Isaiah 12:4(v1)In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted!
Psalms 27:8(v4)When you said, “Seek my face,” my heart said to you, “I will seek your face, Yahweh.”
Zephaniah 2:2-3(v4)before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s…
Psalms 145:11-12(v1)They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and talk about your power, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, the glory of the…
Lamentations 3:25(v3)Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Show all 68 cross-references
Romans 10:13(v1)For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Psalms 106:1(v1)Praise Yahweh! Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34(v1)Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Chronicles 6:41(v4)“Now therefore arise, Yahweh God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with…
Psalms 145:4-6(v1)One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious majesty of your…
Amos 5:4-6(v4)For Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live; but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to…
Galatians 6:14(v3)But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to…
Psalms 77:11(v5)I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.
Proverbs 8:17(v3)I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
Psalms 96:3(v1)Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
1 Chronicles 29:13(v1)Now therefore, our God, we thank you, and praise your glorious name.
Psalms 119:13(v5)With my lips, I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
Psalms 136:1-3(v1)Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods; for his loving kindness…
Daniel 4:1-3(v1)Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed…
1 Corinthians 1:31(v3)that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”
Psalms 34:2(v3)My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Psalms 119:27(v2)Let me understand the teaching of your precepts! Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.
Isaiah 12:5-6(v2)Sing to Yahweh, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the…
Isaiah 45:25(v3)All the offspring of Israel will be justified in Yahweh, and will rejoice!
Jeremiah 9:23-24(v3)Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his…
Luke 11:9-10(v3)“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For…
Acts 9:14(v1)Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
1 Chronicles 29:20(v1)Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Yahweh your God!” All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed down…
Psalms 77:12(v2)I will also meditate on all your work, and consider your doings.
Psalms 98:5(v2)Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody.
Psalms 99:6(v1)Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who call on his name. They called on Yahweh, and he answered them.
Isaiah 51:10(v1)Isn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
Isaiah 55:6-7(v3)Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let…
Daniel 3:29(v1)Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and…
Joel 2:32(v1)It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape,…
1 Chronicles 25:3(v1)Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father…
Isaiah 43:18-19(v5)“Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know…
Isaiah 45:19(v3)I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh,…
Daniel 6:26-27(v1)“I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; “for he is the living God, and…
Luke 22:19(v5)He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in…
1 Corinthians 1:2(v1)to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who call on the name of our…
Numbers 23:23(v1)Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What…
Deuteronomy 32:7(v5)Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell…
1 Chronicles 16:7-22(v1)Then on that day David first ordained to give thanks to Yahweh, by the hand of Asaph and his brothers. Oh give thanks to Yahweh. Call on…
Psalms 89:1(v1)I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Psalms 98:1(v2)Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
Psalms 132:8(v4)Arise, Yahweh, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength.
Revelation 16:7(v5)I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”
Psalms 9:10(v3)Those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Psalms 78:4-6(v2)We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds…
Ephesians 5:19(v2)speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Deuteronomy 7:18-19(v5)you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your…
Deuteronomy 8:2(v5)You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test…
Psalms 40:5(v5)Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to…
Exodus 13:8-9(v2)You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It shall be for a…
Deuteronomy 6:6-9(v2)These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of…
Judges 5:3(v2)“Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Psalms 47:6-7(v2)Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our King! Sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with…
Psalms 96:1-2(v2)Sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth. Sing to Yahweh! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!
Psalms 103:2(v5)Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits,
Isaiah 42:10-12(v2)Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and…
Luke 24:14-53(v2)They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened. While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came…
1 Corinthians 11:24-26(v5)When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same…
Revelation 15:3-4(v2)They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the…
Exodus 13:14(v2)It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought…
Psalms 78:61(v4)and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand.
Revelation 19:2(v5)for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (26 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv1, 41 Praise ye Jehovah, etc. The object of these…
1 Praise ye Jehovah, etc. The object of these opening words simply is, that the offspring of Abraham should place all their blessedness in the free adoption of God. It was indeed a blessing not to be despised that they had been created men, that they had been cherished in the world by God’s fatherly care, and that they had received sustenance at his hand; but it was a far more distinguished privilege to have been chosen to be his peculiar people. While the whole human race are condemned in Adam, the condition of the Israelites was so different from all other nations, as to give them ground to boast, that they were consecrated to God. This is the reason why the prophet heaps together so many words in commendation of this grace. He does not treat of the government of the whole world as he did in the preceding psalm, but he celebrates the fatherly favor which God had manifested towards the children of Israel. He indeed names in general his works, and his wonders, but he limits both to that spiritual covenant by which God made choice of a church, that might lead on earth a heavenly life. He does not intend to include as among these wonders, that the sun, moon, and stars, daily rise to give light to the world, that the earth produces its fruit in its seasons, that every living creature is supplied with abundance of all good things for its food, and that the human family are liberally provided with so many conveniences; but he celebrates the sovereign grace of God, by which he chose for himself from amongst the lost race of Adam a small portion to whom he might show himself to be a father. Accordingly, he enjoins them to rejoice in the name of God, and to call upon him; a privilege by which the Church alone is distinguished. Whence it follows, that this language is addressed to none but true believers, whom God would have to glory in his name, since he has taken them under his special protection.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4, 5Forasmuch as the Israelites were exempted from the common…
Forasmuch as the Israelites were exempted from the common condemnation of the world, and were elected to be God’s people, the Prophet willeth them to show themselves mindful by thanksgiving.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–5Psa 105:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call…
Psa 105:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.
Ver. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord] Some tell us that this and the two following psalms were the great Hallelujah sung at solemn times in their assemblies. But others say better, that the great Hallelujah (as the Hebrews called it) began at Psa 113:1-9., and held on till Psa 119:1-176, which they at the passover began to sing after that cup of wine they called Poculum hymni seu laudationis.
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Call upon his name] Call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, Psa 18:3. {See Trapp on "Psa 18:3"} Our life must be divided between praises and prayers.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4, 5Call upon his name or, proclaim his name, i.e.…
Call upon his name or, proclaim his name, i.e. the fame and glory of his works, as it follows.
Among his people; each of you amongst his and your people, or even among the heathens, as you have opportunity.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v1Our devotion is here warmly excited; and we are…
Our devotion is here warmly excited; and we are stirred up, that we may stir up ourselves to praise God. Observe,
I. The duties to which we are here called, and they are many, but the tendency of them all is to give unto God the glory due unto his name. 1. We must give thanks to him, as one who has always been our bountiful benefactor and requires only that we give him thanks for his favours - poor returns for rich receivings. 2. Call upon his name, as one whom you depend upon for further favours. Praying for further mercies is accepted as an acknowledgment of former mercies. Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him. 3. Make known his deeds (Psa 105:1), that others may join with you in praising him. Talk of all his wondrous works (Psa 105:2), as we talk of things that we are full of, and much affected with, and desire to fill others with. God's wondrous works ought to be the subject of our familiar discourses with our families and friends, and we should talk of them as we sit in the house and as we go by the way (Deu 6:7), not merely for entertainment, but for the exciting of devotion and the encouraging of our own and others' faith and hope in God. Even sacred things may be the matter of common talk, provided it be with due reverence. 4. Sing psalms to God's honour, as those that rejoice in him, and desire to testify that joy for the encouragement of others and to transmit it to posterity, as memorable things anciently were handed down by songs, when writing was scarce. 5. Glory in his holy name; let those that are disposed to glory not boast of their own accomplishments and achievements, but of their acquaintance with God and their relation to him, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24. Praise you his holy name, so some; but it comes all to one, for in glorying in him we give glory to him. 6. Seek him; place your happiness in him, and then pursue that happiness in all the ways that he has appointed. Seek the Lord and his strength, that is, the ark of his strength; seek him in the sanctuary, in the way wherein he has appointed us to seek him. Seek his strength, that is, his grace, the strength of his Spirit to work in you that which is good, which we cannot do but by strength derived from him, for which he will be enquired of. Seek the Lord and be strengthened; so divers ancient versions read it. Those that would be strengthened in the inward man must fetch in strength from God by faith and prayer. Seek his strength, and then seek his face; for by his strength, we hope to prevail with him for his favour, as Jacob did, Hos 12:3. "Seek his face evermore; seek to have his favour to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world, and even there shall be for ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied in it." 7. Let the hearts of those rejoice that do seek him (Psa 105:3); for they have chosen well, are well fixed, and well employed, and they may be sure that their labour will not be in vain, for he will not only be found, but he will be found the rewarder of those that diligently seek him. If those have reason to rejoice that seek the Lord, much more those that have found him.
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II. Some arguments to quicken us to these duties. 1. "Consider both what he has said and what he has done to engage us for ever to him. You will see yourselves under all possible obligations to give thanks to him, and call upon his name, if you remember the wonders which should make deep and durable impressions upon you, - the wonders of his providence which he has wrought for you and those who are gone before you, the marvellous works that he has done, which will be had in everlasting remembrance with the thoughtful and with the grateful, - the wonders of his law, which he has written to you, and entrusted you with, the judgments of his mouth, as well as the judgments of his hand," Psa 105:5. 2. "Consider the relation you stand in to him (Psa 105:6): You are the seed of Abraham his servant; you are born in his house, and being thereby entitled to the privilege of his servants, protection and provision, you are also bound to do the duty of servants, to attend your Master, consult his honour, obey his commands, and do what you can to advance his interests. You are the children of Jacob his chosen, and are chosen and beloved for the fathers' sake, and therefore ought to tread in the steps of those whose honours you inherit. You are the children of godly parents; do no degenerate. You are God's church upon earth, and, if you do not praise him, who should?" 3. Consider your interest in him: He is the Lord our God, Psa 105:7. We depend upon him, are devoted to him, and from him our expectation is. Should not a people seek unto their God (Isa 8:19) and praise their God? Dan 5:4. He is Jehovah our God. He that is our God is self-existent and self-sufficient, has an irresistible power and incontestable sovereignty: His judgments are in all the earth; he governs the whole world in wisdom, and gives law to all nations, even to those that know him not. The earth is full of the proofs of his power.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–5O give thanks unto the Lord,.... These are the…
O give thanks unto the Lord,.... These are the words of David, either to the singers, or rather to the whole congregation of Israel, the seed of Abraham, and children of Jacob, Psa 105:6 stirring them up to praise and thankfulness for their mercies, temporal and spiritual; for the Messiah they had hope and expectation of, typified by the ark now brought home; for the word and ordinances, and opportunities of waiting upon God in them; for heaven and happiness, figured by Canaan's land given them to enjoy. Or, "confess or celebrate the Lord" (x); his greatness and goodness: his being and perfections; his sovereignty over all creatures: confess him as your Creator, Benefactor, covenant God and Father; or, "confess to the Lord" (y) your sins and transgressions committed against him, his great grace and kindness to you, and your unworthiness to receive any favour from him.
Call upon his name; as such may to advantage, who are thankful for what they have received from him; these may and ought to call upon him, or pray to him, in faith and fervency, with frequency and importunity, in the truth and sincerity of their souls; and at all times, especially in times of trouble. Some, as Aben Ezra, interpret it, proclaim his name, make it known to others; call upon them to serve and worship him. This sense is mentioned by Kimchi, and agrees with what follows:
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make known his deeds among the people: which are the effects of his counsel, wisdom, power, and goodness; such as the works of creation and providence, and especially of grace, and salvation; and which were to be published among the Heathen, for the glory of his name: and indeed the Gospel, which is ordered to be preached to all nations, is nothing else than a declaration of what Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have done and do.
(x) celebrate Jehovam, Junius & Tremellius. (y) "Confitemini Domino", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4, 5In the former psalm we praise God for his…
In the former psalm we praise God for his common providence; in this, for his special favours to his church. The first eleven verses of it David delivered to Asaph, (1 Chron. xvi, 7, &c.) to be used in the daily service of the sanctuary. Here is the preface, ver. 1-7. The history itself in several articles: God's covenant with the patriarchs, ver. 8-11. His care of them in a strange land, ver. 12-15. His raising up Joseph, ver. 16-22. The increase of Israel in Egypt, and their deliverance out of it, ver. 23- 38. His care of them in the wilderness, and their settlement in Canaan, ver. 39-45.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv1–5An exhortation to praise God for his wondrous works,…
PSALM CV
An exhortation to praise God for his wondrous works, 1-5;
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his goodness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 6-16;
to Joseph in Egypt, 17-22;
to Israel in Egypt, 23-25;
to Moses in the same land, 26;
the plagues sent on the Egyptians, 27-36;
the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, 37, 38;
how he supported them in the wilderness, 39-43;
and brought them into Canaan, 44, 45.
NOTES ON PSALM CV
We find several verses of this Psalm in 1Ch 16:7-14 c., from which it is evident that David was the author of the principal part of it: but it was probably enlarged and sung at the restoration of the people from the Babylonish captivity. The hallelujah which terminates the preceding Psalm, is made the title of this by the Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic: but it has no title either in the Hebrew or Chaldee. The Syriac considers it a paraphrase on the words, "Fear not, Jacob, to go down into Egypt and teach us spiritually not to fear when we are obliged to contend with devils; for God is our shield, and will fight for us." The Psalm is a history of God's dealings with Abraham and his posterity, till their settlement in the promised land.
Verse 1. O give thanks] He had been meditating on God's gracious dealings with their fathers; and he calls upon himself and all others to magnify God for his mercies.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1, 5Psa 105:1-4. Call upon his name — Or, proclaim…
Psa 105:1-4. Call upon his name — Or, proclaim his name, as קראו בשׁמו, kiru bishmo, may be properly rendered: that is, proclaim the fame and glory of his works, as it follows. Make known his deeds, &c. — Let each of you among his people, and even among the heathen, declare God’s mighty acts as he has opportunity; glory ye in his holy name — Glory in the God whom you serve as the only true God, and a Being possessed of infinite power and goodness. For nothing can be so great an honour to you as that you are the servants of such a mighty Lord, who infinitely transcends all other beings. Let them rejoice that seek the Lord — That seek an acquaintance and friendship with him; that seek to know, love, and serve him here, and to enjoy him hereafter above all the things of the world; seek the Lord and his strength — That is, either, 1st, Seek him in his strength, namely, in his sanctuary, as some interpret the expression, or before the ark, which is called God’s strength: or, 2d, Seek his strength, that is, his grace or Spirit, to strengthen you against your enemies, to enable you to do and suffer his will, and to work in you that which is well pleasing in his sight. Many ancient versions read the clause, Seek the Lord, and be strengthened; and, certain it is, they who would be strengthened in the inward man, must derive strength from God by faith and prayer. Seek his face evermore — That is, his favour, or the light of his countenance; seek to enjoy this to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world: and even then you shall be for ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied with it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1–5O give thanks unto the Lord - The design…
O give thanks unto the Lord - The design here is to show that thanks should be given to the Lord in view of his dealings with his people, as stated in the subsequent portions of the psalm.
Call upon his name - More literally, “Call him by his name;” that is, Address him by his proper title; ascribe to him the attributes which properly belong to him; or, address him in a proper manner.
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Make known his deeds among the people - What he has done in former times. The allusion is to his acts in behalf of his people in delivering them from Egyptian bondage, and bringing them to the promised land. The word “people” here refers to the Hebrew people; and the exhortation is, that the knowledge of these deeds should be diffused and kept up among them. One of the ways of doing this was that proposed by the psalmist, to wit, by a psalm of praise - by recording and celebrating these acts in their devotions. One of the most effective modes of keeping up the knowledge of what God has done in our world is by songs of praise in worshipping assemblies.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 105
Psalms 105
1 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name:
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Make known his deeds among the people.
