1: Oh, thank GOD-he's so good! His love never runs out.
2: All of you set free by GOD, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression,
3: Then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas.
4: Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live,
5: Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
6: Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to GOD. He got you out in the nick of time;
7: He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live.
8: So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
9: He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.
10: Some of you were locked in a dark cell, cruelly confined behind bars,
11: Punished for defying God's Word, for turning your back on the High God's counsel--
12: A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy, and not a soul in sight to help.
13: Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
14: He led you out of your dark, dark cell, broke open the jail and led you out.
15: So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
16: He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors, he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!
17: Some of you were sick because you'd lived a bad life, your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
18: You couldn't stand the sight of food, so miserable you thought you'd be better off dead.
19: Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
20: He spoke the word that healed you, that pulled you back from the brink of death.
21: So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
22: Offer thanksgiving sacrifices, tell the world what he's done--sing it out!
23: Some of you set sail in big ships; you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
24: Out at sea you saw GOD in action, saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
25: With a word he called up the wind--an ocean storm, towering waves!
26: You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out; your hearts were stuck in your throats.
27: You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk, you didn't know which end was up.
28: Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
29: He quieted the wind down to a whisper, put a muzzle on all the big waves.
30: And you were so glad when the storm died down, and he led you safely back to harbor.
31: So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
32: Lift high your praises when the people assemble, shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
33: GOD turned rivers into wasteland, springs of water into sunbaked mud;
34: Luscious orchards became alkali flats because of the evil of the people who lived there.
35: Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water, arid earth into springs of water,
36: Brought in the hungry and settled them there; they moved in--what a great place to live!
37: They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards, they reaped a bountiful harvest.
38: He blessed them and they prospered greatly; their herds of cattle never decreased.
39: But abuse and evil and trouble declined
40: as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away. He gave the poor a safe place to live,
41: treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.
42: Good people see this and are glad; bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
43: If you are really wise, you'll think this over--it's time you appreciated GOD's deep love. A David prayer