 was praying about what the Lord would have us study together. He put on my heart to have us study the psalm. If you have your Bible, please open, if you will, to the book of Psalms to Psalm 107. I want to speak to you this morning on the theme of prayer because that is the thing that is most significant that we can do for our country more than anything else. I think that now, more than ever, we need to pray for the United States of America and we need to be reminded how God answers prayer. That's the title of this message. In fact, right above Psalm 107, you could just write that in there. God answers prayer because that's what this psalm, as we will see, is all about. In a great book about prayer, J.C. Ryle wrote, I have read the lives of many well-known Christians who have been on earth since Bible days. Some were rich, some were poor, some were learned, some were unlearned, some were of one denomination, some were of another. Some chose to use liturgy, some chose to use none. But one thing I see they all had in common is that they were all people of prayer. Prayer has obtained things that seemed impossible and out of reach. Prayer opened the Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock. Prayer brought bread from heaven. Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought fire down on Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer overthrew the enemies of God. Prayer has healed the sick, opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, raised the dead. And prayer has brought the conversion of countless lost souls. Therefore, above all else, pray, pray, pray for God answers prayer. How many today believe that God answers prayer? And the people of God, they understood that and they wanted to remind themselves of that and that is what Psalm 107 is all about. It's a Psalm about how God answers the prayers of his people no matter who they are, no matter where they are, no matter what's going on and their lives, God will answer the cries of his people. Now, the question comes, when was Psalm 107 written and what was Psalm 107 written about? Well, according to Jewish tradition, Psalm 107 was written at the very end of the Old Testament era. You remember that God's people had gone into captivity and then they had been released. 50,000 of them went back to the land of Israel to rebuild the temple. And as they were rebuilding the temple, someone, we don't know who, wrote this Psalm and they sang and they recited this Psalm. And as they were looking back at the whole history of the Old Testament, the one thing they knew more than anything is that God answers the prayers of his people. And so that's the theme of the Psalm. And that's what the Psalm is all about. And as you read through the Psalm, you find a repeated phrase four times. You find a phrase that has to do with prayer. If you happen to have a pen or a pencil, I would encourage you just to underline these phrases as we look at these four phrases about prayer. In verse six, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. Notice verse 13. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. Verse 19, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. Verse 28, then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble and he brings them out of their distresses. You get to the point, when you're in trouble, when you're in distress, when you're in trial, when you're in difficulty, What is it that we as the people of God are supposed to do? We're supposed to cry out to the Lord in prayer, knowing that God hears and answers our prayers. Now, it's interesting that this phrase, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, is mentioned four times. Because as you read through the Psalm, you find four illustrations, four pictures of the deliverance of God, how God answers prayer. It's as if you're transported to four different locations in which you see God hearing the cries of His people. As we'll see, when the Psalm opens, you're transported as we're out in the middle of the wilderness. And there are people there that are thirsty for water, they're hungry for food. In other words, they need the provision of God. And so what they do is they cry out to the Lord in prayer. And God provides for every single one of their needs. Then God answers, not only answers that prayer, but you're transported as we're into a dungeon, into a dark place. And there you find a person that's bound in chains and in darkness and they need to be delivered. They need to be set free. And so they cry out to God. And God hears that cry for freedom and deliverance. Well, God knows sooner as he answers the prayer out in the wilderness and in the dungeon, when you're transported as we're into a hospital or a sick room. And there you find a patient that's so sick, they're just about to die. And they cry out to the Lord in prayer. And God sends his word and heals them because God is a God who heals. Well, God not only answers the prayer in the hospital, then as it were, you're transported out into the middle of the ocean. And there you find some sailors, very experienced sailors who find themselves in the worst storm of their life. They're in such a terrible storm, they don't even know what to do as experienced sailors. And so what they do is they call out to the Lord to answer their prayer. And God speaks peace to the storm and brings them out into a place of calm. And so you find these four different places, four different ways that God hears and answers prayer. And it's a beautiful Psalm. As you read it through, we encourage you. Today, maybe tomorrow, maybe every day this week, just read through Psalm 107, read it over and over and over. And it will inspire you to pray and to seek the Lord and call out to God in prayer. But this beautiful Psalm about how God answers prayer begins with a brief introduction in verses one through three. Notice how this introduction begins the Psalm. O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. Can