2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him:
Talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord, and his strength:
Seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
Ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God:
His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which covenant he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac;
10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
And to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The lot of your inheritance.
12 When they were but a few men in number;
Yea, very few, and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people;
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong:
Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed,
And do my prophets no harm.
16 Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land:
He brake the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man before them,
Even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters:
He was laid in iron:
19 Until the time that his word came:
The word of the Lord tried him.
20 The king sent and loosed him;
Even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his substance:
22 To bind his princes at his pleasure;
And teach his senators wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt;
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And he increased his people greatly;
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtilely with his servants;
26 He sent Moses his servant;
And Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They shewed his signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they rebelled not against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
And slew their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
In the chambers of their kings.
31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies,
And lice in all their coasts.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees;
And brake the trees of their coasts.
34 He spake, and the locusts came,
And caterpillars, and that without number,
35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
The chief of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold:
And there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed:
For the fear of them fell upon them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering;
And fire to give light in the night.
40 The people asked, and he brought quails,
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 Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with gladness:
44 And gave them the lands of the heathen:
And they inherited the labour of the people;
45 That they might observe his statutes,
And keep his laws.
Praise ye the Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—While in Psalms 78 the former history of Israel was employed as a mirror of warning, and their relations during the march through the desert were in consequence fully described, the Psalm before us contains an exhortation to praise God and to seek the Lord, in faithfulness to the covenant, as a response to the faithfulness which Jehovah had displayed to the family of Abraham from the establishment of the covenant with him until their entrance into the Promised Land. It is a lyrical rather than a doctrinal treatment of the narrative presented in the Pentateuch. It follows the latter so closely that there is no trace of strophical structure. The limits of the groups are scarcely discoverable, for the essential events are disposed in the order of their occurrence, and a rhythmical movement is only discernible in the regular bipartite structure of the verses. The first fifteen verses are found again in the song which in 1 Chronicles 16 is said to have been sung when the ark was removed to Jerusalem. But it is shown to be a later compilation of the Chronicler, by the circumstance that the parts which are taken likewise from Psalms 96, 106 are, by the abruptness of the transitions, proved not to have belonged originally to the same composition. Besides, it contains an allusion to the Babylonish Exile; and even the doxology, which concludes the Fourth Book of the Psalms, is retained, as if it were a portion of the song itself. [See the addition in the Introduction to Psalms 106—J. F. M.]. We cannot determine the age of our Psalm more closely than to assign it a place later than the composition of the Pentateuch, and earlier than that of Chronicles. The opinion which infers the time of the Babylonish Captivity from the prevailing reference to the Egyptian period, is not to be relied on, especially as there is no definite indication of the custom, common both with the prophets and the poets, of comparing those periods. And the attempt (Rosenmüller following the older commentators) to separate a part, at least, of the Psalm, as the composition of David, from later additions, must be regarded as entirely at fault.
Psa_105:1-6. Call with His name [E. V.: Call upon His name].—This expression, Gen_4:26, includes two things, invocation and proclamation, or prayer and preaching. The whole of Psa_105:1 reminds us of Isa_12:4.—Seeking and inquiring after Jehovah and His face (Psa_105:4) are not to be restricted to visiting the temple and worshipping (De Wette, et al.). Nor is עז to be here, as in Psa_78:61, taken to refer to the ark of the covenant (the older expositors following the Rabbins). The context demands a general application of the word. In Psa_105:6, by a change in the pointing we could easily obtain the translation: his servants (Sept.), as in apposition to: seed of Abraham, and parallel to the following member: his chosen. But Psa_105:42 (comp. Psa_105:26), shows that by the servant of Jehovah is here meant Abraham. As his seed the Israelites were reminded of the fact that they held the same position as he did, and were encouraged to be mindful thereof by the fulfilling of the duties connected with that relation. And as children of Jacob, they were reminded that they occupied that position, not through hereditary succession, but by virtue of election.
Psa_105:8-9. The Psalmist does not call upon his fellow-countrymen to be mindful of the covenant (Sept.), but he tells them of the faithfulness of God, who had (præterite) given an everlasting place in His memory to the covenant which was concluded with Abraham and confirmed to Isaac with an oath (Gen_26:3; Gen_22:16). Since דָּבָר here describes the covenant with reference to its establishment by the Divine word of promise, so צִוָּה is to be taken in its primary meaning, as in Psa_111:9, and כָּרַת is to have the same application as in Hag_2:5. The form יִשְׂחָק instead of יצחָק:. occurs also in Amo_7:9; Jer_33:26.
Psa_105:11; Psa_105:15. The transition to the plural in Psa_105:11 is to be explained by the considerations that Jacob-Israel is the designation of a nation as well as a proper name, and that the promises given to the patriarchs were made to him as being the father of the chosen race, to which, therefore, they really belonged.—The term prophets, applied to the patriarchs in Psa_105:15, is taken from Gen_20:7, where God Himself employs this word in connection with those prohibitions (Gen. 12:20, 26), to which allusion is here made. It is doubtful whether or not their appellation: anointed has any special reference, beyond the idea that they were men consecrated to God and endowed with Divine gifts.
Psa_105:16-18. Support of bread [E. V.: staff of bread] as in Lev_26:26; Isa_3:1. Comp. Psa_104:15. The selling of Joseph was explained by himself as a sending-beforehand by God (Gen_45:5; Gen_1:20). His being fettered is also mentioned in Gen_40:3; it is therefore not a mere poetical filling out of the picture. It is doubtful whether בְּבֵרְזֶל=בַּרְזֶל=his soul (person) came into iron (most), or whether the iron, which, in the signification iron-fetter, might be regarded as feminine, according to the principle developed by Ewald, § 318, is not rather to be construed as the subject, and the whole clause taken in the sense in which it is said of water in Psa_69:2, that it presses into the soul (Hitzig, Del.; as previously Vatablus, Sachs). We prefer the latter construction, since the periphrastic use of בֶפֶשׁ for person is very remote from the context. If temptations (Hengstenb.) had been intended they must have been expressed.
Psa_105:19. His word cannot mean the word of God (most), but that of Joseph in the interpretation of the dreams, for all the preceding suffixes refer to him. The declaration [E. V., word] of Jehovah is, accordingly, not the promise of the possession of Canaan (Hengst.), nor the decree that Joseph should be tried (Clericus), but the revelation of God made to him (Aben Ezra), whose reliability he had to prove and attest in provings and trials of his own person. צרף never signifies glorifying and distinguishing (Rud., Rosenm.). For Ilam see on Psa_78:51.
The description of the plagues of Egypt, after Exodus 1-12, follows the narrative there given more strictly than do Psa_78:44 f. Here only the fifth and sixth are omitted, and the ninth, that of darkness, is placed first. A figurative explanation, according to which the whole period is supposed to be represented, during which God showed displeasure towards and inflicted misfortune upon them (Hengstenb.), is untenable. It is in accordance with the facts, and in general with the Old Testament mode of conception, to trace the hardening of the Egyptians to God.
Psa_105:27. In such connections as this the word דִּבְרֵי serves to denote various kinds (Hitzig), so that it is not quite superfluous, as though it were a mere periphrasis (De Wette); nor is it to be regarded as relating to the prophetic words, by which the miraculous signs were announced beforehand (Clericus and others, Hupfeld). But if we were to read the singular שָׂם instead of the plural שָׂמוּ, as in Exo_10:12; Psa_78:43, we could translate, since God would then be the subject: He placed among them, or He laid upon them the words of His signs (Sept., Vulg.).
Psa_105:28. The order of the sentences naturally suggests the reference of Psa_105:28 b to the Egyptians, but, as they yielded to God’s command only after long resistance and repeated refusals, and only when finally compelled by His judgments, this mode of expression is not suitable to them. It is not advisable to assume that a question is asked, as there would then result a whole sentence of a very feeble character. The suppression of the negative (Sept., Syr.) is unjustifiable. So also is a change of the verb, which would replace: resisted, by: heeded (Hitzig). Most, therefore, refer this negative statement of obedience to the Israelitish leaders, and suppose a contrast to the conduct recorded in Num_20:24; Num_27:14.
Psa_105:33 ff. [In Psa_105:33 b. instead of: trees of their coasts, render: trees of their bounds, that is, within the bounds of their country.—J. F. M.]. The spreading of the cloud for a covering (Psa_105:39) does not allude to protection against the enemy (Exo_14:19 f.), but to the cloud which was (Num_10:14) a covering and shady bower to the Israelites (Isa_4:5).—Labor (Psa_105:44) is used metonymically for its results, the acquisitions made by it (Isa_45:14).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. God grants the knowledge of His nature through His name. Therefore must His people call upon His revealed name in prayer, and thus make it known, that they have not to do with unknown powers, but that they know well to whom they address themselves when they offer thanksgiving or prayer. And this known God must not be honored merely by their own acknowledgment; they must also make Him known to those who know Him not, and by means of preaching diffuse the knowledge of God throughout the world.
2. The world has many vain things, of which it boasts, over which it vexes itself, after which it inquires and pursues. The Church must boast in the holy name of God, meditate upon His wondrous works, inquire after Him before all else, seek Him above all else, in order that she may be confirmed in communion with Him, and be preserved and extended as His inheritance in the world. For to this has she been chosen and called by Him. But she has many enemies, who aim to cast her down from this position of high privilege.
3. The preservation of the Church in the world, as well as her establishment, is the cause, work, and glory of God. And God remembers His covenant and the oath by which He confirmed it. But the blessings of that covenant can be shared only by those who submit to its conditions. He, therefore, who would inherit the promises given to the patriarchs, must conform to the conditions of salvation which God has instituted for that end. The seed of Abraham are not to forget that Abraham was God’s servant, and that, although this designation is indeed a title of honor, it is yet no empty title; for God solemnly asks, if His chosen act worthily of it.
4. God’s judgments, as the Judge of the whole world, fall upon those nations who resist Him, and serve at the same time to deliver His church from the power of her oppressors. But these events are not to excite a false feeling of security, but call for gratitude, trust and obedience; and in displaying the severity of the divine wrath are to quicken the conscience and beget a salutary fear. For if God protects His people miraculously, cares for them graciously, and guides them faithfully, and, besides leading them through all dangers to the place whither He promised to bring them, exalts them above all other peoples, they must make it their aim to fulfil their part of the covenant obligations, and to testify, both in word and life, their gratitude for such benefits, blessings, and privileges.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
We should testify our gratitude for God’s benefits: (1) by adoring His majesty; (2) by proclaiming His deeds; (3) by trusting to His guidance; (4) by obeying His commands.—God has delivered our nation so often in former times that we (1) should reproach ourselves for our ingratitude, (2) should be ashamed of our faintheartedness, (3) should grieve over our unfaithfulness.—God’s judgments upon the enemies of His Church: (1) as testimonies to His sway upon earth, (2) as the means of her preservation, (3) as a ground of hope in present distress.—The growth of God’s Church under affliction as being (1) after the typical history of Israel, (2) under the security given for God’s faithfulness to His covenant.—Many would like to share the honor of God’s servants, if they had only not to perform their service, or endure their trials.
Starke: When a man exhibits an ardent love to God, it is a living witness that be is His temple.—How can he glorify God rightly, who does not know by a living experience His name, deeds, and wonders? O, my soul! seek the Lord, so that thou mayest extol Him joyfully.—The more men turn away from God, the weaker they become, and the more they inquire after Him and draw near to Him in prayer, faith, and meditation, the more strength do they gain from Him.—If God always remains mindful of His promises to us, what is more reasonable than that we should never forget ours to Him?—The descend ants have as good a claim to, and as great a share in, the covenant of grace as their forefathers, with whom God established that covenant, provided only that they enter into it in faith.—Where there is prosperity, there is also envy and grudging; but he who has no friend but God cannot be harmed by the envy and enmity of the world.—The blood of true believers, poured out like water, has ever been a fountain of blessedness, from which spring forth the members of Christ.—The injury received by a pious man in one place is compensated by God in another with rich blessings: therefore guard against impatience and care for the body.—God has the hearts of His enemies in His power. If He takes their courage from them, He can deliver His own without a single stroke of His sword.—Let none despise the feeble or the poor: thou dost not know but that there are those among them who are in covenant with God, and whom He will yet employ for great things.—The history of the faithful patriarchs is a fit representation of the pilgrimage of believers, who have here no continuing city, but seek one to come.—In seasons of affliction, let us not look to men, but God,—upon Him who smites us, and not at the rod; it is not the rod that sends the pain, but He who employs it.—When calamities befall a whole nation, the pious must suffer with the wicked; yet God often proves to His children that His word abides sure: in the days of famine they shall be satisfied (Psa_37:19).—The members of the invisible church must often dwell in the tents of Meshech; but they are more secure sometimes in the midst of such enemies, than among those who outwardly are members with them of the common faith.—With regard to God’s deeds of goodness, believers must guard against two errors: they must ascribe nothing to themselves or their deserts, for God performs these deeds for the sake of His word and covenant; and they must not receive such benefits as a matter of course, or misuse them. Assiduous striving after sanctification and renewing ends at last in a hallelujah, which all the perfect righteous ones shall sing in unison, to the glory of the Lord, throughout eternity.
Frisch: No more powerful consolation can be breathed into a troubled soul than the thought that God is eternally mindful of His covenant. Since the covenant is eternal, it cannot be annulled by death. Since it is a covenant of grace, thou needest not despond, even if thou hast perchance transgressed it.—Rieger: On the mercy of Christ we enjoy the blessing of Abraham; and God is ever mindful of His covenant, until He brings us into the Fatherland, and the city to which He has called us, and which He has prepared for us.—Richter: Canaan was intended as a school for Israel in view of the coming of Christ.—Guenther: The whole history of the Chosen People, before the time of Christ, is a type of the history of Christianity, and a representation of the experience of each believer; let us learn, then, what this special chapter of the history means for you and for me.—Taube: A call addressed to God’s people for the adoring remembrance of the mercy, displayed in God’s dealings towards the heirs of the promise, in order to strengthen their faith.—Godless and prayerless souls are also forgetful souls, who learn nothing from the deeds, wonders, and judgments of God; but he who seeks the Lord meets Him, for the strengthening of His faith, on all the paths on which he has promised that He will be found.—The rapture of deliverance excites grateful love, which knows that it is bound, by duty and obligation, to the Deliverer and Blesser, and which lives to please Him in all things.
[Matt. Henry: We are therefore made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the Psalm concludes, may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God’s favors, and as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them.—Has God done so much for us, and yet doth He expect so little from us? Praise ye the Lord.
