You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
In Psalm 77 we are reading a liturgical song and/or prayer addressed to God in a day of trouble. The writer (Asaph ... a priest of Israel) is crying out to God for deliverance from severe trouble. He writes in verse three, when I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. He states in verse four, I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Asaph is in a bad spot. Asaph is crying out to God in pain and needs God to address this pain with His power. However, in verse 8 & 9 he has a pivot in his prayer and moves from pain to promise. Note:
Psalms 77:8-9 (ESV)
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
This is what makes verse fifteen, above, so powerful. He knows he can only have freedom if God redeems his suffering and pain. God’s redeeming power over our suffering is a worthy study to follow in God’s word. It is only when we allow God to redeem our suffering that we get freedom from our suffering. The concept in the Old Testament of God redeeming something or someone is a powerful message and constant theme. Perhaps the greatest use of God redeeming is found here:
Exodus 6:6 (ESV)
Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
The book of Ruth is an entire story of Ruth being redeemed by Boaz, a real person but also a figurative type of Christ, who redeems Ruth’s life and makes her his wife. It is ONLY when we allow God to redeem our suffering that we can find the peace and comfort we need in this life. When we attempt to hold our suffering and allow it to consume us we have turmoil and struggle and bitterness. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, is a picture of that bitterness. Her name means delight. But because she chose to hold onto her suffering and blame God she told everyone to call her Mara, which means bitter. She didn’t allow God to redeem her suffering that changed her from delight to bitter. We read in this psalm, however that Asaph moves away from turmoil in his suffering to triumph because he allows God to be the redeemer of that suffering. He cries out to God and trusts God’s promises of steadfast love and grace. He closes this psalm with such powerful words:
Psalms 77:19-20 (ESV)
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
When God redeems us His footprints were unseen. We might not see it, but God is present to redeem us from our suffering. God can and will redeem our suffering and make it His own and give it purpose. At the end of the book of Ruth, she and Boaz have a baby. That baby will be the great-grandfather of King David and in the lineage of Jesus. That is when the woman of the town return to Naomi and she allows them to quit calling her Mara and once again call her Naomi. It took her four chapters in Ruth, but she finally allows God to redeem her suffering via this baby. God wants to redeem our suffering by giving it purpose for His glory and His power. We are not to hang onto our suffering in pain but allow Him to use it for His glory. That is redeemed suffering.
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