105
📚Oh, give thanks 📖 to the LORD. Call 📖 on his name.
Make his deeds known 📖 among
the people.
2 📚Sing to him, sing 📖 psalms
to him.
Talk 📖 of all his wonderful works.
3 📚Glory in his holy name.
May the heart of those
who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 📚Seek the LORD,
and his strength.
Seek his face always.
5 📚Remember his marvellous
works that he has done,
his wonders and the judgments
of his mouth,
6 📚O you offspring of his servant
Abraham,
you children of Jacob
his chosen one.
7 📚He is the LORD
our God.
His judgments are
in all the earth.
105:1-7 This psalm reveals God’s sovereignty over both the history of Israel and the acts of sinful men. Notice carefully how God was involved in ruling over everything – vs 14,16,17,24,25,26, etc. He was continually at work to fulfill His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – vs 8-10. We might say this is the psalm concerning God’s covenant with Abraham, just as Psalm 89 is the psalm of His covenant with David. Like Psalms 78 and 106 this one deals with history. Ps 78 was given chiefly for the purpose of teaching and exhortation. Ps 106 is a confession of Israel’s many sins. But this psalm rejoices in the mighty acts of the LORD (Jehovah) God and there is no mention at all of the sin of Israel. The first 15 verses are found in 1 Chron 16:8-22. From that reference we may judge that David wrote it.
In the introduction (vs 1-7) David sets forth seven duties or privileges of God’s people –
Giving thanks,
Praying,
Making known God’s deeds,
Singing to God or about God,
Glorying in Him,
Seeking Him,
And remembering His wonderful works and words.
Following these instructions will result in a healthy spiritual life in any believer.⚜
8 📚He remembers his covenant
forever,
the word which
he commanded,
for a thousand generations,
9 📚The covenant
he made with Abraham,
and his oath to Isaac.
10 📚And he confirmed it
to Jacob as a law,
to Israel as an everlasting
covenant,
11 📚Saying, “To you I will give
the land of Canaan,
the portion of your inheritance”,
105:11 This is a chief part of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The land of Canaan was given to their offspring as their portion forever – Gen 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; 2 Chron 20:7.⚜
12 📚When they were only
a few men in number,
yes, very few, and foreigners in it.
13 When they went from one
nation to another,
from one kingdom to
another people,
105:12-13 When God made the promise to give Canaan to them the nation of Israel was at its beginning. They had no strength to conquer Canaan or any other land, and were like a wandering tribe. Only God could fulfill His promise, not they.⚜
14 📚He did not allow anyone
to wrong them;
yes, he rebuked kings
for their sakes,
15 📚Saying, “Do not touch
my anointed,
and do my prophets no harm”.
16 📚Moreover, he summoned
a famine to the land.
He destroyed the whole supply
of bread.
105:16 Gen 41:54. The great famine in Joseph’s time is here said to have been brought about by God. This does not mean that He causes every famine in every place. Some result from man’s doings. But whenever there is a famine men should seek the mercy of the one true God, the Creator of men and rain and soil and seed.⚜
17 📚He sent a man before them,
Joseph,
who was sold as a servant,
18 📚Whose feet they hurt
with fetters.
He was put in irons,
19 📚Until the time that his word
came 📖.
The word of the LORD tested
him 📖.
20 📚The king sent and released
him;
the ruler of the people sent
and let him go free.
21 📚He made him master of his
house,
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 📚To bind his princes
at his pleasure,
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 📚Israel also came into Egypt,
and Jacob stayed in the land
of Ham.
24 📚And the LORD increased
his people greatly,
and made them stronger than
their enemies.
25 📚He turned their hearts to hate
his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.
26 📚He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron whom
he had chosen.
27 📚They showed his signs
among them,
and wonders in the land
of Ham.
28 📚He sent darkness, and made
it dark;
and they did not rebel against
his word.
29 📚He turned their waters
into blood,
and killed their fish.
30 📚Their land brought forth
frogs in abundance,
in the rooms of their kings.
31 📚He spoke, and various kinds
of flies came,
and lice inside
all their borders.
32 📚He gave them hail for rain,
and flaming fire
in their land.
33 📚He also struck their vines
and their fig trees,
and broke down the trees
inside their borders.
34 📚He spoke, and the locusts
came,
and caterpillars without number,
35 And they ate up all the plants
in their land,
and devoured the fruit
of their ground.
36 📚He also struck all the firstborn
in their land,
the first of all their strength.
105:28-36 Exodus chapters 7–12.⚜
37 📚He also brought the people
out with silver and gold,
and not one feeble person
was among
their tribes.
38 📚Egypt was glad when they
departed,
for the fear of them had fallen
on them.
39 📚He spread a cloud as a
covering,
and fire to give light in the night.
40 📚The people asked,
and he brought quail,
and satisfied them with the bread
of heaven.
41 📚He opened the rock, and the
waters gushed out.
They ran in the dry places like
a river.
42 📚For he remembered his holy
promise,
and his servant Abraham.
43 📚And he brought out his people
with joy,
and his chosen with
gladness,
44 📚And gave them the lands
of the nations;
and they inherited the labour
of the peoples,
105:42-44 All God did He did to fulfill His covenant and promises. To do that God would be willing to move heaven and earth.⚜
45 📚That they might observe
his statutes,
and keep his laws.
Praise the LORD 📖!
105:45 This was God’s command and good purpose in all He did for Israel (Deut 4:1, 40). All He has done for believers now is also with this end in view (Rom 14:7-9; Col 3:16-17; 1 John 2:3-6).⚜