Scott: We greatly mistake, if we do not rank afflictions among our mercies (Psa_105:17-19), as they tend to prove the reality of our faith and love, to humble our pride, to wean us from the world, to quicken our prayers, to enlarge our experience of the Lord’s faithfulness to His promises, to encourage our dependence, to bow our hearts into submission, and to soften them into compassion for our brethren.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv1–51. Oh give thanks—This verse is the same as…
1. Oh give thanks—This verse is the same as Isa_12:4. The one is copied from the other. Three particular modes of glorifying God are mentioned. The first is a personal offering to God of praise and thanksgiving; the second, prayer, as Gen_4:26; Psa_116:12; Psa_116:17; the third to declare, teach, cause to be known among the people, (the nations) his deeds, Psa_107:22
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–51. The LXX is probably right in placing Hallelujah…
1. The LXX is probably right in placing Hallelujah at the beginning of this Psalm instead of at the end of Psalms 104. The two companion Psalms 103, 104 will then begin and end with Bless ye Jehovah; and the two companion Psalms 105, 106 will begin and end with Hallelujah.
The first verse is taken verbatim from Isa_12:4.
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O give thanks unto the Lord] The LXX renders ἐξομολογεῖσθε, hence Vulg. and Jer. confitemini, ‘make confession,’ which may possibly be the primary meaning, from which the word derives its general sense to praise or give thanks. Psalms 106, 107, 118, 136 begin with the same invitation.
It is natural to connect these Psalms in which “Give thanks unto Jehovah” and “Praise ye Jah” (Hallelujah) recur so frequently with the function of the Levites “to praise and to give thanks” (1Ch_16:4; Ezr_3:11; Neh_12:24; &c.), and to regard them as composed expressly for the service of the Second Temple.
call upon his name] Rather, proclaim his name, as in Exo_33:19; Exo_34:5-6; cp. Deu_32:3.
make known his doings among the peoples] It was Israel’s mission to proclaim to the world Jehovah’s revelation of His character made known to them in the facts of their history. Cp. Psa_9:11.
1–6. The Israelites are summoned to proclaim to all the nations Jehovah’s mighty doings for His people, and to stir up their own hearts to praise and thanksgiving by the recollection of His marvellous works.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv1, 2, 4(1) Call upon his name.—Literally, on (or, with) his…
(1) Call upon his name.—Literally, on (or, with) his name (comp. Psa_105:3, “glory in”), with idea of proclamation as well as invocation. Symmachus has “proclaim his name.” This verse, which is found word for word in Isa_12:4, is apparently one of the recognised doxologies of the Hebrew Church.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1–5This is sometimes called a "Hallelujah psalm," since it…
This is sometimes called a "Hallelujah psalm," since it ends with that phrase. It is a song of praise to God for his dealings with his people, resembling in its general character Psalm 78. The opening passage is nearly identical with 1Ch_16:8-22, and is thought to have been the original from which that passage was taken (Hengstenberg, Cheyne). The first six verse are an exhortation to praise, and constitute the "introduction." The remainder is an account of God"s mercies to Israel as a nation, traced historically from the time of the covenant with Abraham to the occupation of the land of Canaan.
The "introduction" forms a strophe by itself. It is usual to divide the historical portion into strophes; but this can only be done arbitrarily, there being no really marked divisions.
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Vers. 1-6. The psalmist exhorts the seed of Abraham (ver. 6) to give thanks to God and call upon his Name (vers. 1-3); to make him known among the Gentiles (ver. 1 b); to seek him and his strength (ver. 4); and to bear in mind his marvellous works (ver. 5). The "works" intended are those of his providential government of mankind, and especially those of his rule and government over his people Israel.
O give thanks unto the Lord. (comp. Psa_106:1 Psa_107:1 Psa_111:1 Psa_136:1 Psa_138:1) Call upon his Name; i.e. call upon him with prayer and praise, "according to his historically manifested glory" (Hengstenberg). Make known his deeds (or, "his doings") among the people; rather, among the peoples; i.e. the heathen nations. (comp. Psa_18:49 Psa_57:9 Isa_12:4)
Vers. 1-45. The testimony of history.
God reveals himself in many ways; of these one is found in human history. All history may be studied, that we may understand his Divine thought and purpose; but more especially sacred history, his dealings with his ancient people. The psalmist is continually returning to this as a source of striking and convincing illustration. Among other lessons brought out by this psalm are the following:
I HIS FAITHFULNESS. (Vers. 8-11, 42-44) Though, in the midst of oppression and misery in Egypt, it may have seemed that he had forgotten his covenant, it was not so. He remembered it. (see Exo_2:24) So it often seems to us, when we wait long for deliverance. We are inclined to ask, "Why hast thou forgotten me?". (Psa_42:9) But when "the end of the Lord" is seen, then we reprove our trustlessness and adore his faithfulness.
II HIS GOODNESS IN ADVERSITY. (Vers. 12-15) As God sheltered his people, though "few in number, yea, very few," and held back the threatening hand of the strong so that in their days of pilgrimage they were preserved, so has he guarded his people in all ages, not suffering the great world powers to crush them; thus does he now manifest his presence and his power to individual men as they walk the checkered path of life.
III HIS REDEEMING LOVE. (Vers. 20-22, 26, 27) God"s redeeming kindness shown to Joseph in his bondage and humiliation, and then to the whole nation in its captivity and suffering is an anticipation and a type
(1) of his delivering grace shown to us, his children, as we find ourselves first entangled or enthralled, and then graciously extricated or enlarged;
(2) of his redemption of our race in the gospel. A greater than Moses was "sent that "Servant of the Lord" (Isaiah 52), before whom "kings should shut their mouth;" who should work out a salvation compared with which the deliverance from Egyptian bondage was small indeed.
IV THE MYSTERY OF HIS WAYS. (Vers. 16-19) The famines which afflicted Canaan, (see Gen_12:10 Gen_26:1) which ultimately brought Israel into Egypt, and the disgrace and hard durance of Joseph, were "trying" to the faith of those who passed through them. God does try us now, and "the trial of our faith," in dark and mysterious times, is intended to draw us nearer to himself, and to deepen the roots of our confidence in him. A faith exercised when the way was always plain and pleasant would be a poor and feeble thing; the piety that did not trust when it could not see would be of little worth.
V THE MASTERY OF APPARENT IMPOSSIBILITIES. (Vers. 40, 41) He who gave "bread from heaven" and "water from the rock" can interpose and save in the darkest hour, in the direst necessity. Nothing is too hard for the Lord; certainly not our own particular embarrassment.
VI HIS LEADERSHIP. (Ver. 39) God led Israel in a way as well as by a way which they knew not a way his people could not possibly have imagined. So he leads his children now. We cannot predict either the means by which our God will guide us, or the path by which he will conduct us to our home.
VII HIS PURPOSE IN OUR PROSPERITY. (Vers. 43-45) Jehovah brought his people into the land of promise in order "that they might observe his statutes," i.e. in order that they might become a holy nation; for the end of all providential bounty and of all redeeming kindness is character, moral and spiritual worth. God enriches us, he redeems and reinstates us, in order that we may attain unto his own likeness, may be "partakers of his own holiness." Not comfort or enjoyment, but ennoblement, abiding worth, is the true end to which all blessings lead.
Vers. 1-5. The response of man to the providence of God.
What should be our attitude toward God in view of all his providential dealings with us?
I PRAISE. "O give thanks," etc.; "Sing unto him.
II PRAYER. "Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face.
III CONSIDERATION. We must remind ourselves of his works (ver. 5).
IV SACRED JOY IN HIM. (Ver. 3)
V PUBLICATION. "Make known his deeds among the people.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-45. "He watching over Israel slumbers not nor sleeps.
I A BLESSED RETROSPECT.
1. He knows it is blessed, because, ere the psalmist sets it down, he summons, in intensely earnest, varied, and emphatic wag, all people to give thanks unto the Lord.
2. And he tells them wherefore they should hearken to his Word because the Lord "hath remembered his covenant forever," etc. (ver. 8).
3. Then comes the covenant history. He tells what the covenant was (ver. 11), with whom it was made (ver. 9), and to whom confirmed (ver. 10). Then he tells of the apparent improbability of its fulfilment (ver. 12), yet how God guarded them (ver. 15). Then how strangely his work was carried on: sending dread famine (ver. 16), and making them exiles in Egypt; sending Joseph, whom he had wonderfully prepared to be their helper in Egypt (vers. 17-23). Then, when they were sufficiently multiplied, stirring up their nest there by means of the persecution they had to bear. Then came the mission of Moses and Aaron, and the ten plagues, so that at length Pharaoh was glad to let them go (ver. 38). Then the triumphant exodus and the perpetual help in the wilderness, ending in the promised Canaan when the people were prepared for it (vers. 44, 45). So did God lead his people by a right way, and so will he ever, though, as with Israel, the way may often seem very strange, unlikely, and the reverse of what we should have thought.
II ITS LESSONS.
1. God"s covenants ever come true, however unlikely and even impossible they may at times seem to be.
2. That it is a terrible thing to stand in opposition to them (vers. 14, 27-37). Let us beware how we hinder the work of God.
3. God knows where to find and how to prepare his ministers in this work. "He sent Joseph; he sent Moses" (vers. 17, 26). They who are to be chief in service have generally first to be chief in suffering.
4. The aim of God"s covenant is the creation of a holy people (ver. 45).
5. The remembrance of God"s leading will ever be blessed. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. God in history.
"Tell the people what things he hath done" (Prayer book Version). As the word rendered "people" is a plural, the prominent idea seems to be the duty of making the God of history, whose working is so evident in the Jewish history, known to the heathen. If we can read history aright, and see God"s working in it, we must read it aloud, so that others may be helped to find what we have found. Reviews of history are always interesting, and were specially pleasing to the Jews, who regarded themselves as a specially favoured nation. History at first is but a collection of facts, then it becomes the estimate of relations, causes, and results, which we call the philosophy of history. But that philosophy is not complete or satisfactory which fails to recognize the overruling and modifying Divine force which moves history to preordained ends. He only reaches the true philosophy of history who finds God in history. In this psalm we have such a reading of the national history as the Jewish exiles would undertake when the prospect of return to Canaan was near. We have to see the special points of view from which they would conduct their review. The thing prominent in their minds was, that God was about to redeem them from captivity, and to restore them to their own land; so they read the story of their race to find God"s redemptions. And they were easy to find when men looked for them in such a mood.
I GOD"S REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM THE EGYPTIAN FAMINE. This was at the very outset of the national history. The famine affected the neighbouring countries, and God made Egypt a refuge for his redeemed people. Deliverance by quiet providences.
II GOD"S REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM THE EGYPTIAN BONDAGE. For the place of refuge presently became a place of slavery. This deliverance was accompanied with displays of august power, which reached their climax in the death of the Egyptian firstborn. Deliverance by miraculous interventions.
III GOD"S REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM ITS OWN WILFULNESS. God"s deliverance of a man is never complete while it deals exclusively with his circumstances and surroundings. A man is not redeemed until he is redeemed from his bad self. The nation was not redeemed until God"s gracious working within it had been completed. We see this in scenes of the wilderness journey. We see it all through, up to the great Babylonish captivity. Redemption comes by Divine discipline. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-6. God in history.
"The mighty acts of Jehovah for his people from the first dawn of their national existence are recounted as a fitting subject for thankfulness, and as a ground for future obedience.
I GOD HAS WONDERFULLY REVEALED HIMSELF IN HISTORY.
1. By his marvellous work of love. To the Jews and to the world. Christianity a grand historical embodiment and exhibition of the love of God.
2. By his everlasting faithfulness. As witnessed in the fulfilment of his promises and threatenings to the Jews and the Christian Church. God departs neither from his word nor his plan.
3. By his righteous judgments upon the wickedness of men and nations. His righteousness is the guarantee both for his rewards and his punishments. Doing right is as much a part of the Divine character as doing good; i.e. justice and beneficence are both necessary to a perfect being.
4. By the publication of his law to mankind. (Ver. 5) "The judgments of his mouth" are the utterances of his moral law which he has given by the deliverances of Moses and of Christ.
II HOW THIS REVELATION SHOULD BE RECEIVED.
1. With rejoicing gratitude and thanksgiving. This one of the highest parts of the worship of God. Joyful gratitude is love, and when this is followed by obedience, then God is worshipped most acceptably.
2. With devout meditation. Thought, meditation, is necessary to understand the smallest fact of life; but infinitely necessary to interpret the stupendous facts of redemption.
3. With a spirit of earnest inquiry. We have only just begun to understand the Divine work, and if "the angels desire to look into these things," how much more eager should we be to bend over them with inquiring thought! We are only in the incipient stages of spiritual intelligence. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv1–5This historical psalm was evidently composed by King David,…
This historical psalm was evidently composed by King David, for the first fifteen verses of it were used as a hymn at the carrying up of the ark from the house of Obededom, and we read in 1Ch 16:7, "Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord, into the hand of Asaph and his brethren." Such a song was suitable for the occasion, for it describes the movements of the Lord's people and his guardian care over them in every place, and all this on account of the covenant of which the ark, then removing, was a symbol. Our last psalm sang the opening chapters of Genesis, and this takes up its closing chapters and conducts us into Exodus and Numbers.
The first verses are full of joyful praise, and call upon the people to extol Jehovah, Ps 105:1-7; then the earliest days of the infant nation, are described, Ps 105:8-15; the going into Egypt, Ps 105:16-23, the coming forth from it with the Lord's outstretched arm, Ps 105:24-38, the journeying through the wilderness and the entrance into Canaan.
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We are now among the long Psalms, as at other times we have been among the short ones. These varying lengths of the sacred poems should teach us not to lay down any law either of brevity or prolixity in either prayer or praise. Short petitions and single verses of hymns are often the best for public occasions, but there are seasons when a whole night of wrestling or an entire day of psalm slinging will be none too long. The Spirit is ever free in his operations, and is not to be confined with, the rules of conventional propriety. The wind bloweth as it listeth, and at one time rushes in short and rapid sweep, while at another it continues to refresh the earth hour after hour with its reviving breath.
Ver 1. O give thanks unto the Lord. Jehovah is the author of all our benefits, therefore let him have all our gratitude.
Call upon his name, or call him by his name; proclaim his titles and fill the world with his renown.
Make known his deeds among the people, or among the nations. Let the heathen hear of our God, that they may forsake their idols and learn to worship him. The removal of the ark was a fit occasion for proclaiming aloud the glories of the Great King, and for publishing to all mankind the greatness of his doings, for it had a history in connection with the nations which it was well for them to remember with reverence. The rest of the psalm is a sermon, of which these first verses constitute the text.
Whole Psalm. This is the first of a series of "Confitemini Domino" Psalms, "O give thanks unto the Lord" (Ps 105:1 106:1 107:1 108:1 136:1) Christopher Wordsworth.
Whole Psalm. The 105th Psalm is a meditation on the covenant as performed on the part of God, the 106th on the covenant as kept by Israel. They both dwell on the predestinating will of God, electing men to holiness and obedience, and the mode in which human sin opposes itself to that will, and yet cannot make it void. Plain Commentary.
Ver. 1. The first fifteen verses were written at the bringing up of the Ark, 1 Chron. 6. They tell that it is sovereign grace that ruleth over allit is a sovereign God. Out of a fallen world he takes whom he pleasesindividuals, families, nations. He chose Israel long ago, that they might be the objects of grace, and their land the theatre of its display. He will yet again return to Israel, when the days of his Kingdom of Glory draw near; and Israel shall have a full sharethe very fullest and richestin his blessings, temporal and spiritual. Andrew A. Bonar.
