Shelter from the Storm

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

- Psalm 107:1-3

The psalmist introduces Psalm 107 reminding us to thank God because He is good, His love endures forever, and He rescues us from trouble. God is the redeemer and He redeems and the psalmist urges everyone who has been saved by God to say so. It’s a pretty simple request. If God has rescued you, if He has saved you, if He has redeemed you, tell others about it.

The psalmist continues providing examples of God’s redemption. He describes people wandering in the wilderness who become lost and run out of water and food and have no shelter, and God leads them on a straight path to safety where they eat, drink and rest. He describes people held in a dark and gloomy prison, people suffering through affliction and sickness, and sailors tossed about by a stormy sea, and in each case when they cry out to God, He rescues, delivers, saves and redeems them.

Psalm 107 was fresh on my mind as I drove, listening to accounts of people stranded by recent winter storms covering a large swath of the US and Canada. Wind, snow and cold combined, rendering roads impassible. Travelers filled hotels. In some areas the storm knocked down power poles, so some were suddenly stranded with no heat or food.  

As I drove I imagined blizzard conditions and people helping one another and suddenly my mind flooded with memories of a long-forgotten time decades ago when I traveled through a blizzard and strangers helped me. And as the memories returned I laughed at myself, because my fingertips felt numb and slightly tingly against the cold steering wheel, the way they usually respond to cold, and while that sensation is now familiar, I had repressed the day that caused them to be that way. But the memories returned.  

I suppose the starting point is that this occurred before iPhones, before we had instant access to real time weather conditions, forecasts and radar, uninterrupted communication and GPS in our pockets. This was back in the dark ages of the 1980’s. 

As soon as I turned in my final exam, I loaded my Jeep and started the long road trip home for winter break. Snow fell as I pulled out of Golden, Colorado. I could have taken a different route and I’m not sure why, but I decided to head south on I-25 over Raton Pass and then turn east across the Oklahoma panhandle to Enid. As I drove I thought mainly about the exams I just took, reprocessing the questions, pondering my answers, hoping I passed. Snowplows were out and I settled behind one and just drove along behind it. I got off in Trinidad to get some gas and a cup of coffee and the attendant was surprised to see me exit the highway because it had been closed earlier. I did not pay much attention to her surprise, but as I continued traveling south I noticed that I was the only vehicle traveling the road other than snowplows, but I had driven past several highway patrol cars parked along the road and they gave no signal for me to stop so I kept going slowly up the pass and then down into New Mexico. 

In Clayton I stopped for more gas. I was surprised that I had used so much fuel in such a short distance. I wondered if the fuel gauge was malfunctioning, but the tank accepted fifteen gallons. Something was wrong. I had not seen the sun all day, but as the grey sky turned black, the temperature fell and as I steered east across the Oklahoma panhandle the wind grew stronger and it seemed as if I could see the fuel gauge falling towards empty and I knew great expanses separated each town in the sparsely populated region. Cold wind blew through the doors and I bundled in everything I could find to keep warm. The heater was on high. It blasted my feet, but the cold air flowing through the top stole the heat above my knees and my fingers and face were numb with cold. 

I stopped for gas often, at most opportunities in fact. During one stop, after filling up I walked into the gas station to get some coffee. I held the door open for a woman. She must have mistaken me for a hitchhiker because she handed me some money. Startled by her offer, I said I did not need it, but she insisted so I took it, said thanks and in the restroom I saw myself in the mirror and the color of my face suggested that I had been outside in the cold for a long time. I held my hands under the faucet for an eternity allowing the warmth to soak in. 

At the next stop I used the remainder of my money on gas and I was thankful for the woman’s recent gift. I continued east on the two-lane highway and at a crossroads I was nearly out of gas. I knew I would not be able to make it to the next town, so I pulled off at a small service station with a single bay door and two pumps. It was closed. I turned off the Jeep to save gas, pulled out my map and flashlight and pondered what to do. The trip was taking longer than it should have. I knew my parents were worrying about me. I needed gas, but I was out of money and the station was closed.  

A pickup pulled next to me. The driver rolled down his window and asked if I needed help. I told him I needed to get some gas and asked if he knew of any station nearby that might be open. He said that was the only station for miles, but he was the owner and he just happened to be heading home after checking on his cattle and he offered to unlock the pump for me and he agreed to accept a check for payment and I remember how difficult it was to write a check with frozen fingers.

I made it home. My fingers hurt deeply as they warmed and turned shades of dark they should never be. A mechanic found and corrected a fuel leak. He thought I was lucky the temperature was cold; otherwise the fuel might have ignited. I have no idea whether his assessment was accurate, but I know that many people, the ones mentioned and many more, helped me in critical, life-saving ways. Their gestures of kindness may have been small to them, but they were amazingly significant to me.

The psalmist uses examples like this to help us see God’s deliverance. He rescues us physically and spiritually. He physically delivers us from the wilderness and provides food, drink and shelter. He also offers spiritual salvation, redemption, rescue and deliverance. For those who wander in the wilderness, God “satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9). For those imprisoned He “brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder” (v.14). For those who are sick, He “sent out his word and healed them and delivered them from destruction” (v.20). For those lost on a stormy sea, He “brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed” (v.28-29). And, though not in the psalm, for people traveling through blizzard conditions, He protects, guides, comforts and reveals His glory through people in positions to help.  

The examples are physical realities and metaphors of God’s spiritual redemption. He offers instantaneous transformation, as abrupt and drastic and real as waves becoming still at His command, as a prisoner’s chains falling from his wrists, as a miraculous healing.

God rescues us. “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (Psalm 107:1-2). How has God saved you? Think back to the awful situations you have faced, both physical and spiritual. Do you see God’s holy hand at work delivering you? Praise God for who He is. Thank God for His love, His grace, His mercy, His blessings and the unimaginable fact that He desires relationship with us. Tell everyone about how God has redeemed you from trouble, and trust, know in your heart with absolute trust, that He is with you now and always.