begins with the celebration of the gathered. The tone shifts from petition to proclamation. It is a panoramic view of God’s Redemption. It describes specific scenarios of human desperation—being lost in the desert, locked in a dungeon, sick unto death, or tossed in a storm—and shows how Yahweh intervenes to rescue.  

It is a psalm that celebrates the Hesed—the Unfailing Love—of God, which pursues us into the wildest wastelands and the darkest prisons.  

So, let us join the procession of the redeemed and listen to their stories.  

The first segment is: The Prologue: The Song of the Redeemed.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses one through three.  

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.  Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.  For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.

The psalm opens with the classic liturgical call to worship, identifying the core motivation for all praise: God is Good, and His Faithful Love (Hesed) is eternal.  

But then, the psalmist turns to the congregation and issues a challenge: "Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!"  

The Hebrew word for "Redeemed" is Geulim. It comes from the word Ga'al, which refers to the Kinsman-Redeemer. This was the nearest male relative who had the legal responsibility to buy back a family member who had been sold into slavery or to buy back family land that had been lost.  

By calling God the Redeemer, the psalmist is saying that Yahweh has acted as Israel’s next-of-kin. When they sold themselves into the slavery of sin and exile, He paid the price to buy them back. He didn't do it because they were worthy; He did it because they were family.  

And the proof of this redemption is the Gathering: "For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south."  

This is the direct fulfillment of the prayer in Psalm One Hundred Six, verse forty-seven. The word used here for "gathered" (qabats) is the standard term for the reversal of the exile.  

Interestingly, the Hebrew text says he gathered them from the "North" and from the "Sea" (Yam). The NLT translates "Sea" as "South" to make geographical sense (since the Mediterranean Sea is West), but the ambiguity is poetic. It implies gathering them from the chaos waters, from the ends of the earth.  

This sets the stage. The "Redeemed" are now gathered in Jerusalem, and the psalmist invites them to come forward, group by group, to tell their testimony. We are about to hear four distinct testimonies of salvation. Today, we will hear the first two: The Wanderers and The Prisoners.  

The Second Segment is: Testimony One: The Wanderers in the Wasteland.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses four through nine.  

Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.  Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died.  "Lord, help!" they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.  He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.  Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.  For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

The first group steps forward. These are the Wanderers.  

"Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless."  

The setting is the "wilderness" (midbar) and the "wasteland" (yeshimon). In the Ancient Israelite worldview, the wilderness was not just a place of camping; it was the realm of chaos. It was the "non-city." The city represented order, safety, and provision. The wilderness represented danger, exposure, and demons (the "howling waste" of Deuteronomy Thirty-two).  

These people were physically and spiritually disoriented. They found "no way to a city of habitation." They were off the map.  

Their condition was critical: "Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died." (Literally, "their soul fainted within them").  

They had reached the end of their resources. The desert gives nothing; it only takes. They were facing the slow, agonizing death of exposure and starvation.  

Then comes the pivot point, which will be repeated in every stanza of this psalm: "'Lord, help!' they cried in their trouble..."  

They didn't have a sacrifice to offer. They didn't have a temple to go to. All they had was a scream. But that was enough.  

"...and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live."  

God provides two things: Direction and Destination.   He led them by a "straight way." When you are lost in the desert, you walk in circles. God straightened their path. And He brought them to a "city of habitation." He didn't just give them a tent; He gave them a permanent home. He restored them to community and order.  

Therefore, the refrain rings out: "Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them."  

"Let them give thanks to Yahweh for His Hesed." The wanderers know, better than anyone, that God satisfies.  

"For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."  

This mirrors the language of Psalm One Hundred Three, where God "fills my life with good things." The one who has tasted the dust of the desert knows the true value of the bread of heaven.  

This testimony speaks to all of us who have felt spiritually homeless—wandering through life without purpose, hungry for meaning, and unable to find our place. God is the Guide who leads us to the City.  

The Third Segment is: Testimony Two: The Prisoners in Darkness.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven: verses ten through sixteen.  

Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.  They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High.  That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them.  "Lord, help!" they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.  He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.  Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.  For he broke down their prison gates of bronze; he cut apart their bars of iron.

The second group steps forward. If the first group was suffering from lostness, this group is suffering from bondage.  

"Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery."  

The phrase "deepest gloom" is the Hebrew word tsalmavet—often translated as "the shadow of death." This isn't just a dim room; it is the darkness of the grave. They are bound in "affliction and iron."  

But unlike the wanderers, whose problem was geographical, the prisoners' problem is explicitly moral. The psalmist tells us exactly why they are in jail:  

"They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High."  

This is significant language in the Divine Council worldview.   They rebelled against the "words of El" (God) and spurned the "counsel" (etsah) of Elyon (the Most High).  

The "Counsel of the Most High" refers to the decrees that issue from God's throne. This isn't just ignoring good advice; it is high treason against the Cosmic King. It echoes the rebellion of the nations and the stubbornness of Israel we saw in Psalm One Hundred Six.  

Because of this rebellion, God enacted discipline: "That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them."  

God humbled their hearts. He let them experience the consequences of their autonomy. If they didn't want to serve God, they would serve hard labor. They stumbled, and in their isolation, they realized there was "no helper."  

But even here, in the prison of their own making, the pivot point remains:  

"'Lord, help!' they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress."  

This highlights the incredible reach of God’s grace. He doesn't say, "You rebelled, so you stay there." The moment the rebel cries out, the Rebel becomes the Rescued.  

"He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains."  

God descends into the shadow of death to perform a jailbreak.  

And look at the violence of the rescue: "For he broke down their prison gates of bronze; he cut apart their bars of iron."  

This imagery recalls the ancient practice of conquering cities. Victorious kings would shatter the bronze gates of the enemy fortress.  

But here, God is shattering the gates that held His own people captive. Whether these were literal prisons in Babylon or the spiritual chains of sin and addiction, the power of Yahweh is greater than the metallurgy of the enemy. There is no gate of bronze that can stand against the Kinsman-Redeemer when He comes to claim His family.  

Therefore, the refrain rings out again: "Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them."  

The prisoners have a unique song. It is the song of those who know they deserved the iron collar (as we saw with Joseph in Psalm 105), but received liberty instead.  

Psalm One Hundred Seven, verses one through sixteen, presents us with two powerful metaphors for the human condition.  

Some of us are Wanderers. We aren't necessarily rebelling; we are just lost. We are trying to find satisfaction in a dry wilderness that cannot provide it. We need God to show us the way to the City.  

Some of us are Prisoners. We are in the dark because of our own choices. We fought against the "counsel of the Most High," and now we are sitting in the chains of consequence. We need God to break the gates.  

The good news of this psalm is that the Unfailing Love of God covers both territories. Whether you are lost in the desert or locked in the dark, the cry "Lord, help!" reaches His ears.  

So today, if you are hungry, cry out to the Provider. If you are bound, cry out to the Breaker of Chains. And when He answers—and He will—do not stay silent. "Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!"  

Join us tomorrow as we hear the testimonies of the Sick and the Storm-Tossed.  

If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of, ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’  

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.   As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly.   Love Unconditionally.   Listen Intentionally.   Learn Continuously.   Lend to others Generously.   Lead with Integrity.   Leave a Living Legacy Each Day.  

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!