Ver. 1. Call upon his name. The original meaning of this phrase is call (him) by his name, i.e., give him the descriptive title most expressive of his divine perfections; or more specifically, call him by his name Jehovah, i.e., ascribe to him the attributes which it denotes, to wit, eternity and self existence, together with that covenant relation to his people, which though not denoted by the name was constantly associated with it, and therefore necessarily suggested by it. The meaning of the next phrase is obscured, if not entirely concealed in the common version, "among the people." The plural form and sense of the original expression are essential to the writer's purpose, which is to glorify the God of Israel among the nations. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Ver. 1. Make known his deeds among the people. The people of God were not shut up in that narrow corner of the earth for the purpose of confining within their straitened territories the true knowledge and worship of God; but God wished that to be the fixed seat of the church, from which the sound of heavenly doctrine should go forth into all nations. Therefore he chose Canaan, which is interjected among the most powerful nations of the world, that from it as from a fountain might more easily issue the doctrine of God to the rest, of the nations: as Isaiah says, "Out of Zion shall go forth the law." Mollerus.
Ver. 1.
1. Praise God for former mercies.
2. Pray for further mercies.
3. Publish his famous mercies.
Ver. 1. A series of holy exercises.
"Give thanks"
"call upon his name"
"make known"
"sing"
"talk"
"glory"
"rejoice"
"seek"
"remember".
Psalms 105:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4Make known His deeds among the people.
Psa_105:1
Make known His deeds among the people.
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God in Jewish history, an object of worship
I. Gratitude for His mercy is demanded.
1. The greatness of His favours.
2. The disinterestedness of His motives.
II. The celebration of His works is demanded (verse 2).
1. Publicly.
2. Rapturously.
III. Delight in Him is demanded (verse 3). If a noble son rejoices in his father because of the nobility of his character, the greatness of his influence, the superiority of his attainments, natural and acquired, the greatness of his resources, how much more should a true man delight in the Infinite Father, the Fountain of all goodness.
IV. Pursuit of Him is demanded (verse 4).
1. For this we were made.
2. This alone is our happiness.
V. The remembrance of Him is demanded (verse 5). There are here two subjects for memory.
1. Gods wonderful works for man.
2. Gods wonderful utterances to man.
God has spoken to humanity many things, many times, in many lands--wonderful thought! These words should be remembered by all men. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible1887 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 105
Psalms 105
IT is a reasonable conjecture that the Hallelujah at the end of Psalms 104, where it is superfluous, properly belongs to this psalm, which would then be assimilated to Psalms 106, which is obviously a companion psalm. Both are retrospective and didactic; but Psalms 105 deals entirely with Gods unfailing faithfulness to Israel, while Psalms 106 sets forth the sad contrast presented by Israels continual faithlessness to God. Each theme is made more impressive by being pursued separately, and then set over against the other. The long series of Gods mercies massed together here confronts the dark uniformity of Israels unworthy requital, of them there. Half of the sky is pure blue and radiant sunshine; half is piled with unbroken clouds. Nothing drives home the consciousness of sin so surely as contemplation of Gods loving acts. Probably this psalm, like others of similar contents, is of late date. The habit of historical retrospect for religious purposes is likely to belong to times remote from the events recorded. Psa_105:1-15 are found in 1 Chronicles 16 as part of the hymn at Davids setting up of the Ark on Zion. But that hymn is unmistakably a compilation from extant psalms, and cannot be taken as decidedly the Davidic authorship of the psalm.
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Psa_105:1-6 are a ringing summons to extol and contemplate Gods great deeds for Israel. They are full of exultation, and, in their reiterated short clauses, are like the joyful cries of a herald bringing good tidings to Zion. There is a beautiful progress of thought in these verses. They begin with the call to thank and praise Jehovah and to proclaim His doings among the people. That recognition of Israels office as the worlds evangelist does not require the supposition that the nation was dispersed in captivity, but simply shows that the singer understood the reason for the long series of mercies heaped on it. It is significant that Gods "deeds" are Israels message to the world. By such deeds His "name" is spoken. What God has done is the best revelation of what God is. His messengers are not to speak their own thoughts about Him, but to tell the story of His acts and let these speak for Him. Revelation is not a set of propositions, but a history of Divine facts. The foundation of audible praise and proclamation is contemplation. Therefore the exhortation in Psa_105:2 b follows, which means not merely "speak," but may be translated, as in margin of the Revised Version, "meditate," and is probably best rendered so as to combine both ideas, "musingly speak." Let not the words be mere words, but feel the great deeds which you proclaim. In like manner, Psa_105:3 calls upon the heralds to "glory" for themselves in the name of Jehovah, and to make efforts to possess Him more fully and to rejoice in finding Him. Aspiration after clearer and closer knowledge and experience of God should ever underlie glad pealing forth of His name. If it does not, eloquent tongues will fall silent, and Israels proclamation will be cold and powerless. To seek Jehovah is to find His strength investing our feebleness. To turn our faces towards His in devout desire is to have our faces made bright by reflected light. And one chief way of seeking Jehovah is the remembrance of His merciful wonders of old, "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered," {Psa_111:4} and His design in them is that men should have solid basis for their hopes, and be thereby encouraged to seek Him, as well as be taught what He is Thus the psalmist reaches his main theme, which is to build a memorial of these deeds for an everlasting possession. The "wonders" referred to in Psa_105:5 are chiefly those wrought in Egypt, as the subsequent verses show.
Psa_105:6 contains, in the names given to Israel, the reason for their obeying the preceding summonses. Their hereditary relation to God gives them the material, and imposes on them the obligation and the honour of being "secretaries of Gods praise." In Psa_105:6 a "His servant" may be intended to designate the nation, as it often does in Isaiah 40-46. "His chosen ones" in Psa_105:6 b would then be an exact parallel; but the recurrence of the expression in Psa_105:42, with the individual reference, makes that reference more probable here.
The fundamental fact underlying all Israels experience of Gods care is His own loving will, which, self-moved, entered into covenant obligations, so that thereafter His mercies are ensured by His veracity, no less than by His kindness. Hence the psalm begins its proper theme by hymning the faithfulness of God to His oath, and painting the insignificance of the beginnings of the nation, as showing that the ground of Gods covenant relation was laid in Himself, not in them. Israels consciousness of holding a special relation to God never obscured, in the, minds of psalmists and prophets, the twin truth that all the earth waited on Him, and was the theatre of His manifestations. Baser souls might hug themselves on their prerogative. The nobler spirits ever confessed that it laid on them duties to the world, and that God had not left Himself without witness in any land. These two truths have often been rent asunder, both in Israel and in Christendom, but each needs the other for its full comprehension. "Jehovah is our God" may become the war cry of bitter hostility to them that are without, or of contempt, which is quite as irreligious. "In all the earth are His judgments" may lead to a vague theism, incredulous of special revelation. He who is most truly penetrated with the first will be most joyfully ready to proclaim the second of these sister thoughts, and will neither shut up all Gods mercies within the circle of revelation, nor lose sight of His clearest utterances while looking on His more diffused and less perfect ones.
The obligations under which God has come to Israel are represented as a covenant, a word and an oath. In all the general idea of explicit declaration of Divine purpose, which henceforth becomes binding on God by reason of His faithfulness, is contained; but the conception of a covenant implies mutual obligation, failure to discharge which on one side relieves the other contracting party from his promise, while that of a word simply includes the notion of articulate utterance, and that of an oath adds the thought of a solemn sanction and a pledge given. God swears by Himself-that is, His own character is the guarantee of His promise. These various designations are thus heaped together, in order to heighten the thought of the firmness of His promise. It stands "forever," "to a thousand generations"; if is an "everlasting covenant." The psalmist triumphs, as it were, in the manifold repetition of it. Each of the fathers of the nation had it confirmed to himself, -Abraham; Isaac when, ready to flee from the land in famine, he had renewed to him {Gen_26:3} the oath which he had first heard as he stood, trembling but unharmed, by the rude altar where the ram lay in his stead; {Gen_22:16} Jacob as he lay beneath the stars of Bethel. With Jacob (Israel) the singer passes from the individuals to the nation, as is shown by the alternation of "thee" and "you" in Psa_105:11. The lowly condition of the recipients of the promise not only exalts the love which chose them, but the power which preserved them and fulfilled it. And if, as may be the case, the psalm is exilic or post-exilic, its picture of ancient days is like a mirror, reflecting present depression and bidding the downcast be of good cheer. He who made a strong nation out of that little horde of wanderers must have been moved by His own heart, not by anything in them; and what He did long ago He can do today. Gods past is the prophecy of Gods future. Literally rendered, Psa_105:12 a runs "Whilst they were men of number," i.e., easily numbered. {Gen_34:30, where Jacob uses the same phrase} "Very few" in b is literally "like a little," and may either apply to number or to worth. It is used in the latter sense, in reference to "the heart of the wicked," in Pro_10:20, and may have the same meaning here. That little band of wanderers, who went about as sojourners among the kinglets of Canaan and Philistia, with occasional visits to Egypt, seemed very vulnerable; but God was, as He had promised to the first of them at a moment of extreme peril, their "shield," and in their lives there were instances of strange protection afforded them, which curbed kings, as in the case of Abram in Egypt {Genesis 12} and Gerar, {Genesis 20} and of Isaac in the latter place. {Genesis 26} The patriarchs were not, techinally speaking, "anointed," but they had that of which anointing was but a symbol. They were Divinely set apart and endowed for their tasks, and, as consecrated to Gods service, their persons were inviolable. In a very profound sense all Gods servants are thus anointed, and are "immortal till their work is done." "Prophets" in the narrower sense of the word the patriarchs were not, but Abraham is called so by God in one of the places already referred to. {Gen_20:7} Prior to prophetic utterance is prophetic inspiration: and these men received Divine communications, and were, in a special degree, possessed of the counsels of Heaven. The designation is equivalent to Abrahams name of the "friend of God." Thus both titles, which guaranteed a charmed, invulnerable life to their bearers, go deep into the permanent privileges of God-trusting souls. All such "have an anointing from the Holy One," and receive whispers from His lips. They are all under the aegis of His protection, and for their sakes kings of many a dynasty and age have been rebuked.
In Psa_105:16-22 the history of Joseph is poetically and summarily treated, as a link in the chain of providences which brought about the fulfilment of the Covenant. Possibly the singer is thinking about a captive Israel in the present, while speaking about a captive Joseph in the past. In Gods dealings humiliation and affliction are often, he thinks, the precursors of glory and triumph. Calamities prepare the way for prosperity. So it was in that old time; and so it is still. In this resume of the history of Joseph, the points signalised are Gods direct agency in the whole-the errand on which Joseph was sent ("before them") as a forerunner to "prepare a place for them," the severity of his sufferings, the trial of his faith by the contrast which his condition presented to what God had promised, and his final exaltation. The description of Josephs imprisonment adds some dark touches to the account in Genesis, whether these are due to poetic idealising or to tradition. In Psa_105:18 b some would translate "Iron came over his soul." So Delitzsch, following the Vulgate ("Ferrum pertransiit animam ejus"), and the picturesque Prayer Book Version, "The iron entered into his soul." But the original is against this, as the word for iron is masculine and the verb is feminine, agreeing with the feminine noun soul. The clause is simply a parallel to the preceding. "His soul" is best taken as mere periphrasis for he, though it may be used emphatically to suggest that "his soul entered, whole and entire, in its resolve to obey God, into the cruel torture" (Kay). The meaning is conveyed by the free rendering above.
Psa_105:19 is also ambiguous, from the uncertainty as to whose word is intended in a. It may be either Gods or Josephs. The latter is the more probable, as there appears to be an intentional contrast between "His word," in a, -and "the promise of Jehovah" in b. If this explanation is adopted, a choice is still possible between Josephs interpretation of his fellow prisoners dreams, the fulfilment of which led to his liberation, and his earlier word recounting his own dreams, which led to his being sold by his brethren. In any case, the thought of the verse is a great and ever true one, that Gods promise, while it remains unfulfilled, and seems contradicted by present facts, serves as a test of the genuineness and firmness of a mans reliance on Him and it. That promise is by the psalmist almost personified, as putting Joseph to the test. Such testing is the deepest meaning of all afflictions. Fire will burn off a thin plating of silver from a copper coin and reveal the base metal beneath, but it will only brighten into a glow the one which is all silver.
There is a ring of triumph in the singers voice as he tells of the honour and power heaped on the captive, and of how the king and many nations "sent," as the mightier King in heaven had done (Psa_105:20 and Psa_105:17), and not only liberated but exalted him, giving him, whose soul had been bound in fetters, power to "bind princes according to his soul," and to instruct and command the elders of Egypt. Psa_105:23-27 carry on the story to the next step in the evolution of Gods purposes. The long years of the sojourn in Egypt are summarily dealt with, as they are in the narrative in Genesis and Exodus, and the salient points of its close alone are touched-the numerical growth of the people, the consequent hostility of the Egyptians, and the mission of Moses and Aaron. The direct ascription to God of all the incidents mentioned is to be noted. The psalmist sees only one hand moving, and has no hesitation in tracing to God the turning of the Egyptians hearts to hatred. Many commentators, both old and new, try to weaken the expression, by the explanation that the hatred was "indirectly the work of God, inasmuch as He lent increasing might to the people" (Delitzsch). But the psalmist means much more than this, just as Exodus does in attributing the hardening of Pharaohs heart to God. Psa_105:27, according to the existing text, breaks the series of verses beginning with a singular verb of which God is the subject, which stretch with only one other interruption from Psa_105:24 to Psa_105:37. It seems most probable, therefore, that the LXX is right in reading He instead of They. The change is but the omission of one letter, and the error supposed is a frequent one. The word literally means set or planted, and did is an explanation rather than a rendering. The whole expression is remarkable. Literally, we should translate "He" (or "They") "set among them words" (or "matters") "of His signs"; but this would be unintelligible, and we must have recourse to reproduction of the meaning rather than of the words.
If "words of His signs" is not merely pleonastic, it may be rendered as by Kay, "His long record of signs," or as by Cheyne, "His varied signs." But it is better to take the expression as suggesting that the miracles were indeed words, as being declarations of Gods will and commands to let His people go. The phrase in Psa_105:5, "the judgments of His mouth," would then be roughly parallel. Gods deeds are words. His signs have tongues. "He speaks and it is done"; but also, "He does and it is spoken." The expression, however, may be like Psa_65:4, where the same form of phrase is applied to sins, and where it seems to mean "deeds of iniquity." It would then mean here "His works which were signs." The following enumeration of the "signs" does not follow the order in Exodus, but begins with the ninth plague, perhaps because of its severity, and then in the main adheres to the original sequence, though it inverts the order of the third and fourth plagues (flies and gnats or mosquitoes, not "lice") and omits the fifth and sixth. The reason for this divergence is far from clear, but it may be noted that the first two in the psalmists order attack the elements; the next three. (frogs, flies, gnats) have to do with animal life; and the next two (hail and locusts), which embrace both these categories, are considered chiefly as affecting vegetable products. The emphasis is laid in all on Gods direct act. He sends darkness, He turns the waters into blood, and so on. The only other point needing notice in these verses is the statement in Psa_105:28 b. "They rebelled not against His word," which obviously is true only in reference to Moses and Aaron, who shrank not from their perilous embassage.
