Rlease from Captivity

May 22, 2010
Psalms 106 – 107

Psalms 107:10-13, 20
10 Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.

20 He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.

THE PSALMIST paints a dark picture. The prisoner is chained down in a dark cell. I can see him on a bare cot, bent over by the weight of his captivity. He receives minimal food each day. He is dirty and in rags. There is silence because he is alone. He has no hope for release.

What is his crime? He has turned from God. He has sought his own preferences and ignored God’s commands. He has out rightly disobeyed, committing moral and material sins, and he has passively disobeyed, failing to seek God’s Word for his life and turning from those who offer God’s care of prayer and teaching.

The weight of his life away from God locks him down. His heart, soul and mind is empty of hope. He is ignorant of the path to freedom.

But then, miraculously one day, the jailer doesn’t come to feed him. There is one who comes bearing the Bread of Life. Perhaps it’s a minister, perhaps it’s an old friend, or perhaps it’s a total stranger who wants to give this prisoner the key to freedom.

The Bread bearer tells of God’s great love and compassion. He shares the miracle of his freedom-bearing Son who came to “proclaimed release for the captives” (Luke 4:18).

And for the first time in his life, he begins to feel his shackles loosen. The Bread of Life fills his no-longer empty heart. His mind receives the truth. His soul is restored.

The cell door swings open. The Bread bearer leads him out of his cell into the open air and glorious sunshine. And he goes forth in joy and hope to seek more Bread of Life.

My friend, have you been in the prison of disobedience as God’s people were? Then turn to the Father, to Jesus, his Son, the Bread of Life whose body was broken for you. His Word will “heal you and rescue you from the grave”.