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b'Brian and Shay talk about how the Psalms can bring meaning to community. What role do the Psalms play in communal dreaming? How do these songs give hope in the face of oppression.\\nRead the transcript (PDF)\\nPsalm 107\\nGive thanks to the Lord, for he is good;\\nhis love endures forever.\\nLet the redeemed of the Lord tell their story\\u2014\\nthose he redeemed from the hand of the foe,\\nthose he gathered from the lands,\\nfrom east and west, from north and south.\\nSome wandered in desert wastelands,\\nfinding no way to a city where they could settle.\\nThey were hungry and thirsty,\\nand their lives ebbed away.\\nThen they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,\\nand he delivered them from their distress.\\nHe led them by a straight way\\nto a city where they could settle.\\nLet them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love\\nand his wonderful deeds for mankind,\\nfor he satisfies the thirsty\\nand fills the hungry with good things.\\nSome sat in darkness, in utter darkness,\\nprisoners suffering in iron chains,\\nbecause they rebelled against God\\u2019s commands\\nand despised the plans of the Most High.\\nSo he subjected them to bitter labor;\\nthey stumbled, and there was no one to help.\\nThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,\\nand he saved them from their distress.\\nHe brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,\\nand broke away their chains.\\nLet them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love\\nand his wonderful deeds for mankind,\\nfor he breaks down gates of bronze\\nand cuts through bars of iron.\\nSome became fools through their rebellious ways\\nand suffered affliction because of their iniquities.\\nThey loathed all food\\nand drew near the gates of death.\\nThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,\\nand he saved them from their distress.\\nHe sent out his word and healed them;\\nhe rescued them from the grave.\\nLet them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love\\nand his wonderful deeds for mankind.\\nLet them sacrifice thank offerings\\nand tell of his works with songs of joy.\\nSome went out on the sea in ships;\\nthey were merchants on the mighty waters.\\nThey saw the works of the Lord,\\nhis wonderful deeds in the deep.\\nFor he spoke and stirred up a tempest\\nthat lifted high the waves.\\nThey mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;\\nin their peril their courage melted away.\\nThey reeled and staggered like drunkards;\\nthey were at their wits\\u2019 end.\\nThen they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,\\nand he brought them out of their distress.\\nHe stilled the storm to a whisper;\\nthe waves of the sea were hushed.\\nThey were glad when it grew calm,\\nand he guided them to their desired haven.\\nLet them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love\\nand his wonderful deeds for mankind.\\nLet them exalt him in the assembly of the people\\nand praise him in the council of the elders.\\nHe turned rivers into a desert,\\nflowing springs into thirsty ground,\\nand fruitful land into a salt waste,\\nbecause of the wickedness of those who lived there.\\nHe turned the desert into pools of water\\nand the parched ground into flowing springs;\\nthere he brought the hungry to live,\\nand they founded a city where they could settle.\\nThey sowed fields and planted vineyards\\nthat yielded a fruitful harvest;\\nhe blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,\\nand he did not let their herds diminish.\\nThen their numbers decreased, and they were humbled\\nby oppression, calamity and sorrow;\\nhe who pours contempt on nobles\\nmade them wander in a trackless waste.\\nBut he lifted the needy out of their affliction\\nand increased their families like flocks.\\nThe upright see and rejoice,\\nbut all the wicked shut their mouths.\\nLet the one who is wise heed these things\\nand ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.\\nThe post Communal Tradition \\u2013 Psalm 107 appeared first on Queer Theology.'