Psalm 105

Introduction

Psalm 105 begins with a call to worship. That is, the psalmist is summoning the people to give thanks to the Lord and to make known what he has done. And then, in the rest of the psalm, the psalmist recalls what God has done for his people and how he brought them into the Promised Land, which he had promised to give to Abraham and his descendants.

The first fifteen verses of the psalm appear in 1 Chronicles 16 where it says it’s a psalm which David wrote for when they brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. It’s possible David wrote the whole psalm, but at different times. So, he wrote the first part when they brought the ark to Jerusalem; and the second part was written on another occasion. Or it’s also possible that David wrote only part of it and someone else — writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — finished it.

Verses 1 to 6

As I said, it begins with a call or a summons to give thanks to the Lord. In fact, there are a number of imperatives or commands in the first six verses: give thanks; make known; sing to him; sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts; glory in his holy name; look to the Lord; seek his face; and remember the wonders he has done. Again and again and again, the psalmist summons people to praise the Lord.

And so, they’re to give thanks to the Lord and call on him in worship. They’re to make known among the nations what he has done. And so, although the people of Israel were celebrating what God had done for them, they wanted all the nations to know the greatness of their God.

And they’re to praise him in song and tell of his wonderful acts. So, God is not someone who sits around, doing nothing. He’s active. He’s at work. He does wonderful things for his people and he acts on their behalf.

And the psalmist calls on people to glory in his holy name. That means they’re to boast about him and how great he is. They’re to rejoice because of him. And they’re to look to him for his help and strength and guidance. They’re to seek these things from him. And they’re to remember the wonders he has done, recalling his miracles and the judgments he has pronounced. By referring to God’s judgments, we’re to think of how he decides to save his people from their enemies.

And in verse 6 we see that the psalmist is addressing the descendants of Abraham, who are also the sons of Jacob. Jacob’s name, of course, was changed to Israel. And so, the psalmist is addressing the people of Israel. This call to worship, this summons to praise God, is directed towards God’s people.

Verses 7 to 11

In verses 7 to 11, the psalmist refers to God’s promise to give his people the Promised Land.

In verse 7 he uses God’s covenant name, which appears in our English Bibles as LORD in capital letters. But their God is not a local or national deity. He’s not the God of Israel only. He’s rules over the whole world and therefore his judgments are in all the earth. That is to say, the judgments he makes, the decisions he takes, can be seen everywhere.

But while he is God over all the world, he made a covenant with Abraham in particular and with Abraham’s offspring, including Isaac and Jacob. And according to this covenant, he promised to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan as their inheritance. They, of course, had done nothing to deserve it, but God graciously and freely promised to give it to them. And this is a covenant he remembers for ever. That is to say, he did not forget it, but he remembers to act in accordance with his promise and to do all things necessary so that they could possess it.

Verses 12 to 15

Verses 12 to 15 recall the days when the patriarchs were small in number and lived in the Promised Land as strangers.

So, it’s about the time when they were really only a family. There was Abraham and Sarah; then there was Isaac and Rebekah with their sons Jacob and Esau; and then there was Jacob and his twelve sons. But they were only one family, living as strangers in the land, without owning any of it, and moving from place to place.

However, though they were small in number, the Lord protected them. As the psalmist says, he allowed no-one to oppress them; and for their sake, the Lord rebuked kings. So, think of the time when Abraham went down to Egypt and the king took Sarah from him. But the Lord rebuked the king so that he returned Sarah to Abraham. And there were many other occasions when the Lord rescued his people like that.

In verse 15, God’s people are described as God’s anointed ones and his prophets. By describing them as God’s anointed ones, he perhaps means that God had set them apart from everyone else as his special, chosen people. And by describing them as prophets, he perhaps means that they alone knew and declared God’s word.

Verses 16 to 22

Verses 16 to 22 are about the days of Joseph.

