The Answer to Every Heart’s Cry
by Katy Kauffman
What is the cry of your heart? Is it for peace in the storms of life, freedom from bondage, or relief from guilt or sorrow?
When restlessness, bondage, pain, or storms have taken their toll on us, we cry out for help. God hears and He acts. He is the God who sees every tear and hears every prayer. The only true God will help us if we turn to Him. He who has perfect power, wisdom, and love cares about our smallest problems and greatest concerns.
Psalm 107 gives us four portraits of God. Four times in this chapter God’s people cried out to Him for help, and four times He rescued them in the way that they needed (Psalm 107:4-9, 10-16, 17-22, 23-32). God still rescues today.
Are you or someone you love caught in a desperate situation? Do you need a hero? Cry out to God based on the reality of who He is. Don’t ever lose hope because . . .
God Is the Heart-Satisfier (Psalm 107:4-9)
In this passage, God’s people “wandered in the wilderness” (Ps 107:4 NKJV) in a barren land without a home. Their souls fainted because of hunger and thirst. Then they cried out to God, and He delivered them from their distresses by leading them to a city where they could dwell. His care and provision became the satisfaction of their longing souls, the goodness that they craved.
Apart from God, we wander through life looking for something or someone to fill our need, to make us contented and complete. If we try to force something to take God’s place, we may damage a part of our hearts. But God heals and restores. When we look to Him to become the “home” of our hearts’ rest and contentment, He answers our request—“For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (Ps 107:9 NKJV). Our hearts were created as a dwelling place for God, and to be satisfied in Him.
God Is the Liberator (Psalm 107:10-16)
Darkness and death hovered around them. In this section, the people rebelled against God. They demanded their way and despised His words, and therefore brought bondage on themselves. Then they cried out to God, and He “brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces” (Ps 107:14 NKJV).
When we rebel against God and despise His Word, we build a prison for ourselves. God’s truth is meant to free us from the allurement and misery of sin, but when we refuse His words, we are more likely to succumb to a darkness that burdens our hearts and binds us to suffering. But God is gracious. When we cry out to Him, He swoops into our “prison” as our Liberator and breaks it in two. No longer chained to sin and its misery, we can follow Him on the right path and walk in His light.
God Is the Healer (Psalm 107:17-22)
“Fools.” That’s how Scripture describes the people in the third section. They loved their sin more than God’s ways, so they were “afflicted” or disciplined (Ps 107:17). The consequences of their sin brought them near death. So they cried out to God, and He “sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions” (Ps 107:20 NKJV). The word of God that they had violated brought the healing they desperately needed.
God uses His Word to heal our diseased souls. It delivers us from the sin that starves our hearts from what is wholesome, godly, and spiritually nourishing. It brings us back from the brink of death—spiritual death, death of a relationship, or death of a dream. As our Healer, God restores our soundness, spiritual health, and every aspect of our lives if we look to Him and cooperate with His work in us. He restores relationships when both parties are willing. Some consequences of sin may remain, but God’s healing touch restores our hearts to strength and hope.
God Is the Storm-Calmer (Psalm 107:23-32)
This fourth section has some of the most beautiful, comforting words of Scripture: “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still” (Ps 107:29 NKJV). Merchants who traveled the sea to do business, found themselves in the middle of a ferocious storm. Their souls melted, and they came to “their wits’ end” (Psalm 107:27 NKJV). How many times have we found ourselves in a storm that made our souls melt and left us with no help but God? So the merchants cried out to Him. The One who has power over the wind and waves, calmed the storm and guided the merchants “to their desired haven” (Ps 107:30 NKJV).
Some storms we bring on ourselves, and others God allows for good reasons—to help us know Him better in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise, to build a new level of faith and strength within us, to get our attention, or to change our direction. Sometimes the upheaval of winds and waves brings to the surface, treasures of grace, strength, and faith. We grow to rely on those treasures, and use them to navigate the storms of life.
God works good out of storms, and He knows precisely when to stop them. He can bring peace to our hearts or to our circumstances. I believe God is able to bring good out of a storm that is greater than the pain and upheaval that we feel in it. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have allowed the storm in the first place. He is the Storm-Calmer and the Giver of Peace.
In the desperate situations of life, turn to God our Hero again and again. He gives our hearts a home with Himself, He frees us from bondage and darkness, He heals us and restores our strength, and He calms the storms that leave us at our wits’ end. He does all this because He loves us. And because He is good. That is the truth that begins Psalm 107: “Oh, give thanks to the LORD for He is good! His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 107:1 NKJV). Don’t allow desperation and circumstances beyond your control to cause you to give up hope. Cry out to God. He is the answer to every heart’s cry.
This article appeared in the first issue of Refresh Bible Study Magazine. Our Spring 2025 Issue, titled Old Testament Lessons for a Better Life Today, releases on April 30. You can sign up for free to receive it by email through this link: Refresh Magazine Sign-Up