The tenth plague is briefly told for the psalm is hurrying on to the triumphant climax of the Exodus, when, enriched with silver and gold, the tribes went forth, strong for their desert march, and Egypt rejoiced to see the last of them, "for they said, We be all dead men". {Exo_12:33} There may be a veiled hope in this exultant picture of the Exodus, that present oppression will end in like manner. The wilderness sojourn is so treated in Psa_105:39 sqq. as to bring into sight only the leading instances, sung in many psalms, of Gods protection, without one disturbing reference to the sins and failures which darkened the forty years. These are spread out at length, without flattery or minimising, in the next psalm; but here the theme is Gods wonders. Therefore, the pillar of cloud which guided, covered, and illumined the camp, the miracles which provided food and water, are touched on in Psa_105:39-41, and then the psalmist gathers up the lessons which he would teach in three great thoughts. The reason for Gods merciful dealings with His people is His remembrance of His covenant, and of, His servant Abraham, whose faith made a claim on God, for the fulfilment which would vindicate it. That covenant: has been amply fulfilled, for Israel came forth with ringing songs, and took possession of lands which they had not tilled, and houses which they had not built. The purpose of covenant and fulfilment is that the nation, thus admitted into special relations with God, should by His mercies be drawn to keep His commandments, and in obedience find rest and closer fellowship with its God. The psalmist had learned that God gives before He demands or commands, and that "Love," springing from grateful reception of His benefits, "is the fulfilling of the Law." He anticipates the full Christian exhortation, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v1“This Psalm,” says Perowne, “like the 78th and the…
INTRODUCTION
“This Psalm,” says Perowne, “like the 78th and the 106th, has for its theme the early history of Israel, and God’s wonders wrought on behalf of the nation; but it differs from both those Psalms in the intention with which it pursues this theme. The 78th Psalm is didactic: its object is to teach a lesson; it recalls the past as conveying instruction and warning for the present. The 106th Psalm is a psalm of penitential confession. The history of the past appears in it only as a history of Israel’s sin. In this Psalm, on the other hand, the mighty acts of Jehovah for His people, from the first dawn of their national existence, are recounted as a fitting subject for thankfulness, and as a ground for future obedience. Those interpositions of God are specially dwelt upon which have a reference to the fulfilment of His promise, which exhibit most clearly His faithfulness to His covenant. Hence the series begins with the covenant made with Abraham, tracing all the steps in its fulfilment to the occupation of the promised land.” Neither the author of the Psalm nor the occasion on which it was composed is known.
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THE WORKS AND WORSHIP OF THE LORD
(Psa_105:1-7)
Let us consider—
I. The worship of the Divine Being. The Psalmist calls upon Israel to celebrate the worship of Jehovah, in—
1. Thankful praise. “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him. Glory ye in His holy name.” The reasons for this praise are the Lord’s glorious deeds, afterwards mentioned in the Psalm, and His holiness. God should be thankfully and joyfully praised because of His perfections and works.
2. Trustful prayer. Here is prayer for Divine strength: “Seek the Lord and His strength.” Only as we are strengthened by the Lord are we able to perform the duties and endure the trials of life. For Divine favour: “Seek His face evermore;” i.e., Seek His favour. (See a sketch on Psa_80:3.) Here is perpetual prayer: “Evermore.” The godly soul will seek the favour of the Lord through all time and all eternity, and will progress in the enjoyment of that favour evermore. Here is prayer with gladness of heart. “Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” Barnes: “Let their heart rejoice, (a) because they are permitted to seek Him, (b) because they are inclined to seek Him, (c) because they have such a God to come to,—one so mighty, so holy, so good, so gracious.” And, may we not add? because of the encouragement which. His former deeds afford us in seeking Him.
II. The character of the Divine works. The deeds to which the Psalmist refers are those wrought on behalf of His people. He represents them as—
1. Marvellous. “His wondrous works, … marvellous works that He hath done.” The deeds mentioned in this Psalm (Psa_105:27-41) were fitted to excite wonder and admiration.
2. Significant. In Psa_105:5, Perowne does not translate “His wonders,” as in the A.V., but “His tokens.” The miracles which He wrought were not only surprising but instructive. His doings in the past were a foundation on which to base a joyful hope for the future. They abounded in encouragement and in warning.
3. Judicial. “The judgments of His mouth.” “The wonders of God in Egypt were exactly so many judicial decisions of God in the case of Israel against the Egyptians, or of the Church of God against the world.”
III. The treatment of the Divine works. The Poet calls upon the people to—
1. Remember them. “Remember His marvellous works.” The doings of God on behalf of His people, both providential and redemptive, should never be forgotten by them. To forget them would involve
(1) base ingratitude to God;
(2) foolish disregard of the advantage of remembering them. The recollection of them would tend to strengthen faith, promote obedience, &c.
2. Ponder them. “Talk of all His wondrous works.” Both Hengstenberg and Perowne translate, “Meditate,” &c. Reflection must follow recollection. (See a sketch on Psa_77:11-12.)
3. Publish them. “Make known His deeds among the people.” Declaration should follow reflection. (See on Psa_77:11-12.)
IV. The people of the Divine choice. “Ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen. He is the Lord our God.” “His chosen, plural, referring to the people, not to Jacob. It is on this ground, because they are Jacob’s children, heritors of the covenant and the promises, that they are bound beyond all others to ‘remember’ what God had done for them.”—Perowne. As the chosen people of God, they were the heirs of His promises, and so His mighty deeds in the past were pledges of His omnipotent help in the future. Being the people of God, theirs was the privilege of His protection and support and salvation. And theirs was the duty of praising His name, publishing His deeds, and performing His commands.
Let the people of God, in this age of Gospel grace, be mindful of both their privileges and their responsibilities.
SPIRITUAL JOYS
(Psa_105:3. “Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.”)
Here is a generic term for God’s people—“they seek the Lord,”—definite, yet comprehensive; it may be applied to the awakened sinner—he “seeks the Lord,”—to the professing Christian—all his life life is “seeking the Lord,”—and the matured, departing believer can do no more; he dies, “seeking the Lord,” nor will he fully find Him until he sees Him as He is in glory,—“I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness.” To such persons it is that the Psalmist addresses the exhortation of the text: “Let the heart of them rejoice,” &c. Observe—
I. That it is God’s will that His people should be happy. We might show that, notwithstanding all the disturbing causes, the goodness of God in desiring His creatures’ happiness appears in the animate world and among men in general, but the text limits it to His own people.
1. Consider what God has done to promote and secure the happiness of His people. He has redeemed them from sin, guilt, and corruption by the death, and passion, and glorification of His dear Son. That Son lives to intercede for them, and supplies them with all grace out of His fulness in glory. To comfort, cheer, animate, as well as to sanctify them, His Holy Spirit dwells in them. “All things are theirs.” They have abounding consolation and Divine joys, and “peace which passeth all understanding.” See Psa_84:11.
2. The exhortations to joy and peace abound in Holy Scripture. It is a duty, as well as a privilege, for believers to be happy. See Psa_33:1; Joh_16:22; 2Co_2:14; Eph_4:4.
II. Still in all ages God’s people have been for the most part a sad and sorrowing people.
It is often assumed that their portion in this world is usually a sorrowful one. Large portions of sadness were administered to Jacob, to Joseph, to Moses, to David, Elijah, Jeremiah—to say nothing of Job himself. See Act_14:22.
And of modern Christians it is constantly alleged that they are gloomy and melancholy,—and there is much in them to justify the world’s accusation, as happy and rejoicing believers are rather the exception than the rule among persons of piety.
III. How is this to be accounted for? God has made a rich provision for His people’s happiness, but they are not happy,—why is this?
May it not be accounted for by their trials, temptations, afflictions? Certainly not! because God sends corresponding help and grace; all persons of experience would attest that the happiest and most rejoicing Christians are to be found among those who are most deeply afflicted. See 2Co_1:5.
Does not God sometimes withhold spiritual consolations from His faithful and consistent people? He does so. See Isa_50:10. But such cases are rare, and the time of shadows short, and speedily lead to stronger exercises of faith and surer joys. The absence of religious joy and peace is chiefly to be accounted for—
1. In some instances by the hollowness of religious profession. The heart is not true and right with God,—some secret passion, appetite, lust, desire, is allowed or indulged in. There can be no real happiness in religion while an idol is in the heart. See Mat_6:24; 1Jn_3:21.
2. Where there is not direct heart treachery nor self-deception there may be an unsuccessful conflict with indwelling sin. See Romans 7; 2Co_5:4; Gal_5:17. Natural character, impure or sceptical, or vain, passionate, and revengeful—and the workings of these destroy peace of mind.
3. Defective views of God’s all-sufficient grace:—labour as slaves, as hirelings, as legalists—forgetting that He who purchased forgiveness secured grace. See Joh_15:4; Rom_7:25; 2Co_12:8-9.
4. Errors as to the ground and source of a believer’s rejoicing. Our joy, peace, comfort, &c., must spring not from our growth in grace, nor from anything in us nor done by us, but in and out of Christ alone—and all our sorrows are intended to drive us to this. (Psa_5:11-12; Isa_12:1-3; Isa_61:10-11; Hab_3:18.) So in the New Testament. (Php_4:4.) God in Christ is the only abiding source of happiness to His people.
1. Let all sincere Christians believe that a sorrowful experience is a defective and imperfect condition of soul. Better be sad than indifferent, slumbering, &c. But a melancholy, gloomy, downcast, doubting state is not the normal condition of a believer.
2. Let all search and see whether any allowed sin, or inconsistency, or idol, remain in their hearts. There can be no peace, no success, no joy, till this A chan is stoned and burnt.
3. Let no one be satisfied until he is both happy and holy. Both within your reach.
Are you afflicted?—no matter from what source, rejoice. “Suffer affliction with people of God,” &c.
Consolation withheld? Wait, and watch, and pray—and look for the Spirit, and search for Christ until you find Him.
Corruptions? “Nothing too hard for the Lord.” Union with Christ by His Spirit alone subdues them.
Confused ideas? perplexed views? doubt? See Isa_54:13. Pray for light, &c.
Happiness, present now, immediate, in store for you. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour.”—F. Close, D.D.
THE FAITHFUL PROMISES
(Psa_105:8-15)
The Poet here sings of the covenant of the Lord with His ancient people, and the early stages of its fulfilment. In doing this he brings out several truths of universal application as to God and His engagements with man, on which we may profitably reflect.
I. The Lord’s remembrance of His promises. “He hath remembered His covenant for ever.” God cannot forget anything. All the things which He hath promised He will perform, though tedious ages may intervene between the giving of the promise and its fulfilment. If God were to forget His engagements He would cease to be God. “If God were to forget for one moment,” says Macdonald, “the universe would grow black—vanish—rush out again from the realm of law and order into chaos and night.” His infinite intelligence, His unchangeableness and His past doings afford ample guarantees of the Lord’s unfailing remembrance of His promises.
II. The perpetuity of His promises. “The word which He commanded to a thousand generations.” Hengstenberg translates: “The word which He ordained,” &c. Perowne: “The word which He confirmed,” &c. “A thousand generations” means innumerable generations, always. AS the Psalmist says, the covenant is “an everlasting covenant.” “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” The promises of of God are to all generations. This is a glorious truth. Promises of pardon, sufficient grace, eternal and blessed life to every believer in the Lord, are for man in all ages and in all lands.
III. The confirmation of His promises. “The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” For the confirmation to Isaac, see Gen_26:3-5; and to Jacob, Gen_28:13-15; and to Israel, Gen_35:9-12. In the experience of every generation God confirms the truth of His promises. Every age, as it passes away from this world, leaves behind it an additional volume testifying most conclusively to the faithfulness of God.
IV. The recipients of His promises. Concerning these the Psalmist indicates three characteristics. They are—
1. Believers of the Divine Word. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were eminent for faith. (Heb_11:8-9; Heb_11:17-21.) God required the Israelites to believe His word and obey His commands. The blessings of salvation are promised to those who believe.
2. Consecrated to the Divine service. “Mine anointed.” The patriarchs were not anointed; but the Poet uses the language of his own day to set forth the idea that they were called and consecrated to the service of God. Those who truly believe the word of God, and accept the offers of His grace, devote themselves to His service. To them the promises of protection, sanctification, and the heavenly inheritance are made.
3. Recipients of Divine communications. “My prophets.” “A good instance,” says Perowne, “of the wide signification of this word. It is derived from a root signifying to boil, to bubble up. The prophet is one in whose soul there rises a spring, a rushing stream of Divine inspiration. In the later language he not only receives the Divine word, but he is made the utterer of it, the organ of its communication to others. But in the earlier instances, as in that of Abraham, his official character does not distinctly appear, though doubtless, like Noah, he was ‘a preacher of righteousness,’ and taught his own family (and through them ultimately the whole world) the way of the Lord. See Gen_18:19. Here the prophet means little more than one to whom God speaks, one with whom He holds converse, whether by word, or vision, or dream, or inner voice. (Comp. Num_12:6-8.) We approach nearest to what is meant by styling the patriarchs prophets when we read such passages as Gen_18:17 : ‘And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?’ or again, the pleading of Abraham for Sodom, in Psa_105:23-33 of the same chapter. It is, indeed, as pleading with God in intercession that Abraham is termed a prophet in Gen_20:7. The title is thus very similar to that of the ‘Friend of God’ (Isa_41:8; 2Ch_20:7; Jas_2:23).” The people of God, in whose experience His gracious promises are fulfilled, are in communication with Him. He speaks to them by His Word and by His Spirit. They have fellowship with Him. Such are three of the characteristics of the recipients of the promises of the Lord.
V. The fulfilment of His promises.
1. God’s promises will be fulfilled however great the apparent improbability. When God promised the land of Canaan to the patriarchs, the fulfilment of the promise seemed utterly improbable. At that time they were
(1) very “few in number.” Was it likely that they would ever be able to take possession of the land? or that their seed would ever be “as the stars of the heaven” for multitude?
(2) They were strangers in that land. They did not unite themselves with the people of the land, or acquire property there.
(3) They were wanderers. “They went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people.” They had no fixed residence. They were exposed to frequent dangers. How improbable that the land promised to them should ever be theirs! Yet the Lord fulfils His promise, and gives them the land. The things which appear to man improbable, or even impossible, God accomplishes, if He has promised to do so. Apply this to the perfection of individual character, to the future triumphs of Christianity in the world, &c.
2. God’s promises will be fulfilled though their fulfilment may necessitate the control of the greatest powers. “He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes.” See Gen_12:10-20; Gen_20:1-7. The Lord controls the mightiest as well as the meanest powers, for the protection of His people and the fulfilment of His promises.
CONCLUSION.
1. Warning to the wicked. God will inflict the punishment which He has denounced against sin.
2. Encouragement
(1) to the repentant sinner. The promises of forgiveness and grace are gloriously reliable.
(2) To the people of God. However improbable, apparently, not one good thing of all that He hath promised shall fail.
HISTORICAL SURPRISES
(Psa_105:16-24)
From the 16th verse to the 38th verse the Psalmist gives an outline of the history of Israel in Egypt, exhibiting in it the fulfilment of the Divine purposes and the working of the Divine power. In the verses under consideration at present we have several surprises of the Divine providence.
I. A famine driving the people from the land promised to them, yet contributing to their possession of it. “He called for a famine upon the land; He brake the whole staff of bread.” The famine referred to is that which occurred in the time of Jacob, and which occasioned his migration into Egypt. This famine was no chance occurrence; it came not merely by the operation of material laws; God called for it; He ordered it. By reason of it “Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.” Thus they departed from the promised laud; and so the fulfilment of the promise was rendered apparently more unlikely than ever. Yet in the providence of God their absence from the land of Canaan contributed to their ultimate possession of it. While in Egypt they increased in number, in power, in intelligence, &c.
