SESSION 4 - TAGGING OUT (Psalm 107)

Teaching Manuscript (Rough Draft)

In tag team wrestling a wrestler has a partner standing on the apron. When a wrestler is worn down and about to be overcome by his opponent all he has to do is reach over and tag his partner’s hand for relief and rescue. 

There have been some legendary tag teams like the Midnight Express, the Rock ‘n Roll Express, the Steiners, The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom, The Hart Foundation, and one of my favorites from way back, The British Bulldogs. 

Psalm 107 is a unique Psalm that presents 4 men; each in a precarious situation. We have the wanderer, the prisoner, the sinner, and the sailor. In the midst of their battles they each reach a place where they realize that they can’t save themselves and so they cry out for God’s help. Each of the men find that God loves them, helps them and redeems them. 

Psalm 107 is important because as men wrestle with life men also wrestle with wondering if God really loves them and will help them. Perhaps there has been a time of trial when a man reached out to God, wanting to tag out, get some relief, find rescue, and he feels that God did not answer. That sort of discouragement can certainly damage faith.

So let’s find out how we can tag out and get God’s help by reviewing the four situations. As we do so, see if you can discover a pattern. Also, place yourself beside each man. What are the similarities and differences in the situation when you tried to tag out, cry out to God, but didn’t get his help? 

The Wanderers (vv. 4-9)

 The wanderer wasted his life. As the Psalm describes him, he goes from place to place searching for satisfaction only for his soul to faint (v. 5) in the end. He tried his fill of all of it but only found it empty in the end. 

The Psalm specifies only hunger and thirst. But these basic cravings represent all of the natural longings of a man’s body and soul. These encompass everything from a man’s desire for pleasure to his desire for provision. Men crave happiness and meaning. Every man desires a sense of destiny. That he is going to become someone significant, that his life will have purpose.

The problem is that men seek ways to satisfy these longings apart from the Lord. This leads a man to his various wasted places. Every man can identify some things he pursued thinking it would satisfy his soul only to find it empty and that he had wasted his life. 

But the Psalm says in verse 6 that this man tagged out. He cried out to the Lord in his trouble and that the Lord delivered him from his trouble. But notice something about this Psalm. Though I am going to teach it in the singular so that you can personalize it. Notice that the Psalm is written in plural. Notice the use of the word SOME, THEY, and THEM. 

There are lots of wonderers and all of them have found the same truth. That when they cried out to the Lord he delivered them from their distress. 

How did he do it? “He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.”

In the next 3 cases we will see the power of God do some amazing things to change a situation. Sometimes men need that sort of intervention, but I think all men expect that sort of intervention. But oftentimes what a man needs is a new direction and a new destination. But the only way a man can be led is for him to commit to follow. In this case, to follow the Lord’s leading. 

Once the wanderer followed the Lord’s leading, he came to a place where his soul was satisfied with only what the Lord could give (v. 9). 

So let’s keep these observations in our mind and now travel on to the prisoner. Remember, notice the patterns. Put yourself alongside these men and in the end we will draw some conclusions. 

The Prisoner (vv. 10-16)

The prisoner represents everyone who rebelled against God’s Word and found themselves in bondage. Verse 12 reflects a hard truth of life. There are some things that once you make the choice for them they will then begin to make the choice for you for a long, long time. The Bible teaches that not only does sin lead to death, but sin also leads to a life of bondage (Romans 6:16-19). 

The prisoner finds that he is bound and cannot free himself and there is no one to help (v. 12). So in verse 13 he cries to the Lord in his trouble. He tags out. And God delivered him “them” from their distress. 

Again, this is plural. There are many examples of God doing this. This is not an isolated testimony. 

The Bible says that God “brought them out of darkness.” This is really important to point out. That verb in Hebrew is a hifil Imperfect. What does that mean? Hifil implies that the object of the verb is a participant in the action. So God is the cause. But the prisoner becomes a participant. It is imperfect, which means that the action is ongoing. If it were perfect that means the force was applied and the action is completed. But hifil imperfect means that God not only brought the prisoner from darkness, but that the prisoner continues to participate in what God is doing to bring him out of darkness. 

Again, watch the patterns. Take mental notes. 

The sinner (vv. 17-22)

The sinner represents our foolish decisions that bring painful consequences in our lives. This person may suffer physically, mentally, or financially. And he, like those before finds himself powerless to save himself (v. 18). So, here comes the 3rd repetition of tagging out. He cries to the Lord and the Lord delivered him from his distress. 

