Dual Panel1Oh, thank GOD--he's so good! His love never runs out.
2All of you set free by GOD, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression,
3Then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas.
4Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live,
5Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
6Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to GOD. He got you out in the nick of time;
7He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live.
8So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
9He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.
10Some of you were locked in a dark cell, cruelly confined behind bars,
11Punished for defying God's Word, for turning your back on the High God's counsel--
12A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy, and not a soul in sight to help.
13Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
14He led you out of your dark, dark cell, broke open the jail and led you out.
15So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
16He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors, he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!
17Some of you were sick because you'd lived a bad life, your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
18You couldn't stand the sight of food, so miserable you thought you'd be better off dead.
19Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
20He spoke the word that healed you, that pulled you back from the brink of death.
21So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
22Offer thanksgiving sacrifices, tell the world what he's done--sing it out!
23Some of you set sail in big ships; you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
24Out at sea you saw GOD in action, saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
25With a word he called up the wind--an ocean storm, towering waves!
26You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out; your hearts were stuck in your throats.
27You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk, you didn't know which end was up.
28Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.
29He quieted the wind down to a whisper, put a muzzle on all the big waves.
30And you were so glad when the storm died down, and he led you safely back to harbor.
31So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
32Lift high your praises when the people assemble, shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
33GOD turned rivers into wasteland, springs of water into sunbaked mud;
34Luscious orchards became alkali flats because of the evil of the people who lived there.
35Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water, arid earth into springs of water,
36Brought in the hungry and settled them there; they moved in--what a great place to live!
37They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards, they reaped a bountiful harvest.
38He blessed them and they prospered greatly; their herds of cattle never decreased.
39But abuse and evil and trouble declined
40as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away. He gave the poor a safe place to live,
41treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.
42Good people see this and are glad; bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
43If you are really wise, you'll think this over--it's time you appreciated GOD's deep love.