Calm Winds, Easy Seas, Full Sails…

Calm winds, easy seas, and full sails bring to mind the Message’s paraphrase of Psalm 84:12!

All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies. (MSG)

To those who have been through deep waters of hurt and suffering or grief and troubling difficulties, “smooth sailing all the way” may seem a hollow thought and raises the question of whether God is really good all the time.

However, Psalm 107:1 says He is: “Oh, thank God—he’s so good! His love never runs out.” (MSG) However, the Psalmist is not naïve. He has had his share of sadness. He is thinking globally and is expressing gratitude for those worldwide (from the four winds, from the seven seas) who God has graciously freed from various life conditions because of His “miraculous mercy and marvelous love“. He sings of God’s compassion for the oppressed, the homeless and wandering, the imprisioned, the sick because of debauchery, and for those attempting to run from God. When they “called out to God“, they were wonderfully saved from their condition.

Calling on the Name of the Lord presupposes that there is belief. The principle that God always responds to believing, repentant hearts is as old as mankind and as contemporary as today! As early as Genesis 4:26, common people and then later Patriarchs, Kings, and Prophets began to call on the Name of the Lord as they sought help from the Giver of Life. They expected to be heard because God promised redemption to all who trusted Him: “Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” (Psalm 50:15 (NLT2)

“I call to God, and the LORD will save me.” (Psalm 55:16 (ESV)

“O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.” (Psalm 86:5 (NLT2)

“Then ( in repentance) you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ (Isaiah 58:9 (ESV)

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13; Joel 2:32)

And the 107th Psalm ends with the admonition : “If you are really wise, you’ll think this over— it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.” (MSG)

That “deep love” culminates in Christ and his sacrifice on the cross for our sinfulness. “There is no greater love than that a man give his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Christ came to seek and to save, to heal and free mankind from deep spiritual burdens of lostness, oppression, enslavement, and rebellion. (Luke 4:18)

God knows and relates to our physical and spiritual troubles through the temptations and sufferings experienced by Christ, who has walked our journey. He will change our story and our perspective when we trust Him to guide us.

God’s deep, divine love secures the soul for “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39)

And how blessed all those in whom you live,
whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
at the last turn—Zion! God in full view! (Psalm 84:5-7, MSG)

God’s goodness is never ending! He is good all the time.