Verse of the Day for November 14

The shortest instruction in this psalm is two words long, and it closes verse 2. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so. If he has rescued you, do not keep it as a private opinion. Say it.

Psalm 107 goes on to tell four stories of rescue: travellers lost in the desert, prisoners in chains, people sick through their own foolishness, sailors in a storm. Each time, they cry out, God delivers, and they are called to give thanks.

To be redeemed is to be bought back. Someone paid to bring you out of the hand of the enemy. That changes who you belong to, and when you belong to someone it shapes the choices you make.

So when you stand at a decision, the job offer, the relationship, the move, saying so is not a small thing. Saying out loud that you are redeemed reminds you that you are not deciding as a free agent with no history. You are deciding as someone who was brought out, and who owes the one who did it.

Before you sign, reply or choose, say it, even if only to the four walls of your room. I am the Lord's redeemed. Then ask what a redeemed person would do here.

Speaking your gratitude out loud reminds you whose you are.

A choice made by the redeemed carries a different weight.