II. A slave becomes the saviour of a country and of the chosen people. Notice here—
1. The sin of man. “Joseph was sold for a servant,” or slave. Joseph’s position as a slave in Egypt was brought about by the envy and jealousy, the hatred and cruelty, of his brethren.
2. The providence of God. “He sent a man before them.” God so ordered events that Joseph was taken into Egypt, and there wondrously enabled to preserve the people of that land from perishing by famine, and to arrange for the reception and support of Israel and his family. Joseph’s position in Egypt was not an accident or a freak of fortune. “Be not grieved, nor angry that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” The brethren of Joseph were free in their wickedness in selling him; they were guilty, in the sight of God, of jealousy, hatred, cruelty. God’s overruling of man’s sin does not extenuate his guilt. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee,” &c. In the providence of God, the detested slave became the honoured saviour of nations.
III. A prisoner is made the ruler over the land.
1. Imprisonment as the result of the wickedness of another. Joseph was imprisoned despite his own virtue, and by reason of the sins of his master’s wife. (Gen_39:7-20.)
2. Imprisonment painful to the sufferer. “Whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron.” Margin, as in the Heb.: “His soul came into iron.” P. B. V.: “The iron entered into his soul” is a very expressive rendering, but it is incorrect. Perowne points out that in this verse we have a picture of an imprisonment much more severe “than that given in Gen_39:20-23; Gen_40:4. But it may refer to the earlier stage of the imprisonment, before he had won the confidence of his gaoler, or it may be tinged with the colouring of poetry.” But even, under the least unfavourable circumstances, imprisonment is painful to an upright man. It is one of the most severe trials to the soul of such a man. Moreover, in the case of Joseph, imprisonment was a trial of his faith. “The word of the Lord tried him.” God had promised to the family of which he was a member the possession of Canaan; and to him, in his dreams, exaltation and honour had been promised. So the saying or promise of God is said to try him, because during the years of his suffering and imprisonment it tested his faith and patience. Would God make good His word and raise him to honour? was an inquiry which often pressed itself upon Joseph.
3. Imprisonment Divinely overruled. Joseph’s imprisonment was overruled by God to promote the accomplishment of purposes the most important and benevolent. The Psalmist mentions
(1) The means by which his release was brought about. “Until the time that his word came.” The “word” is the word of Joseph by which he interpreted to the servants of Pharaoh their dreams in the prison. The verification of his interpretation of the dreams and his release from prison are regarded as cause and effect.
(2) The wisdom which he displayed. Joseph manifested such wisdom in interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, and advising him as to the measures to be adopted to provide for the people during the years of famine, that the elders of Egypt were instructed by him. “To teach his senators wisdom,” is not to be interpreted that he literally instructed them in the art of politics. He displayed a wisdom superior to theirs, by which they were instructed.
(3) The power with which he was invested. As a result of the wisdom which he manifested, Pharaoh “made him lord of his house and ruler of all his substance,” &c. The administration of the affairs of the kingdom was placed entirely under his control. The most complete authority was given unto him. (Gen_41:44.) Wonderful are the changes brought about in the providence of God, and wonderful the means by which they are brought about!
IV. A subject people growing stronger than a sovereign people. “He increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies.” (Exo_1:7-9.) This increase in number and power the Poet attributes to God. The virtues of a godly character promote the growth and progress of a people. We have an illustration in the growth of the Christian provinces of Turkey in Europe, while the dominant Mahommedans are decaying.
CONCLUSION. From these surprises in the outworking of the Divine Providence, let us learn to TRUST GOD amid its mysteries.
1. Let those who are condemned and suffer wrongfully trust Him. In due time He will vindicate them, even as He did Joseph.
2. When the current of events seem opposed to His avowed purposes and promises, let us trust Him. He oft moves in a way that is mysterious to us. But He will accomplish His purposes and fulfil His promises.
A CRUEL PERSECUTION AND A GLORIOUS EMANCIPATION
(Psa_105:25-38)
In these verses the Psalmist gives us a glimpse of—
I. Israel persecuted in Egypt. We see here
1. The root of the persecution. “He turned their heart to hate His people.” The hostility of the Egyptians to the Israelites is here ascribed to God. Now we know that God is not in any sense the author of moral evil. “God is light.” Hence the statement of the Psalmist has occasioned much difficulty. The difficulty is of the same kind as when it is said that the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. (See Homiletic Commentary, Critical Note, on Exo_7:3.) We shall do well to bear in mind three facts.
(1) Pharaoh and his people were free in what they did to the Israelites.
(2) The Lord manifested His disapprobation of their conduct.
(3) Yet, “nothing—not even the human will, free as it is—is independent of God; and not even the worst passions of men are outside of His plan, or independent in such a sense that He does not afford the opportunity for their development and display.” God so ordered events that the Egyptians became the enemies of His people, and rendered their removal to another land necessary. The goodness of the Lord to the Israelites exasperated the Egyptians against them. “Though God is not the author of the sins of men, yet He serves His own purposes by them.” The root of the persecution was the hatred of the Egyptians. The growing number and power of the Israelites aroused the jealousy, suspicion, and hatred of the Egyptians. Hatred is incipient murder.
2. The manner of the persecution. “To deal subtilly with his servants.” The word which is here rendered “to deal subtilly,” in Gen_37:18, is rendered “they conspired against.” There is a reference to Exo_1:10 : “Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply,” &c. So, with diabolic cunning and cruelty, the male children were ordered to be slain as soon as they were born, and the burdens of the people were grievously increased. “Malice is crafty to destroy: Satan has the serpent’s subtlety with his venom.”
II. Israel emancipated from Egypt. God listened to the cries of His oppressed people and delivered them. Their emancipation was effected by the Lord God—
1. By human instruments. He employed Moses and Aaron to accomplish this great work. They were
(1) Divinely commissioned. “He sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He had chosen.” They were not popular agitators, but men of distinguished abilities, called of God to a great work.
(2) Divinely authenticated. “They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.” (Comp. Exo_4:28; Exo_4:30; Exo_10:2; Psa_78:43.)
(3) Obedient to the Divine commission. “They rebelled not against His words.” At first Moses was unwilling to undertake the mission; but afterwards he and Aaron shrank not from the task, but faithfully performed the bidding of the Lord. Unmoved by fear of Pharaoh, or by pity for his people, they did the work which the Lord committed to them.
2. By overcoming the most persistent resistance on the part of Pharaoh. Pharaoh would not obey the Divine command until the Lord had visited him and his people and country with terrible plagues. Psa_105:28-36. (See Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:42-53, and Exodus 7-12.)
3. In circumstances favourable to His people. They were brought out of Egypt with
(1) Wealth. “He brought them forth with silver and gold.” In Exo_12:35 it is said, “They borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold.” “Borrowed” is an unhappy rendering, as the word—שָׁאַל—signifies to penetrate, to ask pressingly, to require, to request, to beg, &c.
(2) Health. “There was not one feeble person among their tribes.” Perowne: “There was none among their tribes that stumbled.” Notwithstanding their afflictions, the people were healthy and hardy when they left Egypt.
(3) Respect. “Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them fell upon them.” The Lord had so pleaded their cause that they were regarded by the Egyptians as under the special protection of God. The Egyptians were afraid of them, and realised a great feeling of relief when they had gone out from amongst them.
(4) Joy. “He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen with gladness” (Psa_105:43). God exchanged their cry by reason of their burdens, for glad songs by reason of their deliverance.
CONCLUSION. Our subject speaks—
1. Encouragement to the oppressed.
2. Warning to the oppressor.
3. Hope for the future of the race. “The Lord reigneth.”
DIVINE BLESSINGS IN HUMAN PILGRIMAGE
(Psa_105:39-45)
In these verses the Psalmist briefly refers to the goodness of God to the Israelites in the wilderness, and their inheritance of Canaan, and states the reason why He had so dealt with them, and His purpose in His dealings with them. This portion of the poem may be used as illustrating the blessings of God in the pilgrimage of human life. These blessings are—
I. Adapted to human needs. The needs of Israel in the wilderness represent the needs of human life. The Divine blessings were adapted to those needs.
1. Direction. “He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night.” “In the daytime He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.” See Exo_8:21. “The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” He does so—
(1) by the teachings of His Word;
(2) by the influences of His Spirit;
(3) by the indications of circumstances.
2. Protection. In the burning wilderness the cloud was a protection to the people against the heat of the sun by day; and by night the fire shielded them from the attacks of wild beasts. God is the sure defence of His people. “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”
3. Provision. “They asked, and He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.” (On Psa_105:40, see Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:24-29; and on Psa_105:41, see Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:15-16.) God provides for His people all needful things for the body. Of the righteous the Lord says, “Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure.” “No good will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Mat_6:30-32). Spiritually His provisions are adapted to all our needs. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
4. Possession. “He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labour of the people.” (See Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:55.) During the wanderings in the wilderness the Israelites looked forward to the possession of Canaan as the end of their wanderings, their rest and home. A glorious inheritance awaits the good at the end of their pilgrimage,—“an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, is reserved in heaven” for them. This is an inspiration during the pilgrimage, &c.
II. Adequate to human needs. “He satisfied them.” “The waters ran in the dry places like a river.” The Divine provision for the Israelites in the wilderness was abundant. No one lacked anything. Having the Lord with them, they had all-sufficiency. So in the pilgrimage of human life the Divine provisions are adequate to every need. “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” “He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” His wisdom is adequate to our direction; His wisdom and power to our protection; His resources for our provision, &c.
III. Guaranteed by Divine faithfulness. “For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant.” It is said of Israel in Egypt: “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham,” &c. (Exo_2:24-25). “Because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand,” &c. They were unworthy and unfaithful, but God did these great things for them because of His word to their fathers. The faithful promises of God guarantee to us the blessings we need during our pilgrimage. Harvest may be blighted; fountains may be dried up; all finite resources may fail.
“If this fail,
The pillar’d firmament is rottenness,
And earth’s base built on stubble.”
IV. Bestowed for the most worthy purpose. The end of all God’s dealings with the Israelites was “that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.” His design was that Israel should be a holy nation, representing Him in the world, and claiming the world for Him as His own. The final cause of all the blessings He confers upon His people now is their conformity to His will. We are redeemed, called, guided, guarded, sustained, and animated with hopes of heaven, all with a view to our holiness.
The blessings of God in the pilgrimage of life—
V. Call for devout praise. “Praise ye the Lord.” He has done, and is ever doing, great things for us; and to Him let us ascribe the praise. Hallelujah!
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible1900 · Public DomainOn v1I. Israel went down into Egypt to buy food,…
Psa 105:17
I. Israel went down into Egypt to buy food, and found one of themselves at the head of the government; and from that Divine provision flowed in natural order the whole after-Bible story. A local famine ministered to the scheme of the world’s salvation; out of partial evil came universal good. The Gospel feast was remotely spread through the jealousy of Jacob’s sons, and in the pressure of the great dearth. The presence of evil in God’s world must ever remain an unfathomable mystery. The book of Genesis shows us, indeed, the beginning of evil upon the earth; but it represents evil as already existent, and as being brought into this world by a tempter not of this world. There is thus a chapter before the first chapter of Genesis, which remains unwritten. A lesser mystery than the creation of evil is the sufferance of evil. God, who created it not, permits it, uses it for His own purposes. The darkness which hangs about even the sufferance of evil, both moral and’ physical, is in a measure lightened by the remembrance that He who permits evil sees at the selfsame moment, not as a future, but as a present, thing, the good which comes out of it. It was so with the history of Joseph. It was so with the scheme of man’s redemption through Christ. And so with the discipline of our daily life. To us the multitude of events which mark the lapse of the years, even in the most uniform lives, appear to come tumbling upon one another, like the waves of the sea. He in whose hand is the soul of every living thing has laid long before the whole train of circumstances by which we are to be tried. The ministering angel was commissioned ere the messenger of Satan was permitted to buffet. Nay more, the increased hope and strength, all those high spiritual graces which are formed in saintly souls by endurance, were present things to the eternal eye, not visions of the future, when He arranged the trial.
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II. From this doctrine flow several principles of faith and practice. (1) In the light of these truths, how strongly comes out to view the supernatural character of the commonest events in which we play our part! (2) A keen recognition of these "previsions of God" leads to spiritual repose in the midst of worldly disquiet. God employs evil for His purposes of good. Man may not do evil that good may come. Three great attributes of God account for the difference: (a) His infinite knowledge; (b) His certain control; (c) His perfect holiness.
Bishop Woodford, Sermons on Subjects from the Old Testament, p. 143.
References: Psa 105:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1277. Psa 105:24.—G. S. Barrett, Old Testament Outlines, p. 140. Psa 106:4, Psa 106:5.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1454; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 235. Psa 106:8.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 115. Psa 106:9.—Ibid., vol. ii., No. 72. Psa 106:13.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 259.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant1903 · Public DomainOn v1The story of His ways as with His people.
The story of His ways as with His people.
The last two psalms of the book show us God’s ways with His people, and (in confession on their part) their ways with Him, which had necessitated the discipline of His hand. But this has done its work, and they are thus ready for the final blessing, the principles and character of which we find fully in the fifth book.
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These two psalms are naturally therefore of very simple character, a review of Israel’s history as already known to us in the books of Moses, with a mere glance at the after events when in the land. In fact the story of the wilderness is typical of all the rest; just as Israel as a nation is but a sample of man generally, -the "heart of man" anywhere being but the full, fair reflection of "man" at large.
The hundred and fifth psalm is not the story of God’s governmental ways with Israel as a whole, but simply of that which has to do with His action on their behalf, mainly in the deliverance in Egypt, and ending with their possession of the land. One verse alone declares this last.
1. The first section; in seven verses, calls for the celebration of Jehovah their God, as known in His glorious deeds. His Name is holy. His power is needed by human frailty. The "judgments of His mouth" interpret His acts, and make them illustration of His perfect ways. To this glorious God His people stand in relation as the "seed of Abraham His servant" the one marked by his history for his obedience as such. They are "the children" too, "of Jacob His chosen": whose history is of another character, and shows the struggle of a soul in the hand of God, whom it knows, but too little knows. And this necessitates those dealings of God with it, by which at last an Israel emerges out of a Jacob. These struggles and this divine discipline are, as easily seen, the type of the nation’s history afterward. They are but a too faithful reproduction of their father; while the victorious grace of God will not cease toward them, until in them also He has produced an Israel indeed. And this is "Jehovah our God," whose "judgments," essentially of the same character, "are in all the earth."
2. The psalmist goes on to speak of the covenant-relation in which He stands to them. It is an abiding one: He is ever mindful of it; He has commanded it to a thousand generations -a round number, as it would seem, for as many as may be (comp. Deu 7:9). Made with Abraham; and with an oath to Isaac, He confirmed it to Jacob for a decree unalterable, and to Israel as an everlasting covenant. Here the double name, and used evidently with regard to the people as well as to the father of their twelve tribes, has (as always) its significance. To Jacob, with all the frailty and sinfulness that the word implies, it takes nevertheless the form of a decree, the fixed expression of His absolute will; with Israel, in whom as such His transforming power is realized, it is an everlasting covenant. He works thus in perfect sovereignty, and according to the holiness of His own nature. According to this covenant the land is secured to them; and was so when they were in it as sojourners only, a few people and in men’s account of no consideration.