we read that phrase together loud? O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. The in the Hebrew, this phrase give thanks is in a repeated tense. In other words, continuously give thanks to the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord in the morning. Give thanks to the Lord when it's noontime. Give thanks to the Lord at night. Give thanks to the Lord on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday and then start it all over again. And give thanks to the Lord this week and next week and this month and next month. Always give thanks to the Lord. And why as the people of God, ought we to always give thanks to the Lord? We'll notice, underline it, for he is good. How many here today know that God is good and all the time God is good. He's good. We may not always understand all this happening in our lives, but we know that God is good and works all things together for good. Now, how do we know that God is good? We'll notice this next phrase for his mercy for his mercy endures forever. That little word of mercy, underline that word, means God's loving kindness. God's steadfast love. God's unending love. The book of Lamentation describes it so well in Lamentation 3, verse 22 to 23, where it says, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Dear one, I'm here to tell you today the mercy of God is new to you today. It's newer than it was yesterday, and it will be new again tomorrow. O give thanks to the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever. And when you experience the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the unending love of God, what should you do about it? Well, verse 2 and verse 3, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He is redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered out of the lands from the east and the west and the north and the south as they're reciting, as they're reading, as they're singing this song at the rededication of the temple at the end of the Old Testament. They'd come from the north, the south, the east and the west. And the people of God, the called of God, I like how they're described here. They're described as the redeemed of the Lord. That word redeemed means the rescued of the Lord, the delivered of the Lord, the saved of the Lord. If you are here today and you know what Jesus Christ is your savior and your Lord, you're the redeemed of the Lord. You could say to somebody, I'm the redeemed of the Lord. They could say to you, I'm the redeemed of the Lord because he's delivered us and he's set us free. But he's not only set us free from sin, he's not only delivered us from the power of darkness. He saved us in all kinds of ways. And that we'll see is what the song is all about. It's not only pictures of our salvation, it's pictures of what God is doing in our life, in the present day, in the circumstances and situations of life that we face. Now, lest you forget that God is good, lest you forget that His mercy endures forever, lest you forget that God answers prayer. In verses four through nine, all of a sudden it's as if you're transported from the pages of scripture out in the middle of a desert, a barren, dry desert, and there you find some desperate people that need water, they need food. In other words, they need the provision of God. And notice what happens in what they do. In verses four through verse nine, they wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And they had delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way that he might go forth to a city as a dwelling place. Oh, oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men, for he satisfies the longing soul and he fills the hungry soul with goodness. And you see in these verses, this beautiful picture of the provision of God. This is a picture in many ways of our salvation because Jesus is the bread of life and Jesus is the water of life. Anyone who's come to saving faith in Jesus, they've experienced that and as the redeemed of the Lord, they need to say so. But not only that, we as believers, we as the people of God, not only experience the gift of salvation, we experience the provision of God in our everyday life. And this has been the heritage of the people of God from the Old Testament to the New Testament throughout history and even in our day. Now the Old Testament people of God as they're reading this part of the scripture, they couldn't help but think of the children of Israel out in the middle of the wilderness, right? You know what I'm talking about? Some 3 million people came out of Egypt and went into the wilderness. They were delivered from Egypt through 10 mighty plagues. The Red Sea opened and they went through, but then they found themselves out in the wilderness. They had no food, they had no water. Well, what did they do? They began to call out to the Lord. They began to look to the Lord and God brought water out of the rock. God brought bread down from heaven. God brought quail so they would have meat. Everything, every need they had, God supplied that need. And as I said, there's some 3 million of those people and it's an illustration for us to keep in mind. If God provided for the needs of all those millions of people out into the middle of the wilderness experience for them, then God will provide for you and God will provide for me. The New Testament people of God as they're reading this part of the Psalm, they couldn't help but think of the story of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 14, the feeding, it's called the feeding of the 5,000. Matthew 14 tells us there were 5,000 men with women and children, some 20,000 people. And Jesus takes five small loaves and two little fish and he multiplies them and feeds all of those thousands and thousands of people. You don't think that's a big deal. Go to McDonald's today, get a happy meal and try to feed 20,000 people. You'll find out fast, what an amazing miracle