Psalm 107:4-9,Study 8,Wayfaring Stranger,
The wandering sojourner
Psalm 107:4
THE WANDERER - PERSON 1
Once the people of God were taken out of captivity in Egypt and started their exodus
journey We can draw a parallel here with Psalm 107:4
Psalm 107 being about the exile to babylon and the captivity of Gods people once more
And then being released to go back to their homeland
Psalm 107:4 being about the wanderer, but rather lets compare this to a wandering pilgrim
one who may be in the New testament or one that may be in the "here and now"
FLESH AND BLOOD
Hebrews 11:37
37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.
They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—
Those who through Faith conquered Kingdoms, were used to administer the justice of God,
those people who shut the lions mouth and walked in the fury of the flames
Those who escaped the sword of men, who were weak yet strong in the Might of God
The armies of the Lord and the Kings who commanded being mighty in battle
The dead were brought back to life and raised from the dead
The same flesh and blood, wanting to receive a better resurrection from the dead
were tortured and tormented and did not want to be released
They being jeeered and flogged, beaten and whipped, imprisoned and scorned, mocked and
beaten, chained yet free
ADMINISTRATORS
Those very people were used by the Lord Himself to administer prayer for their neighbours
and for their oppressors, that the people around them would prosper
God used the craftsmen, using their hands and their labour for the benefit of others
To the preachers and teachers He used Their mouths to administer His Word
To those that suffered God used His people to bring healing
Yet those He used suffered the same wayfaring path of the Saviour
LOOSING THE WAY
These very people of God in times past in the wilderness had lost their way
Where the sand covers the path ahead and blinds the eyes so that there is no way
forward or ahead to be found and where only the direction of that still small voice is
possible
Here they lay down or go for cover til the storm subsides and the blinding sand is
stilled
Hebrews 13:14
These people have lost their way like sheep
Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the
LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Some like sheep stray into the wrong ways and walk the wrong pathways , looking for water
or for sustenance , we go into places forbidden or into things we should not
Then the Good Shepherd directs us back with His rod and staff
1 Peter 2:25 Isaiah 53:6
For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd
and Overseer of your souls.
Isaiah 13:14 Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will
return to his own people, each will flee to his native land
He brings in the other Sheep from the other pen and together the are one
John 10:16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them
also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd
OOoo the desert wastelands that we walk in, the world with all its glamnour
Empty but being seen as attractive , like the fire giving warmmth but burning when
touched
The person of the wayfaring pilgrimage
THE LOST ONES
wandering through the desert regions looking for something and someone
Have'nt we all gone astray at some point in life ?
Haven't we all lost our way at some point ?
Being brought back the the Good Shepherd ?
Nothing of our own could do this but only the grace of God
Unless we walk away never to return and to disown Him and stop listening to Him and
refuse to obey .... but that is another story
CRY FREEDOM
The unsaved are saved
Jonah 1:5
All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into
the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into
a deep sleep.
The Saved are Saved
Matthew 8:23-27
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came
up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples
went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Now at this point "selah"
Stop, wait, listen,
Psalm 107:6
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress
In This in the four stories that typify four different peoples we see each time that God saves
Note Psalm 107:6 Psalm 107:13 Psalm 107:19 Psalm 107:28
At these times even the persons that are not saved cry out to their god or gods
Once peril and danger endangers our future and fear envelopes us , we cry out
Once the storm subsides, how many weary travellers continue to cry out !
Sometimes its only when it affects me ...only then do I remember God and cry out to Him
Or when it affects someone I love being that it will affect me
THE SAVIOUR
And so when we look at Psalm 107 although we see that God saved time and time again
We also see that these generations never entered Gods Rest and the latter did not enter
canaan the land flowing with milk and honey and the former did
Now we know that Psalm 107 is about the four people, it typifies the four types of.
It can be said to be about 'the unsaved' that is the ones who are not believers
It can be seen as relating to the "saved" as in "Gods own"
It can also be seen as speaking about "The Saved, who worship another god"
So when these people cry out for help and to be saved from a situation in life
They may well cry out to their gods or god or God
But God saves them
HUNGER AND THIRST
To finish we look at Psalm
107:5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
To hunger for the rich foods of Egypt is to hunger for the past things and to make them more desirable than God
To hunger for the temporal without longing at the same time for the eternal is spiritual death
To shipwreck a faith by worrying more about the loss of the ship and the cargo than to think about even to prayer to God or to cry and call out to Him
Therefore their lifes ebbed away and they are those wanderers in life who do not seek the Lord or His Kingship
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THIRST FOR GOD
Psalm 107:9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Those who thirst and hunger for God and His righteouness will be rewarded and be filled from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes
He satisfies the hungry sould and the weary sojourner and gives to all who call on Him
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
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THE RICH AND THE POOR
He sends the rich away empty and the poor He fills with good things
That is to say "Those who are poor are indeed rich in Christ
But those who are rich and proud and haughty He humbles
Luke 1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
Nothing wrong in being rich and having wealth indeed for they have a great responsibility on their hands
But when the riches of the world overtake the riches of the Kingdom then tyhey are indeed empty and poor and wretched and pitiful Revelation 3:17
To desire salvation through Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins through his blood, and thirst after his righteousness, this is the hunger and the thirst that God rewards
To commune with him and to seek a greater knowledge of him, and his salvation and to have a hunger for His righteousness
These are the Wayfaring Strangers that God desires
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When travelling through the desert wastelands of life where there seems to be no spiritual sight or comforting hand and the thirst and the hunger for God overwhelms
When the wind blows the sand into the eyes of the Wayfaring Stranger and he seems to have no visibility or sight ahead, then God will show Himself as the Wayfaring Stranger seeks His face
Job 23:9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him
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