O Give Thanks to the Lord, For He Is Good

S (Scripture)
Whoever is wise, let him consider [i.e., distinguish] these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord (107:43).

O (Observation)
This psalm blossoms hope amidst four broad categories of human anguish: Being lost and lonely (107:4,5), being imprisoned by hard labor (107:10-16), being sickened by sinful appetites (107:17-22), and being storm-strewn by external, destructive forces (107:23-32). Each description concludes with good news that when such sufferers cry out to God, He hears and heals. Additionally, their appropriate response is to discern God's good and merciful role in their lives and to thank Him for it.

A (Application--Personal)
I want to skip the affliction and move permanently into blessing and happiness. But that's impossible. Without discerning God's goodness in the midst of the affliction, I'm incapable of being thankful to Him. Without being thankful to Him, it's impossible for me to be truly healed of my affliction or to be truly happy. Without that such thankfulness, I remain trapped in my own doubts, which keeps me locked in those stations of human anguish.

A (Application--Psychological)
J. Eric Gentry describes how, when one's brain perceives threat, the sympathetic nervous system escalates, which activates the fight-or-flight response, creates chronic muscle tension, increases hypervigilance, diminishes brain functioning, decreases language and speech (intentional thought), increases reactivity, and increases intimacy intolerance. This isn't good. To avoid that, when the person discerns a higher and benevolent meaning that transcends the threat or the pain, the parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant instead. This can reverse (or avoid) the the symptoms described in the sympathetic nervous system.

P (Prayer)
Lord, as much as I don't like pain, as much as I try to avoid threats, You'd probably think that I'd trust You more. My imagination and doubts all-too-quickly lure me into back-alleys of panic. I'm so glad that Your Word provides me with reasonable hope, so I can trust that fear--despite the current calamity--doesn't have to be the final word on the circumstance. You always have provisions for hope, and I can rest in that . . . literally.