this was, what Jesus did. And it's an illustration of God's provision in your life and my life, that when we have some sort of need, God will provide that need. In Philippians 4 and verse 19, a verse I encourage every Christian to write down and memorize. The Bible says, and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. I like that. And my God will supply, not just that he can supply, not that he might supply sometimes. No, my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. This is what God's people have found out throughout all of human history. Time and time again, as there were needs, God's people would cry out to him and he would answer their prayer. Such was the case of a great man of God who lived in the 1800s. His name was George Mueller. He was a great man of faith, a great man of prayer, man of the word, and he founded all these orphanages in London. And they had to feed thousands and thousands of orphans and George Mueller had never let anyone know about his need. He would just pray and God would supply the need. It's interesting to me if you listen to the teachings of Pastor Chuck Smith, the person that probably has influenced his ministry more than anyone else in church history was George Mueller. Pastor Chuck believed as we believe that we're God guides, he supplies. And this is exactly the way that George Mueller lived. He would go to God in prayer and then let the Lord supply the needs. Well, George Mueller wrote a biography about his life and I like that biography so much. The title of the book says it all. It's a book called A Million and a Half Answers to Prayer. I like that. A million and a half answers to prayer. And in that book, he doesn't tell a million stories but he tells many, many stories about how God would answer prayer. I like one story about what happened one day. There was absolutely no food in the cupboards whatsoever and all the orphans were getting up and they were coming into the dining hall to eat breakfast. And one little girl said to him, Mr. Mueller, what's for breakfast today? And knowing they had nothing, he said, come my child and see what the Lord will provide for all of his children. And so they gathered around, they just began to pray, Lord, we thank you that you are so faithful, that you always have supplied with the needs of your people. We thank you for what you're gonna give us for breakfast today. And as he's praying along, all of a sudden there was a knock at the door. He went to the door and when he opened the door, there was the town baker. And the town baker said, you know, the Lord woke me up at four o'clock this morning and told me all of your orphans were gonna need some bread. Do you think you could use all of this bread that I baked? Oh, thank you so much, said Mr. Mueller. You are an answer to the prayers of God's people. So he distributed some bread to each one of the children and they were about ready to eat. When all of a sudden there was another knock at the door and he went to the door and he opened the door and it was the town milkman. And the town milkman said, you know what? He said, my milk cart just happened to break down right across the street from your orphanage. And all this milk's gonna spoil and go bad. Do you think you and the orphans could use all of this milk? Oh, yes, said Mr. Mueller. You're an answer to prayer. He and those children found out again and again, again. What Philippians 419 says, God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. How many wanna put your hands together this morning and thank the Lord that God answers prayer. He answers the prayer provision for the needs of his people that when you have a lack, when you have a need, if you go to God, he will hear that prayer. Well, God not only answers the prayer for provision, God also answers the prayer for deliverance and freedom. The psalm transports you out in the middle of the wilderness and God not only answers that prayer out there in the wilderness, all of a sudden you're transported as it were into a dungeon, into a dark place. And there you find a person that's bound in chains. And they need to be delivered. They need to be set free. Look at what the psalm says in verse 10 through verse 16. Those who sat in darkness in the shadow of death bound in afflictions and irons because they rebelled against the word of the Lord. They despised the counsel of the most high. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was no one to help them. What did they do when they were under this heavy burden? And they were falling down. What did they do in the middle of their darkness and their bondage? They began to cry out to the Lord. Verse 13, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness in the shadow of death and he broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that man would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he has broken the gates of bronze and he has cut the bars of iron into. God not only answers the prayer for provision, here we see God answers the prayer for freedom and deliverance. What a beautiful picture this is of our salvation because before we came to saving faith in Jesus Christ we were bound by the devil. We were bound in sin, we were bound in darkness but Jesus spoke the word and delivered us and set us free from the power of sin and from the power of death. But he not only does that, he continues to do that in our lives and the lives of those that we know and love. He continues to bring deliverance and freedom. He continues to set the captive free when the captive needs to be set free. Now the people of God in the Old Testament as they're reading this part of the Psalm, they couldn't help but think of their own experience of just coming out of Babylon. You remember as the Old Testament ends for 70 long years, they were held captive in Babylon. They were led away from Israel and chains. Many of them did hard labor for years and years of their life but then according