This time the Lord sends out His Word. That is a powerful command that changes the situation. It shows the Lord’s authority. But it is also reflective of the power of God’s Word. God created the world with His Word. And God’s Word forms our world when we walk in it. The essence of foolishness is despising the Lord’s ways, His Word, His counsel.

And even though healing and deliverance are both contingent upon God’s power as God is the primary mover in the situation, the verbs there are both imperfect meaning that the healing and the deliverance are ongoing. It was not one instance or action, but it is the initiation of an ongoing state of healing and it is the initiation of the process of deliverance. 

The sailor (vv. 23-32)

The sailor is a professional. He knows how to handle his vessel. But the Psalm says that God raised up a storm so fierce that “their courage melted away in their evil plight.” They staggered like drunken men until they found themselves at their wits end (v. 27). 

You story may or may not have found common ground with the first three, the wanderer, the prisoner, or the sinner. Each of them made bad decisions and paid the price. But here’s an instance of the sailor and the storm in which he was doing everything right and everything went wrong. 

Despite different paths the sailor finds himself at the same point of need as the prisoner, or the sinner, or the wanderer. He cannot save himself. So he cries to the Lord. He tags out. The Lord stills the storm. And then look at verse 30. Like the Lord led the wanderer, like he delivered the prisoner, and like he delivered the sinner, the Lord brought them to their desired haven. 

By now, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve become a Hebrew scholar. You guessed it! This is another imperfect. This one very similar to the one associated with the wanderer. There is a sense in which the Lord’s action isn’t completed, but his deliverance was only the beginning of his leading in the sailor’s life.

So now let’s pull some dangling threads together and find the patterns. In doing so it may help some men who wrestle with the idea that they prayed and God didn’t help. 

Patterns:

1. The men could not save themselves. This is a consistent theme in Scripture with the gospel. We are all sinners and at some point we have to realize that we cannot save ourselves.

2. They all cried to the Lord. All four instances had the exact same stanza, “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Romans 10:13 says that all who call upon the Lord will be saved. 

3. The Lord loved them. All four instances also repeat this stanza, “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man.” Some men simply don’t believe that God loves them. Psalm 107 is written to Israel in exile. As they are going through the trial they may struggle if God was still faithful and loving toward His people. The message of Psalm 107 is that He is . . . so cry out to Him.

4. In all four cases, the Lord responded to them. Again. Psalm 107 is written to the exile to encourage them to do as the 4 did in the Psalm and cry out to the Lord because He will respond.

5. In each case those who were delivered followed the Lord’s leading. This is where a lot of men fail in the tag out. What we want is for God to change the situation. Break open the bars of bondage. We want the Lord to give us satisfaction. We want the consequences of our foolishness to subside and for the storm to be stilled. And many men are looking for the possibilities of what God can do to change a situation as they are expressed in verses 33ff. But here’s my question if you’ve tried to tag out and call upon the Lord. Were you willing to follow the Lord’s leading? Did you just want relief in an instance or were you looking for His long term leading in your life? True deliverance isn’t an instance, it’s a leading, a direction that God takes you for the rest of your life as you follow Him.

6. And here’s that theme again we are finding in the Psalms – the idea of wrestling into worship. Each man does as verse 2 calls him to to, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Each man thanks the Lord for his steadfast love and offers songs and sacrifices in celebration of what God has done. Each man has a testimony and he worships God.

Discussion Questions:

• Which of the 4 men most resembles your story? Explain your answer.
  • The wanderer - a man who wastes his life always searching but never satisfied.
  • The prisoner - in bondage
  • The sinner - suffering the consequences of sinful choices
  • The sailor - I found myself in a storm and could not save myself
• The wanderer (vv. 4-9)
  • What are some pointless pursuits men can chase, seeking satisfaction, only to find out later that they have wasted their lives?
  • Look at verse 9. How does the Lord satisfy longing souls? How have you found this to be true in your own life?
• The prisoner (vv. 10-16)
  • Verse 11 says that this man found himself in bondage because he rebelled against the words of God. How does the wisdom and counsel of God’s Word keep a man from bondage?
• The sinner (vv. 17-22)
  • How does God use suffering to get a man’s attention?
  • Verse 15 is one of four instances that celebrate the love of God. All four of these men learned in crisis that God loves them. Why is it that when men suffer, they often don’t believe God loves them? How does the truth of God’s Word correct this mistaken belief?
• The sailor (vv. 23-32)
  • The sailor experiences a miracle and in response worships God. Salvation turns sinners, wonderers, prisoners, and sailors into worshipers. If this is true, why are many men in the church reluctant to worship God?