INTRODUCTION:
1) Psalm 107 is the account of people in many circumstances of life coming to situations which are greater than themselves.
A.) One of the situations the Psalmist addressed was of those who do their labours on the sea.
B.) Certainly we live in an area where many of our communities are involved in the fishing industry, and in working on the sea.
ba.) As people who work on the sea it becomes even personal to each of us and to the fishing community as a whole when tragedies occur such as we have had to experience this past two weeks with the loss of _________, and _________.
bb.) This afternoon as we think on this and come here to remember _________ I would like to share a few thoughts from Psalm 107 and also from Psalm 46.
( I have removed the names of those who were deceased)
I.) THEY THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS,
1.) Who do business on great waters.
A.) These words of the Psalmist are words that describe our communities; they are also words which also describe many of the people who live here.
aa.) They are also words that describe _________, and his love of the sea, which can certainly be attested to by the many years he has worked on the water.
ab.) The Psalmist proceeds to describe what is experienced by those who work on the sea.
aba.) Psalm 107:23 “They that go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.”
2.) These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders on the deep.
A.) Certainly those who work on the sea behold some of the greatest beauty from the hand of God.
aa.) What greater expression of the presence and power of God can there be than sailing over the waves of the sea as you look into the rising of the sun, and the beauty of the new day before you..
ab.) Again as your labours of the day draw to an end and home port looms in sight you look over that golden orange hue from the paintbrush of God’s hand on the horizon, and again in the sunset see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.
ab.) Those who go down to the sea in ships at times also see creatures as mighty and magnificent as humpback and finback whales off our shores.
aba.) Every time I have seen one of these creatures I truly am reminded that I have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.
B.) Yet as beautiful and awe-inspiring as these things are there is also another side of the works and the wonders of the deep.
II. THERE ARE ALSO TIMES WHEN THE WORKS OF THE LORD AND HIS WONDERS ON THE DEEP ARE NOT PLEASANT.
1.) There are times when the sea can be a very troublesome and scary thing.
A.) Our text speaks of that.
aa.) Psalm 107:25-28
(25) For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. (26) They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. (27) They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits end.
B.) I am sure there is not a person here who has worked on the sea who cannot relate to the words of this text.
ba.) Those who work on the sea have seen and weathered many storms and waves that are pretty fierce.
bb.) Storms that will humble even the most seasoned and experienced of fishermen to the power of the sea, and ultimately to the power from the hand of God.
bba.) _____ had spent over forty years on the sea.
bbb.) Forty years of time would have given him many opportunities to experience both the good and the bad of the sea.
2.) Our text speaks of those men in that Psalm crying out to the Lord in their distress.
A.) Psalm 107:28
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.”
B.) It is quite possible that when that wave hit the “Kyla Anne” last week that those men on that boat may have been calling out to the Lord, just as those in this Psalm.
ba.) It would have been a natural thing to cry out to God and ask Him to deliver them from their circumstances.
baa.) Certainly there has been many a fisherman who has felt the need to seek God’s presence and help while on the storm-tossed sea.
bb.) In this Psalm the men called out on the Lord and he delivered them from their distress.
baa.) While that is always the end we hope for we also know and have now again experienced that sometimes those who go down into the sea in ships do not always safely come home from the sea.
bab.) So today as we come here in heaviness of heart, and sorrow I want us to do as those men had done in the last verse I have just read and call out to the Lord seeking him as our refuge and our strength today.
.01) This brings me to my second point that:
II. EVEN WHEN FACED WITH DEATH, WE CAN SEE THE WORKS OF GOD WHEN WE SEE HIM AS OUR REFUGE AND OUR STRENGTH.
1.) God wants to be here today as our refuge.
A.) Psalm 46:1
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
B.) God is our refuge and our strength.
ba.) God is telling us that He is here in this room with us, and that He wants us today to see Him as our refuge, and as our strength.
baa.) He wants to come along side of us, and share the load of grief and sorrow we have, while giving us His presence to strengthen us in our time of loss.
bb.) This past two weeks has been a long and very difficult time for your families as well as for our communities at large.
bda.) I’m sure there have been times over the past few weeks that some of you have wondered if you could muster the strength you would need through this time.
bdb.) Yet here in this Psalm, God has declared He wants to be here:
.01) as our Refuge.
.02) He wants to be here as our strength.
.03) He wants to be here as an ever-present help in trouble.
2.) When God is our refuge we can face many things that are very hard to face.
A.) I want you to see what else the Psalmist says here in Psalm 46.
aa.) Psalm 46:2-3
“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
ab.) Here in this passage the writer speaks to us of some of the great and powerful forces of nature including the power of a sea that is raging at its worst.
aba.) Yet in the midst of all of this the author says: “we will not fear.”
.01) The reason why we would not fear in such situations is because God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
.02) In this time of sorrow and trouble you are experiencing, may you lean fully on Him who declared that He “is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
.03) May you not only lean on Him today, but in every day that comes after this one.
.04) If He is not your God, I challenge you as we leave here today to choose Him as your Lord and as your God.
.041) If He is your God, there will be no greater refuge, strength, or helper you will find for this life, nor blessings for the future.
.042) “Be still and know that I am God.”
