LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO

Psa 107:2

Morning Meditation 1/9/2013

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;” What a great verse of Scripture. I have heard testimonial services from my youth up where a child of God would stand and preface their testimony by the words, “The Bible says, ‘let the redeemed of the Lord say so,’ so I will say so,” and on they go with their testimony. There are three elements in this verse that I want to mention in this meditation.

The enemy. The primary application of this verse is to the nation. God repeatedly redeemed his people from the hand of the enemy. And the psalmist is saying that God should be credited with public testimony for the deliverance. Then there were certain in the nation who had no doubt been delivered in a localized situation. The Psalmist is saying when this happens thanksgiving and praise to God should be verbalized.

There is also a very important application for us. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” I have for several years read five psalms a day in my devotional time in the morning. That way I can read through the psalms every thirty days. The “enemies” referred to in the psalms were the nations surrounding Israel and they were real. When I come to a reference like this, I just put Satan and his demonic forces in the place of the Psalmist’s enemies. Because this does have an application to us for the psalms are to be used in New Testament Church worship (Eph. 5:19-20). And since I am to pray for my enemies, and I can’t pray in the spirit of the law as David did, I use the psalms to pray this prayer against Satan and the kingdom darkness (See Eph. 2:10-18 and the spiritual warfare it describes). The word “enemy” (tsar) means “narrow, tight, straits, distress, adversary, foe, enemy, oppressor.” When you put this definition together, it is an enemy who maneuvers you into tight places, oppresses and leaves you in distress. This definitely describes my experience with Satan.

He is the enemy of souls. He blinds the unsaved to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. When the seed is sown, Satan comes along and picks up the seed. This is brought out in the Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:19). Then after we are saved, and he can no longer keep us in his kingdom, he comes against us to ruin our lives and testimony. I have seen scores of God’s people who were rejects from effective service because they were devoured by Satan and left wounded and crippled by the wayside. They are going to heaven. That is settled. But they did not listen to Christ as he spoke to them through the Scriptures. And they discovered too late that God does really know what he is talking about. Oh, they can be forgiven and restored and some of the losses regained. But there are some things that one does in life that forgiveness does not change. You cannot unkill someone whom you have murdered. You can be forgiven but you still have some of the consequences with which you have to live. We do have an enemy with which we have to contend.

Then there is our redemption. The Psalmist says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed.” You will notice this is in the past tense. These of whom the Psalmist speaks have experienced redemption and they are to “say so.” They are standing on the shores of sweet deliverance. They can talk about the “close call.” They can talk about the trap the enemy had set for them and rejoice when the LORD came through for them in a moment of time. They can say, “It didn’t look like we had a chance. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere the battle was reversed.” Or, “I was hiding and there is really no reason why the enemy didn’t find me. It was as if God had blinded the enemy to my presence. Hallelujah, God is a great God.” That’s right my brother! You are “saying so.” You are giving God the glory like the Psalmist says.

Have you been redeemed? What kind of a testimony can you give for redemption from the hand of the enemy? Were you almost gone? Did Satan have you in a tight place? I have heard many testimonies of those who said, “I had made up my mind that I was going to end it all. I had the gun loaded and was ready to pull the trigger to take my life and I saw a Bible in my motel room. I decided I would read it before I took my life. I opened it and read a verse that said, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8). I have heard testimonies like that. They were “saying so.” From what has the Lord redeemed you? Oh you say, “You would not believe what God has done for me.” Try me. Tell me what God has done for you. I would like to hear it. You say, “But I have a hard time talking before people.” The Psalmist says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” To obey this verse you must “say so.” If it is hard, do it anyhow. That is not the only thing you do that is hard. Do it, it will get easier, and even if it doesn’t, we must still “say so.”

The Lord saved me as a nine year old boy. I was living with my grand parents who took me to church every time the doors were opened. I heard the same gospel I preach now when I was too young to understand. As time progressed, I realized that this message was aimed at me. I began to feel uneasy when the preacher preached about sin. He said lying was a sin. My grandmother helped me to understand what lying was. She would ask me a question and I would answer her. Then she would ask “Are you telling me the truth? Are you denying that this or that happened?” I said, “Yes. This is how it happened.” And what I described to her was not what happened at all. Then it would just be a matter of time until the preacher would come across a verse like: “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). I began to realize that my lies were what the Bible called sin. So, I tried to quit lying. And I did ok when I didn’t open my mouth! But when it came to telling the truth about something, the truth of which would cause me to get a whipping, I didn’t do well at all. I could have taught Hollywood some lessons in “looking innocent” while telling a lie. Then there was the stealing. My grandmother had some old hens who hated to see me come. They knew that the egg they were about to lay would be sold for one penny before they were able to strut around and brag about laying it. If someone were to ask that old hen, “prove to me you just laid an egg” she would begin to cackle out her message that Earl took it before it hit the nest. You see I could take five eggs and trade them for a sack of tobacco. Then the next Sunday the preacher would preach about stealing. So I would try to quit stealing. But when I ran out of tobacco, I didn’t do to well at that either.

After several years (at least two or three) I got the message that God would forgive me of these sins If I would ask him. I did and he did! Hallelujah! And I am “saying so” and have been now for years. The Psalmist says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” Are you saying so?

In Christ

Bro. White