to the word of the Lord as spoken by Jeremiah, after 70 years they would be released from their captivity and that's exactly what happened and they were sent back to rebuild the temple and many of them who had been in those chains themselves they knew firsthand how our God is a saving God, a delivering God, a rescuing God, a God that brings freedom. Now the New Testament people of God as they're reading this part of the Psalm, they couldn't help but think of the amazing story of Jesus in Mark chapter five when he sets a man free, a demon possessed man from Gadara. In Mark chapter five the story is told of Jesus and the disciples that are going across the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, they land on the northeastern shore in a place called Gadara and there there is a man that is possessed, seriously possessed, possessed with many, many demons. He comes running out toward them and Jesus says, what is your name? And the man says, Legion for we are many. The Legion was 6,000 Roman soldiers. As we study the Bible we seek to take it literally and I find no good reason not to believe. This man was possessed with thousands and thousands of demons. The worst case of demon possession in the Bible, the worst case of demon possession we know of in history. And what happened? Jesus spoke the word and set that man free. Instantly in a moment he set that man free. Why? Because whom the sun sets free is free indeed. No matter how dark the situation, no matter how bound the person, Jesus can deliver and release that person. I like the words of the old hymn by Charles Wesley. Him called amazing love. In the third verse of that hymn called amazing love. He said, long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thy night diffused to quickening ray. The dungeon, I woke. The dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed the amazing love. How can it be that thou my God should's died for me? That's what happened in salvation for you and me. And that's the deliverance that Jesus can bring to you and me. And it can happen to anyone, to any person. I think of Ryan Rees, the son of Pastor Roy Rees. I believe Ryan has shared from here, from time to time for 19 years. He was out in the world, addicted to drugs and alcohol and sex and evil and darkness, completely bound in chains. And then in one moment, in one instant, God totally and completely set in free. And it just goes to show that whom the sun sets free is free indeed. How many want to put your hands together today? And thank the Lord that he's a God that can set people free. And if there's someone you know who's a prodigal, son or daughter, they're away from the Lord. Maybe your husband or your wife is away from the Lord. I'm here to tell you today, don't stop praying for that person. You keep praying for that person because God hears and answers prayer. He will get ahold of their heart. He will get ahold of their life. Well, God not only answers prayer in the wilderness, God not only answers prayer in the dungeon, God also answers prayer in the hospital or the sick room. God not only answers the prayer for provision and the prayer for freedom and deliverance, He answers the prayer for healing. Because in verses 17 to 22, we find a person that is sick. They're so sick they're about to die. And when they cry out to God, let's watch what happens is God hears and answers their prayer. In verse 17, fools because of their transgressions and because of their iniquities were afflicted, their soul abhorred all manner of food and they drew near to the gates of death. In other words, they're sick here. They're so sick they don't wanna eat. They're so sick they're about to die. What do you do when you're sick? What do you do when someone you love is sick? What do you do when someone's so sick they're about to die? You go to God, you turn your heart toward God, you turn your mind toward God. What do they do in this circumstance and situation? Verse 2019 says, then they tried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and he healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. Here we see how God answers this prayer for healing. And as he answers the prayer for healing, the psalmist says, oh, you should just praise the Lord for his answer to that prayer. This person is sick almost to death but cries out to the Lord. What a picture this is of our salvation because sin itself is a sickness and we were so sick in our sin that we were about to die but Jesus brought a total and complete healing to our spirit, to our inner man, to our inner person and raised us from death unto newness of life which we picture in water baptism. But Jesus not only healed us from our sin, Jesus can heal us from our sickness as well and that the people of God are seeing in the Old Testament and the New Testament and throughout history. Now the Old Testament people of God as they're reading this part of the scripture, they couldn't help but think of the dramatic story of what happened with one of their kings. His name was Hezekiah. You can read later the story in 2 Kings chapter 20 and there we find the story of Hezekiah and he's sick and the Lord tells the prophet Isaiah, I want you to go and give a message to Hezekiah and tell him that he's so sick that he's gonna die. He's not gonna recover. So Isaiah goes and he gives this message to Hezekiah. Isaiah leaves the king's chamber and he starts to leave the palace and the Bible tells us that the king Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and he began to pray. Lord, please heal my sickness. Lord, please don't let me die. God, please raise me up out of this bed of illness. And Isaiah who's making his way across the courtyard of the palace, all of a sudden the word of the Lord comes to him and says, turn around, go back. I have another message for Hezekiah. And so Isaiah, the prophet goes in and tells Hezekiah, the Lord says, he's gonna heal you. And that's exactly what