God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 

Psalm 68:6 

Christ said, ‘He who is not with me is against me.’ Several things are apparent by this statement. Either we are with Christ in the manner in which He defines it, or we are not. There is no neutrality. Also, there are people who are against Christ whether they realize it or not. Our text identifies, not just the unaware opponents, but the overtly rebellious. What does it mean that, ‘the rebellious dwell in a dry land?’ The contrast is between prosperity and destitution. In the agrarian context of the ancient middle east, a dry land, was a place of hardship, bare survival, and isolation. The contrast is between the solitary soul whom God has set into a family, and the rebellious, who refuses such compassion. Christ is both merciful and just. He consistently works to set the solitary in families. He does not force anyone. If a person insists on standing against Christ, they endure hardship, isolation, and personal desolation as the result of their own choices. Even in His response to that, Christ is gracious. He does not cut them off in a peremptory way, but gives them every opportunity to turn to Him. He is gracious even to those who will have none of Him. 

Our Kind and Loving Savior, 
we rejoice that You are good, even to those who reject You. 
We praise You that Your mercy continues to extend, 
even to those who dwell in a dry land. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 

Psalm 68:6 

Christ sets prisoners free. Our text speaks of God, ‘bringing out those who are bound.’ The idea is that they are prisoners in need of liberation. They cannot free themselves, nor can any human device, scheme, or plan accomplish it. Why is that so? The things which bind the prisoners whom Christ sets free are beyond what human ability can successfully address. The loneliness is a soul-loneliness. The isolation is deeper than even human company can satisfy. It transcends the circumstances, and remedies what humanity would contrive to address it. God alone can do this work and Christ, the Son of God has come to accomplish it. Thus, when Christ took up the Scripture in His hometown of Nazareth, He read, ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.’ His commentary on this passage began with, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ Christ came to set prisoners free, and so He does. Millions of people, past and present, testify that Christ has made them free and they are free indeed. Thus Christ has become the central figure of their life. He has done what no one else could do. He has freed the prisoners. 

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You set the prisoners free. 
We praise You that in every way, 
You bring liberty to those who were bound. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 

Psalm 68:6 

Christ sets prisoners free. Our text speaks of God, ‘bringing out those who are bound.’ The idea is that they are prisoners in need of liberation. They cannot free themselves, nor can any human device, scheme, or plan accomplish it. Why is that so? The things which bind the prisoners whom Christ sets free are beyond what human ability can successfully address. The loneliness is a soul-loneliness. The isolation is deeper than even human company can satisfy. It transcends the circumstances, and remedies what humanity would contrive to address it. God alone can do this work and Christ, the Son of God has come to accomplish it. Thus, when Christ took up the Scripture in His hometown of Nazareth, He read, ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.’ His commentary on this passage began with, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ Christ came to set prisoners free, and so He does. Millions of people, past and present, testify that Christ has made them free and they are free indeed. Thus Christ has become the central figure of their life. He has done what no one else could do. He has freed the prisoners. 

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You set the prisoners free. 
We praise You that in every way, 
You bring liberty to those who were bound. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 

Psalm 68:6 

God works according to the counsel of His Own will. When He does, He does what is best for the people for whom He is working. It is often not in ways we expect. When Christ met the woman at the well, He was moving to ‘set the solitary’ into the family of God. The account of the maniac of Gadara shows Christ restoring the man to sanity and then returning him to his family. These were unusual methods, but indicate how God works to ‘set the solitary in families.’ He knows who belongs where and how to put them there. He does well for the person who is solitary; for the family into which He sets them; and for the purpose of accomplishing the larger scheme of His overarching plan. We stand back at times and marvel at how He sets the solitary in families and then accomplishes remarkable things as the result of those relationships. It is important for us to recognize the work of God when we see it. His ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. According to His good pleasure He sets the solitary in families. 

Our Wise and Sovereign God, 
we rejoice that You work according to Your good pleasure. 
We praise You that You know where we should be, 
and graciously place us there. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 

Psalm 68:6 

How does Christ define ‘family?’ In one sense He defined it in the creation of Adam and Eve who produced children and thus became the nuclear family. In another context, He defined it in terms of faith. An incident from His public ministry illustrates it. Christ was teaching a large gathering of people. Someone told Him, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.’ His response was to ask, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ He pointed to His disciples and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.’ Christ makes family a truly spiritual matter. It transcends blood relationships. It means that we who are solitary become part of the family of God, something much larger, deeper, and stronger than blood relationships. Thus, when God sets the solitary in families, He makes them members of the family of God by adoption and gives them all the rights and privileges of the children of God.  

Our Loving God and our Heavenly Father, 
we rejoice that You have set us in Your family. 
We praise You that, in Christ,  
we have found our true home. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning