“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” (Psalm 107:1-3, English Standard Version)
I have often heard a portion of this quoted in songs and sermons. It is the beginning phrase of verse 2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”
When I was in college and went to activities at the Baptist Student Union, someone would quote that verse and many of us would respond with a resounding, “So!”
So? So what? I checked 26 different English translations and none of them has a period after “so.” Neither does any of them have the word “so” in quotation marks, as if that is the word the redeemed are supposed to say. In fact, the English translations supply that word. It is not in the text of the original language. So what is it that the redeemed are supposed to say?
Some translations relate it to the phrase in verse 1. That approach would suggest that the redeemed should proclaim the goodness and steadfast love of God.
Other translations relate it to the phrase that follows it in verse 2. That approach would suggest that the redeemed should proclaim that they are indeed redeemed.
All the people who worked on these translations are smarter than I am, so I would not begin to suggest the definitive answer to what it is that the redeemed are supposed to say. I will simply suggest that the redeemed are not supposed to keep silent. Sometimes the best thing we can proclaim is the goodness and steadfast love of God. Sometimes the best thing we can proclaim is that we belong to Him and that His call extends to the ends of the earth.
So!
Question: What might it be like if we went into each situation praying that God would put precisely the right words in our mouths that would fit the moment?
Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your perspective.
