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. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. (Psalm 107:1-9 ESV).
The iconic piece of artwork, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo DaVinci (also known as the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondomade), has had a growing controversy of whether or not it should be restored due to its 518 years’ worth of weathering. Art historians have been debating this topic with disagreements of whether they should take the risk of ruining the Mona Lisa’s intense history for viewing DaVinci’s original idea of the painting or to keep the Mona Lisa as is.
This controversy reminded me of an important truth coming from the restoration that God has done thus far for the beauty of His creation. We ought to recognize that to understand the beauty that God created is to understand its opposite: the ugliness and sorrow of being separated from God. Because of our sin, this world is not the way it ought to be. Sin has brought hardship and ugliness into our lives and into this world, though God designed it all to be beautiful.
We know that God has restoration in mind because we don’t feel “at home” in a world broken because of sin. We are homesick for a world of peace and beauty. We are homesick to be with God. When we’re stuck in brokenness and facing the ugliness of this world of sin, we feel homesick for God’s world of goodness and beauty. Our reading today points out the sorrow and longing of this homesickness. The world can feel like a wasteland, providing no place where people can rest, no place where they can settle and be at peace. But the Lord, whose “love endures forever,” offers redemption. The Lord hears his people cry out in their trouble caused by sin, and he delivers them from distress. God brings them to a place where they can settle and live in peace. “He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” Ultimately, we know that all of life’s goodness and beauty will be restored when Jesus comes again, and the new life he provides us even now gives us hope for eternity with God.