3. The next section; briefly but effectively, shows how in their after-history Jehovah was a sanctuary to them: according, indeed, to the care He had shown for Abraham, when Abraham himself also had been sadly untrue to the promise which had been given him; in yielding up the designated mother of the seed to be, into the hands of the Philistine king (Gen 20:1-18), and here He owns His "prophet" in the one who had so failed. This was but a sample of how He had come in for the nation in whom He had set the mouth-pieces of His revelation to man. And here is the declaration of those larger purposes of His which connect themselves with this people, set apart not for their own blessing merely, as not at all on account of righteousness in them, but in grace towards all the sons of men.
4. The fourth section naturally speaks of trial; but while the famine which came upon the land in Jacob’s time is the occasion of it, the psalmist goes on to show how God had provided for it by one sent before them into Egypt to be His servant in the service of man: one himself fully tried, and made to realize what in a world like this such service means; tried too by that word of Jehovah which in him as the Spirit of prophecy had announced His exaltation; and which at last came to pass. In Joseph we have, as every one knows, the type of the Lord Jesus, in whom God has provided indeed for blessing, both to Israel and the earth, and deliverance out of the great trial that is coming for both. The divine issue came at last for him: loosed from his chains, he is made the lord of Egypt, with fullness of power based upon fullness of wisdom. Such an One, but far transcending Joseph, shall the world find at last.
5. But Israel’s coming into Egypt was only their introduction into manifold experiences, in which they found exercise indeed, but God manifesting Himself with them in that which fell upon the mightiest power of that day, -signs which Israel themselves could ever look back to with thanksgiving and for the renewal of confidence, and which are to be repeated in their deliverance in the last days (Mic 7:15, and comp. Rev 16:1-21), and are the necessary humiliation of all the pride of the world and its idols before God, when the day of the Lord succeeds man’s day.
(a) Two verses show the occasion of these trials. First, "Israel came into Egypt": the people of God, graced by the purpose of God, were in the land of "double straitness," the place of the conflict between the desert and the river, -of life struggling with death; alas, the land of Ham; the "sun-darkened," a darkness upon which the light shone and it comprehended it not. The people of God are in a world opposed to God; hence necessarily in opposition to them as that; but then this people of God are themselves looked at from another side, -"Jacob": and Jacob, though but a sojourner in the land of Ham, is in danger from more than opposition. He needs all the exercise through which he is made to pass.
They increase greatly, through the favor of God, and become stronger than their enemies, as Pharaoh’s own words declare (Exo 1:9). And here is the way, doubtless, in which we are to interpret the verse following: "He turned their heart to hate His people." It needs no more than that the favor of God should be thus manifested, to set the tide of opposition in full force.
(b) The opposition and God’s intervention for them are next spoken of. Moses is sent, and Aaron; and signs and wonders show unmistakably the broad seal of their commission.
(c) The order in which the miracles are given is different from the historical one. For this, of course, there must be a reason. It would seem that we have a classification of them in two divisions: first, the signs proper, those whose force lay for the most part in their testimony to the conscience; the second consists rather of those that really prostrated the land -miracles of destruction that made Egypt desolate. Among the signs proper, the darkness is put at the head, the light of heaven withdrawn: one of those things which would appeal most strongly to the conscience of man as supernatural; and which to the Egyptians, who made the night especially a sign of the prevalence of evil, and for whom the sun was the great deity, would be a cause of the greatest consternation. In fact, they moved not from their seats during the three days it lasted: a thing to which the psalmist refers here when he says, "they rebelled not against His word." To refer this (with most interpreters) to the Israelite leaders, in contrast with their conduct at the waters of Meribah, seems quite opposed to the connection. Nor can it refer to the final submission of the Egyptians; here they were appalled into perfect stillness -no doubt, only for the time: but it made their after-attitude all the more solemn.
Next we have, what was really the first miracle of judgment, the waters turned to blood, the means of refreshment becoming death, and then that of the frogs swarming out of the river-bed, and into the chambers of the king, as to which I can add nothing to the notes on the book of Exodus. The lice follow, in the historical order; but with these are put the "swarms" or "mixture" (probably, of flies), which may there go with the lice (see the "notes" Exo 8:16-19) in stamping man with the brand of vanity.
(d) The moral or spiritual lessons are indeed thus far upon the surface, and well-fitted to bring the conscience into the presence of God. Those that follow compel man to feel, whether he has conscience or not. Hail and lightning together break up the fruit-trees in the land, while the locusts strip it of every green leaf to be found. Its desolation is complete, although not yet is their rebellious pride humbled; and it requires one last decisive blow to bring submission.
6. The rest of the psalm details the victory of God; the incidents of the wilderness and the putting them in possession of the land itself being associated with the deliverance from Egypt naturally, as completing what began there. The story speaks for itself, and needs no comment. The death of the first-born; their own departure from the land in prosperous strength, the fear in the hearts of their enemies; His presence with them, sheltering and guiding; the satisfaction of their hunger, refreshment brought for them out of the flinty rock: this sums up the deliverance accomplished, in which the word of promise is fulfilled and Abraham is remembered. They are brought into the land, to possess labors not their own; and this is to be the practical effect of all upon them; "that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v1This Ps. and the following one form a closely…
This Ps. and the following one form a closely connected pair, and may be looked on as by the same author. From the closing vv. of Psalms 106 it appears that they were written after the first return from exile had taken place, but while many Israelites were still scattered among the heathen. Both Pss. are partly wrought into the composite poem in 1 Chronicles 16. Psalms 105 is a song of thanksgiving, recalling with gratitude God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Psa_105:8-12), His guidance of Israel into Egypt, with special reference to the history of Joseph (Psa_105:13-23), His goodness to them there in the days of oppression (Psa_105:24-25), His deliverance wrought through Moses and Aaron by means of the plagues (Psa_105:26-38), His mercies in the wilderness (Psa_105:39-41), and finally His gift of Canaan to His people in fulfilment of His ancient promise (Psa_105:42-45).
1. People] RV 'peoples.' So in Psa_105:20, Psa_105:44.
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14. Kings] Pharaoh (Gen_12:17), and Abimelech (Gen_20:17-18).
15. Anointed] a phrase not literally applicable to the patriarchs, but used by the Psalmist because they were the heads of the nation, like the kings of later times.
Prophets] Abraham is so called in Gen_20:7.
19. His word] Joseph's interpretation of the butler's and baker's dreams (Gen_40:20-22).
28-36. The ninth plague is placed first, the third and fourth are transposed, and the fifth and sixth are omitted.
31. Divers sorts] RV 'swarms.' Coasts] RV 'borders.' So in Psa_105:33.
44. Heathen] RV 'nations.' Inherited] RV 'took in possession.'
45. Praise ye the Lord] see on Psa_104:35. Psalms 105, like Psalms 106, probably begins and ends with 'Hallelujah.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein1922 · Public DomainOn v1Psalm 105 and 106
Psalm 105 and 106
The Memories of the Past
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The last two Psalms of this fourth section review the entire history of Israel up to the time of the judges. It is the story of God’s faithfulness and mercy, and the story of their shameful failure and apostasy. He is ever mindful of His covenant, and that covenant is mentioned first, as the foundation of all. Then how He watched over them. The story of Joseph is mentioned, followed by the rehearsal of the deliverance out of Egypt. Psa 106:1-48 is couched in words of confession, showing their failure all the way, sinning, forgetting, lusting, unbelieving and disobedient. Only infinite mercy and grace could save such a people. Prophetically these Psalms express the repentance and national confession of Israel, when the Lord has saved them. Then with a new heart, the nation born again, with a new spirit within them, they read their history aright and learn to know the God of Jacob as never before. It is the fulfillment of Eze 36:31. “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.”
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1Thanksgiving for God’s Benefits.
Thanksgiving for God’s Benefits.
After an exhortation to praise God, directed especially to the congregation of Israel, the psalmist offers his reasons for the admonition presented, in a summary of Israel’s history from the calling of Abraham to the settlement in Canaan.
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v. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name, both in praising His glory and in proclaiming His essence and attributes; make known His deeds among the people, this proclamation among the nations serving as a missionary call.
v. 2. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, with the joyful accompaniment of music; talk ye, in willing discussions at home and abroad, of all His wondrous works, of all the miracles performed in the interest of Israel.
v. 3. Glory ye in His holy name, boasting in His perfections, as His attributes show in His deeds; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord, in true faith and trust.
v. 4. Seek the Lord and His strength, desiring to possess it according to His gracious invitation and promise; seek His face evermore, to bask in the merciful light of His countenance.
v. 5. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, manifested in the past deliverances, as found in the history of Israel; His wonders and the judgments of His mouth, for His miracles showed Him in His decisions for the good and against the wicked,
v. 6. O ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen, the text implying principally the spiritual descendants of Abraham and Jacob as they were found in the midst of the nation of Israel. After this preliminary exhortation the inspired poet briefly tells of some of Jehovah’s notable deeds.
v. 7. He is the Lord, our God, the Jehovah of salvation to all believers; His judgments are in all the earth, in love upon those who fear Him, in anger upon those who oppose Him.
v. 8. He hath remembered His covenant forever, the merciful agreement by which Jehovah had accepted the children of Israel as His own, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, for the promise by which Abraham and his descendants were designated as the Lord’s people included the wider Messianic meaning and pertained to the chosen of the Lord of all times.
v. 9. Which covenant He made with Abraham, Gen 12:2-7, and His oath unto Isaac, Gen 26:1-6;
v. 10. and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, a covenant ordinance, and to Israel, here the second name of Jacob, Gen 32:32, for an everlasting covenant;
v. 11. saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, Gen 13:14-15; Gen 15:18, the lot of your inheritance, the expression denoting the land which is measured off with a cord,
v. 12. when they were but a few men in number, Gen 34:30, yea, very few, and strangers in it.
v. 13. When they, the patriarchs, the ancestors of God’s chosen people, went from one nation to another, being obliged to change their dwelling-place often, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Philistia, and Egypt being the countries of their sojourn, from one kingdom to another people,
v. 14. He suffered no man to do them wrong, not even after the revenge which Simeon and Levi took upon the Shechemites, Genesis 34; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes, as, Pharaoh and Abimelech, the kings of Egypt and Philistia, respectively, Gen 12:10-20; Genesis 26, 31;
v. 15. saving, Touch not Mine anointed, for so the patriarchs were called as the ancestors of kings, priests, and prophets, and do My prophets no harm, for all the patriarchs not only proclaimed the name of the Lord, but also foretold future events, especially in the blessings pronounced upon their children.
v. 16. Moreover, He called for a famine upon the land, the one of the seven lean years at the time of Jacob, Gen 41:54; He brake the whole staff of bread, by withholding the chief source and supply of food, that of grain.
v. 17. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who himself acknowledges the guiding providence of God in the fact that he was sold into Egypt, Gen 50:20, who was sold for a servant, Gen 37:28-36;
v. 18. whose feet they hurt with fetters, when he was unjustly imprisoned, Gen 39:20; he was laid in iron, literally, "iron came on his soul," said either of the chains with which he was bound or of the feeling of misery which took hold of him in prison,
v. 19. until the time that his word came, his own prediction of his exaltation being fulfilled, Gen 42:9; the word of the Lord tried him, for the revelation of God made to him proved his faith in the trials upon his own person.
v. 20. The king, Pharaoh of the great famine, sent and loosed him, Gen 41:14, even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
v. 21. He made him lord of his house, after Joseph had interpreted his dreams, Gen 41:40, and ruler of all his substance, putting all his possessions, the entire rule of the country, into Joseph’s power and retaining only the supreme sovereignty for himself, Gen 41:40-44,
v. 22. to bind his princes at his pleasure, without any intervention and interference on the part of Pharaoh, and teach his senators, the ancient men, the counselors of the country, wisdom.
v. 23. Israel also came into Egypt, as a consequence of the great famine and Joseph’s exaltation, Gen 46:6; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham, this being a general designation of Egypt because it was settled by descendants of Ham.
v. 24. And He increased His people greatly, blessing them with a very rapid growth, Exo 1:7; and made them stronger than their enemies, this fact being expressed in the fear expressed by the Pharaoh of the exile, Exo 1:9-10.
v. 25. He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly, with wicked craft, with His servants. Since they deliberately plotted meanness, the Lord held them to their wicked plans, in order thereby to bring about their own destruction.
v. 26. He sent Moses, His servant, Exo 3:10, and Aaron, whom He had chosen, Exo 4:14-30.
v. 27. They showed His signs among them, which the Lord intended for strong admonitions addressed to the Egyptians and Pharaoh, and wonders in the land of Ham, in the great plagues.
v. 28. He sent darkness and made it dark, Exo 10:21-23; and they rebelled not against His word. that is, Moses and Aaron carried out the commands of God just as they had received them.
v. 29. He turned their waters into blood, Exo 7:19-24, and slew their fish.
v. 30. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, Exo 8:1-15, in the chambers of their kings, Exo 8:3.
v. 31. He spake, through the mouth of His representative, Moses, and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts, Exo 8:16-19.
v. 32. He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land, Exo 9:22-25.
v. 33. He smote their vines also, Psa 78:47, and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts, stripping them not only of their foliage, but even of their smaller twigs and branches.
v. 34. He spake, and the locusts came and caterpillars, that is, grasshoppers, and that without number, Exo 10:12-20,
v. 35. and did eat up all the herbs in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground, everything that was left after the hail.
v. 36. He smote also all the first-born in their land, Exo 12:29, the chief of all their strength, for so the oldest sons were called, Gen 49:3.
v. 37. He brought them forth also with silver and gold, freely given to them by the Egyptians, by the direction of the Lord, Exo 12:35-36; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes, that is, unfit for the march through the wilderness, Exo 13:18.
v. 38. Egypt was glad when they departed, rejoicing to be rid of their unlucky presence; for the fear of them, through the agency of the Lord, fell upon them.
v. 39. He spread a cloud for a covering, for a bower or protecting screen against the heat of the sun, and fire to give light in the night, for that was the purpose of the pillar of fire, Exo 13:21.
v. 40. The people asked, the true Israelites, the believers, among them, praying, the others demanding, and He brought quails, Exo 16:12-14; Num 11:31, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven, Psa 78:24-25; Joh 6:31, the miraculous feeding with manna.
v. 41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, in great abundance, Exo 17:6; Num 20:10-11; they ran in the dry places like a river, Psa 78:15-16. The Lord’s reasons for these marvelous dealings with His people are given in conclusion.
v. 42. For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham, His servant, His faithfulness to the word of His promise being His motive in showing such kindness to the children of Israel, Exo 2:24.
v. 43. And lie brought forth His people with joy, surely giving them occasion enough for rejoicing, and His chosen with gladness, with the voice of singing, Exo 15:1;
v. 44. and gave them the lands of the heathen, whose land they occupied after the conquest of Canaan; and they inherited the labor of the people, of the heathen nations, Deu 6:10, taking possession of homes and cultivated lands which others had prepared with hard work,
v. 45. that they might observe His statutes, the precepts of the covenant, and keep His laws, those pertaining to mankind in general, this being the second reason why the Lord showed Israel His favor, to induce them to show obedience to Him. Praise ye the Lord, this hallelujah being echoed by the true, spiritual Israel, the Church of God, at all times, for all the marvels of His gracious favor in and through Christ, the Redeemer.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 4General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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call on his name ... Boast in his holy name
Here "name" represents Yahweh. AT: "call on him ... Boast in Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
the nations
This refers to the people in the nations. AT: "the people of the nations" (See: Metonymy)
let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice
Here "the heart" represents the person who seeks Yahweh. AT: "let the people who seek Yahweh rejoice" (See: Synecdoche)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v1Ps 105 This hymn praises the Lord’s faithfulness to…
Ps 105 This hymn praises the Lord’s faithfulness to Abraham and his descendants in all their journeys—from Ur to Canaan (105:12), to Egypt (105:17, 23), through the wilderness (105:37, 41), and back to Canaan (105:44). All of this fulfilled the Lord’s promise to Abraham (105:9, 42), which was the basis for Israel’s very existence. Joseph, whose suffering was changed into glory, is a paradigm of encouragement for Israel (105:16-25). • Psalm 105:1-15 (along with 96; 106:1, 47-48) is included in David’s song of praise recorded in 1 Chr 16.