So, God called down a famine on the Promised Land. This was the famine that took place when Joseph was prime minister of Egypt. The psalmist therefore goes on to refer to Joseph and how God sent him to Egypt ahead of the rest of his family. That is, he sent Joseph to get everything ready for them so that they would survive the famine. In verse 18 he refers to Joseph’s suffering, but eventually what he foretold came to pass. The psalmist might be referring to the way that Joseph was able to interpret the dreams of the cupbearer and baker; and what he predicted about them came true. And afterwards, the king of Egypt sent for him and released him and made him master and ruler in Egypt so that he was able to instruct the princes of Egypt and everyone else about what to do to prepare for the famine.

Verses 23 to 25

Verses 23 to 25 are about their time in Egypt. Israel, or Jacob, and his descendants entered Egypt. And the Lord made them exceedingly fruitful so that they multiplied and grew from one family to become a mighty people. According to verse 25, the Lord turned the hearts of the Egyptians against the people of Israel. And so, the suffering they endured was all part of God’s plan for them, because when they were suffering, God sent them Moses and Aaron to rescue them. And the Lord enabled them to perform miraculous signs and wonders. The psalmist then refers to eight of the ten plagues in verses 28 to 36. And in this way, God enabled Moses and Aaron to rescue his people from the hands of the Egyptians.

Verses 37 and 38

In verses 37 and 38 we have a brief account of the exodus, when God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, laden with silver and gold. So, they did not go empty-handed. And none of them faltered or stumbled, because the Lord was helping them to escape. And Egypt was glad to see them go, because dread of Israel had fallen on them. They knew that God was on the side of the Israelites and they did not want God to destroy them.

Verses 39 to 41

Verses 39 to 41 are about the time in the wilderness. God was with his people and he covered them from the sun during the day with his cloud; and at night, the cloud provided them with light. He also gave them manna and quail to eat. And he provided them with water from the rock. And so, the Lord took care of his people in the wilderness.

Verses 42 to 45

And the Lord took care of them, because he remembered his holy promise to Abraham to give them the Promised Land. And because he remembered his holy promise, he brought his people out of Egypt and out of the wilderness and into the land of the Canaanites. The psalmist says they fell heir to what others had toiled for. He means they were able to take over the land and take over the fields and homes and wells and so on. God took it all from the Canaanites and gave it to his people.

And in verse 45 the psalmist reveals God’s purpose in choosing them and saving them and bringing them into the land. It was so that they would keep his precepts and observe his laws. In other words, it was so that they would do his will here on earth. And in this way, they would honour him.

And the psalm ends with ‘hallelujah’ or ‘Praise the Lord’. Praise the Lord for all that he had done.

Application

I’ve said before that God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants is fulfilled in two ways: in an earthly, ordinary and provisional way; and in a spiritual, greater and eternal way. The psalm is about the earthly, ordinary and provisional fulfilment of God’s promise, because it’s about how God did everything necessary to give Abraham’s descendants the land of Canaan. And so, he rescued them from Egypt, where they were suffering under the hand of the Pharaoh, and he brought them safely through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. And he enabled them to take over the land. And, while their enemies continued to attack them throughout the period of the judges, David was able to drive out the last of the enemies from the land. And so, in the days of Solomon, the land was peaceful and the people were secure and the country prospered. And even though the Lord sent his disobedient people into exile to Babylon, nevertheless he graciously and freely allowed them to return to the Promised Land in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. And so, the Lord kept his promise to them by giving them the Promised Land.

However, God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in a spiritual, greater and eternal way because life in the earthly land of Canaan pointed forward and foreshadowed eternal life in the new heavens and earth, where we will see God in the face of Christ and enjoy perfect peace and rest and happiness for ever. And just as God did everything necessary to bring the Israelites into the land of Canaan, so he does everything necessary to bring his people into his presence in the new heavens and earth, because he sent us a greater Joseph and a greater Moses and a greater Aaron. He sent us his only Begotten Son to deliver us, not from a famine, as Joseph did, and not from slavery in Egypt, as Moses and Aaron did, but to save us from our sin and misery in this world and to give us the forgiveness of our sins and peace with God and the sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

And just as the Lord protected his people in the past, and provided for them, so he protects us from satan and all his demons; and he provides us with all that we need to keep going in the faith and to persevere day after day.

And just as the Lord rescued the Israelites so that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws, so we’re to do the same. We’re to do his will here on earth. We’re to walk in his ways and we’re to bring glory to his name in all we say and do.