Has the Lord redeemed you?

Once again, reading through the One Year Bible has been awesome...I always find something I haven't noticed before and it gives me a thought for each day. While reading this morning the section from Psalm 107 struck me:

"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.

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.

'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.

But he also turns deserts into pools of water,

the dry land into springs of water.

He brings the hungry to settle there and build their cities.

They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest their bumper crops.

How he blesses them!

They raise large families there,

and their herds of livestock increase.

But he rescues the poor from trouble

and increases their families like flocks of sheep.

The godly will see these things and be glad,

while the wicked are struck silent.

Those who are wise will take all this to heart;

they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord."

                      -Ps 107: 1-2, 10-16, 35-38, 41-43

Obviously that is a long psalm and I only picked out pieces to put on here, but it is so awesome to read and remember that God is faithful.  I love how this psalm begins: Has the Lord redeemed you?  And I love how it ends: those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.  That is so awesome.  If God has redeemed you you need to tell people and they will see the faithful love of the Lord throughout your history.  

This psalm makes me think about Ethiopia and the kids that I spent time with there. These kids live on the street and are just trying to survive.  We found out that three of them are now in jail and the part about God breaking down the prison walls and breaking the chains is so powerful. God is faithful.  He is faithful to the hungry, he is faithful to the poor, he is faithful to the thirsty, he is faithful to the imprisoned.  The truth is that he is faithful despite our circumstances.  When I look throughout history I see God's faithfulness and I want people to look back on my life and see just that: the faithfulness of God!