Psalms 105

Psalm 104 magnifies the God of creation and 106 the God who chastens His people and forgives them, but this psalm focuses on the God of the covenant (vv. 8–10), who works out His divine purposes in human history. “Make known his deeds” (vv. 1–2, 5) is the major thrust, referring, of course, to God’s mighty acts on behalf of Israel. (See also 78, and note that 105:1–15 is adapted in 1 Chron. 16:8–22.) The psalm does not go beyond the conquest of Canaan (v. 44) or mention the Davidic dynasty, which suggests that it may have been written after the Babylonian exile, possibly by one of the Levites who returned to Judah with the Jewish remnant. The psalmist saw the hand of God in the events of Jewish history, and this was the kind of encouragement the struggling remnant needed. He reminded them that they were God’s chosen people and that God worked according to His schedule. Beginning with Egypt, the Lord had already revealed His power over the Gentile nations, and He will always keep His promises. Remembering these truths can bring God’s people encouragement at any time in history (v. 5)!

As in 32:1–2, the joyful praise recorded in verses 1–5 is the worshippers’ response to the wonderful truths stated in the psalm. The name “Jehovah—Lord” is used five times (vv. 1, 3, 4, 7, 19) and is the covenant name of God, the “holy name” that Israel was to call on (v. 1) and glory in (v. 3) as they worshipped. Israel was a chosen people; Jehovah had made no covenant with any other nation (147:20; Rom. 9:1–5). There are ten commandments in verses 1–5 (“seek” is found twice), climaxing with “remember” (v. 5). Their thanksgiving, praying, and singing were a witness to the nations around them and a testimony to the power and glory of the Lord. An obedient Israel was to be God’s “exhibit A” to the nations so that they would want to know the true and living God of the Jewish people.

In His sovereign grace, the Lord chose Abraham (vv. 6, 9, 42) and made His covenant with him (Gen. 12:1–5; 15:9–21; Acts 7:1–8), a covenant that would apply to all of Abraham’s physical descendants as well as to believers today as Abraham’s spiritual children (Luke 1:68–79; Gal. 3:1–9, 29). One of the covenant promises was the gift of the land of Canaan to the people of Israel (vv. 11, 42–44), and this promise was repeated to Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen. 26:1–6) and to his grandson Jacob (Gen. 28:13–17). We see here the electing grace of God, for He chose Isaac, not Ishmael, and Jacob, not Esau (Rom. 9:6–18). This covenant will endure forever (vv. 8–11; Deut. 7:9). Again, this was an act of grace on the part of the Lord, for none of the patriarchs had any claim upon God nor did He owe them anything. They were homeless nomads—pilgrims and strangers (Heb. 11:8–16)—who depended on the Lord to protect and guide them (Gen. 34:30; Deut. 7:6–11; 26:5). Even when they erred, the Lord protected them and even reproved kings on their behalf (Gen. 12:10ff.; 20; 26; 32–33). God is sovereign, and though He does not turn men and women into robots, He does rule and overrule when they disobey. His will shall be done, and His plans shall be fulfilled (vv. 8–11; 19; 42; 33:11).

According to verse 6, the Jewish people are the descendants of Abraham, who believed God and received the covenant, and also the sons of Jacob, whose sons built the nation of Israel. In Joseph’s dreams, God had promised him that his brothers would bow before him one day, but He did not explain how this would occur. Envy and a family quarrel took Joseph to Egypt, where he prepared the way for his relatives and kept them alive during the famine (Gen. 45:55–57; 50:20). But before he became the second ruler of Egypt, Joseph experienced great suffering in prison, for in God’s economy, suffering precedes glory (1 Peter 5:10), and being a servant precedes being a ruler (Matt. 25:21). But the word that God gave Joseph came true, and Jacob and his family moved from Canaan to Egypt (Gen. 46, the land of Ham; vv. 23, 27; 78:51; 106:22; Gen. 10:6). It was there that God in His grace turned Jacob’s family of seventy persons into a nation so large and powerful that it threatened the security of Egypt. No matter how dark the day, God always sends His servant ahead to prepare the way. God permitted the Egyptians to persecute His people, for suffering is one of the secrets of fruitfulness. God did not force the Egyptians to hate the Jews, nor did He force Pharaoh to harden his heart. The Lord arranged the circumstances so that Pharaoh and his officers could either obey or disobey His Word, and their repeated disobedience hardened their hearts more. The record in Exodus reports that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Ex. 7:13–14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34–35; 13:15) but also that God hardened it (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17). God sent the plagues, but Pharaoh would not obey. The same sun that melts the ice will harden the clay.

Again, God had His servants prepared to take Israel through another crisis. The ten plagues were both a demonstration of the power of the God of Israel and a condemnation of the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12; 18:11; Num. 33:4). Egypt worshipped the sun, so God sent three days of darkness. The Nile River was a god, so God turned the water to blood. The Egyptians worshipped over eighty different gods and goddesses, all of whom were helpless to deliver the land from the onslaught of the plagues, the judgments that God pronounced (v. 5). Jehovah proved that they were false gods who could do nothing.

The psalmist began his list with the plague of darkness (v. 28), which was actually the ninth plague. After mentioning this plague, the writer stayed with the original sequence: water turned to blood, and the invasions of frogs, flies, and gnats. He omits the fifth and six plagues—the death of the livestock and the boils—and moves on to the hail, locusts, and the death of the firstborn on Passover night. What a demonstration of the awesome power of Jehovah! This led to the triumphant exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, like a victorious army carrying the spoils of battle (v. 37; Ex. 3:21–22; 11:1–3; 12:36–37; Gen. 15:14). This wealth was payment for the slave labor that the Jews had provided for many years. God went before His people, led them by a cloud (78:14; Ex. 13:21–22; 14:19–20), opened the sea for them to pass through, and then closed the waters and drowned the Egyptian army. It was “a night of solemn observance to the Lord” (Ex. 12: nkjv).

But the Lord did not abandon His people after He delivered them, for He had brought them out that He might bring them into the Promised Land (Deut. 4:37–38). He led them in the wilderness, sheltered them from the sun, fed them bread (manna) and meat, and provided water to drink. (See Ex. 16; 17; Num. 20.) “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (23:1). Remembering God’s deliverance and His care of His people would give courage to the Jewish remnant as they returned to Judah to reestablish the nation. God remembers His covenant (v. 8), and God’s people must remember the Lord and what He has done.

The psalmist moved immediately from the exodus to the conquest of Canaan. He wrote nothing about Israel’s failures at Sinai (the golden calf), in the wilderness (repeated complaining), and at Kadesh Barnea (refusing to enter the land). After all, the purpose of the psalm was to magnify God’s great works, not to expose man’s great failures. God kept the promise He made to Abraham and gave his descendants the land, helping Joshua and his army defeat the enemy on every side. The people of Israel claimed their inheritance, including the wealth they took from the former inhabitants, another payment for their service in Egypt. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass” (Josh. 21:45; and see 23:14; 1 Kings 8:56; Neh. 9:8).

God’s people live on promises, not explanations, and it is “through faith and patience” that we see these promises fulfilled (Heb. 6:12). But God’s keeping His promise meant much more for Israel than victory over the enemy and the acquisition of riches. It meant accepting the responsibility of obeying the God who had been so faithful to them. Before his death, Joshua reminded the people what the Lord had done for them and admonished them to serve the Lord and not turn to idols (Josh. 24:1–28). When we consider all that the Lord has done for us, we find we have the same obligation.