happened at the word of the Lord. God healed Hezekiah and God's people, they would recall that to mind to know that God is a healing God. As you read the New Testament, Jesus healed over and over and over again all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. As the New Testament people of God were reading this part of the song, they couldn't help but think of that amazing story of Jesus in Luke chapter seven who healed a Centurion's servant. And you remember that story, how there's a Centurion in one city, he had a servant that was so sick that the servant was about to die. And so he sent messengers to Jesus who was in another city. And Jesus, when he heard the servant was about to die, he starts making his way toward the city. Well, the Centurion hears that Jesus is coming and he sent some more messengers. And they meet up with Jesus and the message from the Centurion was, you don't even need to come to my house. All you have to do is say the word and my servant will be healed. And so Jesus spoke the word and later when they went to the city they found out the instant Jesus spoke that word, that Centurion's servant was healed. Just as the Psalm says, he sent his word and he healed them. Why? Because our God is a healing God. Sometimes God doesn't heal for his own purposes and reasons. We understand that, but that doesn't stop us from praying for people because we know that God is all about healing in Exodus 15 and verse six, 26. God says, I am the Lord that healeth thee. In the Hebrew it reads, I am Jehovah. Rafa, that beautiful name of God. Healing is not just something that God can do or does, but healing is in God's very nature. He wants us to experience his wholeness. And so many of us in this room have experienced that healing touch of God in our lives. I think of my wife's grandmother years ago, we called her Granny. Granny was diagnosed with the terminal cancer and we just began to pray because we felt like the Lord had more for Granny to do. When it's time for you to go to heaven, it's time. And nothing's gonna stop you from going in the Lord's time in his way. But we just felt like there was more for Granny to do. And we really began to pray for her. And Granny was reading her Bible one day and all of a sudden her eyes fell on Psalm 118, verse 17. The words, I will live and not die and declare the wonderful works of God. I will live and not die and declare the wonderful works of God. And we began to pray. She believed that was a message from God to her and the Lord touched Granny and healed her. And to him be the glory for that. I think of what happened with Raul Reese years ago. He had problems with his appendix and he went into the hospital. They began to run some tests and they came back and said, you know, we've found something worse than your appendix. And that is that you have leukemia. And so Pastor Raul called Chuck Smith and Greg Lori and they went into the hospital. They just began to pray. And the next day they did tests, couldn't find the leukemia there. Why? Because our God is a God who heals, he hears and answers prayer. That prayer for healing is we gathered together today. I don't know what your circumstance or situation is. Maybe you've gone to the doctor and the report's not been a good one. Maybe it's somebody you know is not here today and they're sick, really sick. And I'm here to tell you today, God answers the prayer. I think of Dustin Harrison, the youth pastor here at the Calvary Chapel Chino Valley who had COVID and went into his lungs in pneumonia. But the Lord has raised him up and he's back. Why? Because our God is a God who heals. Our God hears and answers prayer and brings healing to his people. Well, God not only answers the prayer in the wilderness and God not only answers prayer in the dungeon and God not only answers prayer in the hospital, God answers prayer out in the middle of the ocean. God not only answers prayer for provision, God not only answers prayer for freedom and deliverance, God not only answers prayer for healing, God answers prayer when you're in the worst storm of your life. Because we see here in verse 23 to verse 32, some sailors, they're out in the middle of the ocean and these experienced sailors find themselves in the worst storm of their life, suddenly, unexpectedly and without warning. It comes upon them and they don't know what to do. Notice in verse 23, those who go down to the sea in ships who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deeps for he commands and he raises the stormy wind which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens. They go down again to the depths. Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stager like a drunken man. They're at their wits end. Here you see these sailors, it's their business to be on the ocean. They know about waves and currents and winds and all those kinds of things but all of a sudden there's a storm that comes and I like how the Psalm describes the storm. You can almost feel it as you're reading it. You almost sort of feel seasick when you're reading. It goes up to the heavens and then it goes down and they stagger back and forth on the deck and it's there and notice, amazing. Their soul melts because of trouble. This is the worst trouble they've ever been in and this trouble, their soul is melting. They reel to and fro and notice verse 27. They are at their wits and they don't know what to do. I don't know if you've ever been at the place where your wits end, I've been at that place many times. You talk to this person, you talk to that person, you try this thing, you try that thing, you try the other thing and you get to the place where you're like, Lord, I just don't know what to do. What do you do when you're in the worst storm of your life and you don't know what to do, you're at your wits end, oh, oh, I like verse 28. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble and he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm so that its waves are still and they are glad, then they are glad because they are quiet. So he guides them to their desired haven. Oh, oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people and praise him in the company of the elders. Here you see these sailors in the worst storm of their life but when they cry out to the Lord, he rescues and delivers them and such is the case with you and me, such is the case that's always been with God's people. When you find yourself in this unexpected storm that comes upon you out of nowhere, what do you do? You call out to God. The Old Testament people of God as they're reading this part of the Psalm, they couldn't help but think, perhaps of Job. Remember Job, he was a righteous man and experiencing the blessing of God in his life and then in one day, absolutely everything changed and he found himself in the worst storm of his life. He lost all of his possessions. He lost all of his children. His friends turned against him. His wife turned against him. He lost his health. He lost absolutely everything but he didn't lose his hope and his faith in God. As you read through the book of Job, you find those statements, those precious statements of hope where he says, I know my Redeemer lives. And in the end, I'm gonna stand on the earth. I know that God is in charge. That God is in control, whether I see it or whether I don't. You find that beautiful statement in Job 23 where he says, when he has tested me, I'm gonna come forth as gold. I know this is just refining my character and making me look to him more and as you read through the book of Job, you find out that at the very end, God has brought peace to the storm and given back Job everything that he lost and even more than what he lost. Why? Because when you're in a storm, God hears the prayer of a person who is at their wits end. The New Testament people of God, as they're reading this part of the Psalm, couldn't help but think of what many of you are thinking and that is the story of Jesus in Mark chapter four on the sea of Galilee. There he's with his disciples and all of a sudden they're overtaken by a terrible storm and Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat and they wake him up and they said, Master, don't you care that we perish? And Jesus gets up and he rebukes the wind in the waves and he says, peace, be still. And the Bible says there was an immediate calm and it's exactly what we see happening in this Psalm. The E E calm, verse 29, he calms the storm so that its waves are still and they are glad because they are quiet. What do you do when you find yourself in the worst storm of your life? You call out to God in prayer and you find that he is gonna bring peace to you in the middle of the storm. After the first service, we were meeting with people down front and praying and a young couple came up just asking for prayer and I didn't know who they were at all. Many of you who followed the news this last week heard the tragic, terrible story of a young man who murdered his parents over in Covina. His sister was here this morning in the worst storm of her life. What do you do when you find yourself in the worst storm of your life? Your soul is melting within you. You're at your wit's end and you don't know what to do. I'll tell you what you do. You begin to call on the Lord in prayer. How many want to put your hands together today and thank God that he's a peace, be still God that in the middle of the storm he can bring a perfect calm to all that you're going through. Well, God not only answers prayer in the wilderness and the dungeon and the hospital and even out in the middle of the ocean. God not only answers the prayer for provision and deliverance and freedom and he answers the prayer for healing and he answers prayer in the middle of the storm and gives us peace when there is no peace. He gives us a peace that passes all understanding. God answers prayer anywhere. He can answer anybody's prayer and turn the situation around in just a moment. And that's, I believe, is what verse 33 to verse 42 is all about. There the psalmist just kind of goes off for a moment describing how God can turn something around in a moment. He says in verse 33, he turns rivers into wilderness and the water springs into dry ground. The fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of those who dwell in it pause there for a moment. This is exactly what had happened in the land of Israel because they had wandered far from God. There was a famine that had come to the land. The land had dried up. The land had become barren. This is what happens when a nation turns its back on God. We hear in the United States of America see that this nation founded on biblical principles. This nation that is supposed to be one nation under God. This nation that is supposed to be a nation in which we trust God. We've turned our back on God and we've experienced many of the consequences of it. But I'm here to tell you today that when you begin to pray, God can turn it all around in a moment. No matter how far a nation has gone, no matter what's happened, God can turn it around in just a moment. And that's what you see. Look at verse 35. He turns the wilderness into pools of water. He turns dry land into water springs. There he makes the hungry dwell that they may establish a city for a dwelling place. And so fields and plant vineyards that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them and multiplies them greatly. He does not let their cattle decrease their possessions. He blesses their possessions when they are diminished and brought low through oppression and affliction. And sorrow, he pours contempt on princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way. When there was ungodly rulers, God will take care of those ungodly rulers. He'll watch after his people. He'll look out for them. But those who are over them who are doing ungodly things who are not ruling in righteous