Crying Out

A cry is a word that implies desperation. When there is nothing else to do and nowhere else to turn, you cry out.A desperate cry seems to be irresistible to God—especially when it is a united cry from His people.Psalm 107 overwhelms us with the consistency of this thought, as the psalmist speaks of Israel’s continued wandering, God’s judgment, the people’s cry, and God’s deliverance. Four times this pattern is repeated.

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region.... Their soul fainted with them.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses.He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city (vv. 4-7).

They had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High.Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; they stumbled and there was none to help.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; and He saved them out of their distresses.He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart (vv. 11-14).

Fools, because of their rebellious way, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted....

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; he saved them out of their distresses.He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions (vv. 17-20).

He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea....Their soul melted away in their misery. They ... were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses.He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed....So He guided them to their desired haven (vv. 25-30).

We seek every other remedy. In vain we try every prescription except God’s.If there was ever a time when the believers in our land, who have rebelled and wandered from Christ, need to repent, turn their faith upward, and cry out, it is now.I wonder if God would hear our cry and relent in His judgment. I wonder if this is the year American history will record …            “And they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them.”