kinds of ways according to the will and the purpose, the Lord will take care of them. We just need to pray and let God do his work and his will. That's what we need to do in our country in our state right now. So, but verse 41, he sets the poor. What does he do with his people? He sets them on high, far from affliction. And I like this. And he makes their families like a flock. I like that song that we sing about the blessing of God, how his blessing is on your children and your children's children and your children's children's children and your children's children's children's children. Because, listen, our God is a blessing God. And when you call out to him in prayer, he can turn it all around in a moment. So he says, the righteous see it and rejoice. Verse 42, and all iniquities stop, it's stop, it's mouth. When sin is ruling, God raises up a righteous standard and turns it around in a moment and the righteous rejoice. In other words, he's telling us here in this section that God can answer any prayer of any person in any circumstance, in any situation, and they might be in. That's why the Psalm ends in this beautiful way. Notice verse 43, this is so great. The Psalm ends by saying, whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the loving kindness of the Lord. Whoever is wise will observe these things. What things? That God hears and answers prayer. That when you're in the wilderness, when you're in the dungeon, when you're in the hospital, when you're in the storm, no matter what the circumstance or situation, a wise person understands that more things are accomplished by prayer than any other thing. A wise person understands what Pastor Chuck used to say, you can do more after you pray, but you can't do any more until you pray, until you go to the Lord and begin to seek his face and cry out to him. The wise, they understand these things and they observe these things and they understand the loving kindness of the Lord. This takes us back to the very first verse about the mercy of God. Those who experience the mercy of God, they need to express that to other people. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. He says in verse two, we as the people of God, when God hears and answers our prayer, we need to share that with other people. We need to declare that with our mouth in the company of God's people, because God is a God who hears and answers prayer no matter what circumstance or situation that you might find yourself in. And here on this weekend of September 11th, as we reflect on that, what happened on that tragic day, listen, it's an illustration, a powerful illustration of God here, how God hears and answers prayer. There's a story, it's an amazing story about the last survivor of September 11th, 2001. Her name was Janelle McMillan, she lives in Brooklyn, and her story so dramatically illustrates what Psalm 107 is all about, that God hears and answers prayer. It's recorded in a great book, you can buy and read, a book by Jim Symbola called Breakthrough Prayer. Janelle writes the following, she says, the morning of September 11th, 2001 began for me like many others. I got to work a little after 8 a.m. and rode the elevator up to the 64th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center where I worked. I was making small talk with a coworker when I heard a loud explosion. I had no idea that American Airlines Flight 11 had just slammed into the building. A few moments later, the building began swaying and rocking. Oh my God, I said to a coworker, this building is going down. Knowing we had to leave, we headed down Stairway B. And as we headed down the stairway, we started counting the stairs 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58. And as we were heading down the stairs, we could see rescue workers and firefighters heading up the stairs. When we reached the 13th floor, all of a sudden the whole building just went boom. Everything went black. The building started to collapse. 110 floors were coming down on top of us, falling concrete and debris smashed me onto my knees and my mouth and eyes were filled with grit and dust. It was surreal, like a horrible dream. There was nothing we could do. There is nowhere we could go. And we were being buried alive. And the sound of it was deafening. Then suddenly as it started, it stopped. And things got quiet, really quiet. My mind started racing. I thought of my husband and my children and my family, how I might never, ever see them again. So there, all alone, in the dark and buried under all that rubble, I began to pray. Oh God, help me. Lord, help me please. Don't let me die. Please let me live. Please let them find me. I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. The minutes seemed like hours and the hours seemed like days. But then I heard the sound of rescue workers above me. I began to cry out, help me, help me, help me. Finally, someone yelled back, hello? Hello, is somebody in there? Yes, I said, my name is Janelle. Please help me. By now I could see a bit of daylight coming through a crack. So I stuck my hand up through it. Can you see my hand I shouted? Someone grabbed ahold of it. Janelle, I've got you. You're gonna be all right. I began to worship the Lord and pray. Oh God, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. It had been 27 hours since the towers collapsed. And I, Janelle McMillan, was the last survivor to be pulled out of the wreckage that had once been the World Trade Center sat towers. I spent weeks in the hospital recovering. The doctors never said I'd never walk again, but I do. And I am living proof that God's help is only a prayer away. That whoever you are and wherever you are, that if you simply cry out to God, he will hear and answer your prayer. Dear ones, I've come with a simple message today. God answers prayer. God answers prayer. God answers prayer. No matter who you are and no matter what's going on in your life, the Lord answers prayer.