105:1-5 The poet begins with the exhortation Give thanks (see also 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136:1). The other psalms continue with the refrain “for he is good!” The rest of Ps 105 tells of God’s goodness.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 1 Praise ye Jehovah, etc. The object of these…
1 Praise ye Jehovah, etc. The object of these opening words simply is, that the offspring of Abraham should place all their blessedness in the free adoption of God. It was indeed a blessing not to be despised that they had been created men, that they had been cherished in the world by God’s fatherly care, and that they had received sustenance at his hand; but it was a far more distinguished privilege to have been chosen to be his peculiar people. While the whole human race are condemned in Adam, the condition of the Israelites was so different from all other nations, as to give them ground to boast, that they were consecrated to God. This is the reason why the prophet heaps together so many words in commendation of this grace. He does not treat of the government of the whole world as he did in the preceding psalm, but he celebrates the fatherly favor which God had manifested towards the children of Israel. He indeed names in general his works, and his wonders, but he limits both to that spiritual covenant by which God made choice of a church, that might lead on earth a heavenly life. He does not intend to include as among these wonders, that the sun, moon, and stars, daily rise to give light to the world, that the earth produces its fruit in its seasons, that every living creature is supplied with abundance of all good things for its food, and that the human family are liberally provided with so many conveniences; but he celebrates the sovereign grace of God, by which he chose for himself from amongst the lost race of Adam a small portion to whom he might show himself to be a father. Accordingly, he enjoins them to rejoice in the name of God, and to call upon him; a privilege by which the Church alone is distinguished. Whence it follows, that this language is addressed to none but true believers, whom God would have to glory in his name, since he has taken them under his special protection.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5 Forasmuch as the Israelites were exempted from the common…
Forasmuch as the Israelites were exempted from the common condemnation of the world, and were elected to be God’s people, the Prophet willeth them to show themselves mindful by thanksgiving.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Psa 105:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call…
Psa 105:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.
Ver. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord] Some tell us that this and the two following psalms were the great Hallelujah sung at solemn times in their assemblies. But others say better, that the great Hallelujah (as the Hebrews called it) began at Psa 113:1-9., and held on till Psa 119:1-176, which they at the passover began to sing after that cup of wine they called Poculum hymni seu laudationis.
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Call upon his name] Call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, Psa 18:3. {See Trapp on "Psa 18:3"} Our life must be divided between praises and prayers.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5 Call upon his name or, proclaim his name, i.e.…
Call upon his name or, proclaim his name, i.e. the fame and glory of his works, as it follows.
Among his people; each of you amongst his and your people, or even among the heathens, as you have opportunity.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Our devotion is here warmly excited; and we are…
Our devotion is here warmly excited; and we are stirred up, that we may stir up ourselves to praise God. Observe,
I. The duties to which we are here called, and they are many, but the tendency of them all is to give unto God the glory due unto his name. 1. We must give thanks to him, as one who has always been our bountiful benefactor and requires only that we give him thanks for his favours - poor returns for rich receivings. 2. Call upon his name, as one whom you depend upon for further favours. Praying for further mercies is accepted as an acknowledgment of former mercies. Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him. 3. Make known his deeds (Psa 105:1), that others may join with you in praising him. Talk of all his wondrous works (Psa 105:2), as we talk of things that we are full of, and much affected with, and desire to fill others with. God's wondrous works ought to be the subject of our familiar discourses with our families and friends, and we should talk of them as we sit in the house and as we go by the way (Deu 6:7), not merely for entertainment, but for the exciting of devotion and the encouraging of our own and others' faith and hope in God. Even sacred things may be the matter of common talk, provided it be with due reverence. 4. Sing psalms to God's honour, as those that rejoice in him, and desire to testify that joy for the encouragement of others and to transmit it to posterity, as memorable things anciently were handed down by songs, when writing was scarce. 5. Glory in his holy name; let those that are disposed to glory not boast of their own accomplishments and achievements, but of their acquaintance with God and their relation to him, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24. Praise you his holy name, so some; but it comes all to one, for in glorying in him we give glory to him. 6. Seek him; place your happiness in him, and then pursue that happiness in all the ways that he has appointed. Seek the Lord and his strength, that is, the ark of his strength; seek him in the sanctuary, in the way wherein he has appointed us to seek him. Seek his strength, that is, his grace, the strength of his Spirit to work in you that which is good, which we cannot do but by strength derived from him, for which he will be enquired of. Seek the Lord and be strengthened; so divers ancient versions read it. Those that would be strengthened in the inward man must fetch in strength from God by faith and prayer. Seek his strength, and then seek his face; for by his strength, we hope to prevail with him for his favour, as Jacob did, Hos 12:3. "Seek his face evermore; seek to have his favour to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world, and even there shall be for ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied in it." 7. Let the hearts of those rejoice that do seek him (Psa 105:3); for they have chosen well, are well fixed, and well employed, and they may be sure that their labour will not be in vain, for he will not only be found, but he will be found the rewarder of those that diligently seek him. If those have reason to rejoice that seek the Lord, much more those that have found him.
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II. Some arguments to quicken us to these duties. 1. "Consider both what he has said and what he has done to engage us for ever to him. You will see yourselves under all possible obligations to give thanks to him, and call upon his name, if you remember the wonders which should make deep and durable impressions upon you, - the wonders of his providence which he has wrought for you and those who are gone before you, the marvellous works that he has done, which will be had in everlasting remembrance with the thoughtful and with the grateful, - the wonders of his law, which he has written to you, and entrusted you with, the judgments of his mouth, as well as the judgments of his hand," Psa 105:5. 2. "Consider the relation you stand in to him (Psa 105:6): You are the seed of Abraham his servant; you are born in his house, and being thereby entitled to the privilege of his servants, protection and provision, you are also bound to do the duty of servants, to attend your Master, consult his honour, obey his commands, and do what you can to advance his interests. You are the children of Jacob his chosen, and are chosen and beloved for the fathers' sake, and therefore ought to tread in the steps of those whose honours you inherit. You are the children of godly parents; do no degenerate. You are God's church upon earth, and, if you do not praise him, who should?" 3. Consider your interest in him: He is the Lord our God, Psa 105:7. We depend upon him, are devoted to him, and from him our expectation is. Should not a people seek unto their God (Isa 8:19) and praise their God? Dan 5:4. He is Jehovah our God. He that is our God is self-existent and self-sufficient, has an irresistible power and incontestable sovereignty: His judgments are in all the earth; he governs the whole world in wisdom, and gives law to all nations, even to those that know him not. The earth is full of the proofs of his power.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–5 O give thanks unto the Lord,.... These are the…
O give thanks unto the Lord,.... These are the words of David, either to the singers, or rather to the whole congregation of Israel, the seed of Abraham, and children of Jacob, Psa 105:6 stirring them up to praise and thankfulness for their mercies, temporal and spiritual; for the Messiah they had hope and expectation of, typified by the ark now brought home; for the word and ordinances, and opportunities of waiting upon God in them; for heaven and happiness, figured by Canaan's land given them to enjoy. Or, "confess or celebrate the Lord" (x); his greatness and goodness: his being and perfections; his sovereignty over all creatures: confess him as your Creator, Benefactor, covenant God and Father; or, "confess to the Lord" (y) your sins and transgressions committed against him, his great grace and kindness to you, and your unworthiness to receive any favour from him.
Call upon his name; as such may to advantage, who are thankful for what they have received from him; these may and ought to call upon him, or pray to him, in faith and fervency, with frequency and importunity, in the truth and sincerity of their souls; and at all times, especially in times of trouble. Some, as Aben Ezra, interpret it, proclaim his name, make it known to others; call upon them to serve and worship him. This sense is mentioned by Kimchi, and agrees with what follows:
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make known his deeds among the people: which are the effects of his counsel, wisdom, power, and goodness; such as the works of creation and providence, and especially of grace, and salvation; and which were to be published among the Heathen, for the glory of his name: and indeed the Gospel, which is ordered to be preached to all nations, is nothing else than a declaration of what Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have done and do.
(x) celebrate Jehovam, Junius & Tremellius. (y) "Confitemini Domino", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5 In the former psalm we praise God for his…
In the former psalm we praise God for his common providence; in this, for his special favours to his church. The first eleven verses of it David delivered to Asaph, (1 Chron. xvi, 7, &c.) to be used in the daily service of the sanctuary. Here is the preface, ver. 1-7. The history itself in several articles: God's covenant with the patriarchs, ver. 8-11. His care of them in a strange land, ver. 12-15. His raising up Joseph, ver. 16-22. The increase of Israel in Egypt, and their deliverance out of it, ver. 23- 38. His care of them in the wilderness, and their settlement in Canaan, ver. 39-45.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–5 An exhortation to praise God for his wondrous works,…
PSALM CV
An exhortation to praise God for his wondrous works, 1-5;
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his goodness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 6-16;
to Joseph in Egypt, 17-22;
to Israel in Egypt, 23-25;
to Moses in the same land, 26;
the plagues sent on the Egyptians, 27-36;
the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, 37, 38;
how he supported them in the wilderness, 39-43;
and brought them into Canaan, 44, 45.
NOTES ON PSALM CV
We find several verses of this Psalm in 1Ch 16:7-14 c., from which it is evident that David was the author of the principal part of it: but it was probably enlarged and sung at the restoration of the people from the Babylonish captivity. The hallelujah which terminates the preceding Psalm, is made the title of this by the Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic: but it has no title either in the Hebrew or Chaldee. The Syriac considers it a paraphrase on the words, "Fear not, Jacob, to go down into Egypt and teach us spiritually not to fear when we are obliged to contend with devils; for God is our shield, and will fight for us." The Psalm is a history of God's dealings with Abraham and his posterity, till their settlement in the promised land.
Verse 1. O give thanks] He had been meditating on God's gracious dealings with their fathers; and he calls upon himself and all others to magnify God for his mercies.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 Psa 105:1-4. Call upon his name — Or, proclaim…
Psa 105:1-4. Call upon his name — Or, proclaim his name, as קראו בשׁמו, kiru bishmo, may be properly rendered: that is, proclaim the fame and glory of his works, as it follows. Make known his deeds, &c. — Let each of you among his people, and even among the heathen, declare God’s mighty acts as he has opportunity; glory ye in his holy name — Glory in the God whom you serve as the only true God, and a Being possessed of infinite power and goodness. For nothing can be so great an honour to you as that you are the servants of such a mighty Lord, who infinitely transcends all other beings. Let them rejoice that seek the Lord — That seek an acquaintance and friendship with him; that seek to know, love, and serve him here, and to enjoy him hereafter above all the things of the world; seek the Lord and his strength — That is, either, 1st, Seek him in his strength, namely, in his sanctuary, as some interpret the expression, or before the ark, which is called God’s strength: or, 2d, Seek his strength, that is, his grace or Spirit, to strengthen you against your enemies, to enable you to do and suffer his will, and to work in you that which is well pleasing in his sight. Many ancient versions read the clause, Seek the Lord, and be strengthened; and, certain it is, they who would be strengthened in the inward man, must derive strength from God by faith and prayer. Seek his face evermore — That is, his favour, or the light of his countenance; seek to enjoy this to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world: and even then you shall be for ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied with it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–5 O give thanks unto the Lord - The design…
O give thanks unto the Lord - The design here is to show that thanks should be given to the Lord in view of his dealings with his people, as stated in the subsequent portions of the psalm.
Call upon his name - More literally, “Call him by his name;” that is, Address him by his proper title; ascribe to him the attributes which properly belong to him; or, address him in a proper manner.
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Make known his deeds among the people - What he has done in former times. The allusion is to his acts in behalf of his people in delivering them from Egyptian bondage, and bringing them to the promised land. The word “people” here refers to the Hebrew people; and the exhortation is, that the knowledge of these deeds should be diffused and kept up among them. One of the ways of doing this was that proposed by the psalmist, to wit, by a psalm of praise - by recording and celebrating these acts in their devotions. One of the most effective modes of keeping up the knowledge of what God has done in our world is by songs of praise in worshipping assemblies.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 105
Psalms 105
1 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name:
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Make known his deeds among the people.
2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him:
Talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord, and his strength:
Seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
Ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God:
His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which covenant he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac;
10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
And to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The lot of your inheritance.
12 When they were but a few men in number;
Yea, very few, and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people;
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong:
Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed,
And do my prophets no harm.
16 Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land:
He brake the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man before them,
Even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters:
He was laid in iron:
19 Until the time that his word came:
The word of the Lord tried him.
20 The king sent and loosed him;
Even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his substance:
22 To bind his princes at his pleasure;
And teach his senators wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt;
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And he increased his people greatly;
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtilely with his servants;
26 He sent Moses his servant;
And Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They shewed his signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they rebelled not against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
And slew their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
In the chambers of their kings.
31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies,
And lice in all their coasts.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees;
And brake the trees of their coasts.
34 He spake, and the locusts came,
And caterpillars, and that without number,
35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
The chief of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold:
And there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed:
For the fear of them fell upon them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering;
And fire to give light in the night.
40 The people asked, and he brought quails,
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 Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with gladness:
44 And gave them the lands of the heathen:
And they inherited the labour of the people;
45 That they might observe his statutes,
And keep his laws.
Praise ye the Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—While in Psalms 78 the former history of Israel was employed as a mirror of warning, and their relations during the march through the desert were in consequence fully described, the Psalm before us contains an exhortation to praise God and to seek the Lord, in faithfulness to the covenant, as a response to the faithfulness which Jehovah had displayed to the family of Abraham from the establishment of the covenant with him until their entrance into the Promised Land. It is a lyrical rather than a doctrinal treatment of the narrative presented in the Pentateuch. It follows the latter so closely that there is no trace of strophical structure. The limits of the groups are scarcely discoverable, for the essential events are disposed in the order of their occurrence, and a rhythmical movement is only discernible in the regular bipartite structure of the verses. The first fifteen verses are found again in the song which in 1 Chronicles 16 is said to have been sung when the ark was removed to Jerusalem. But it is shown to be a later compilation of the Chronicler, by the circumstance that the parts which are taken likewise from Psalms 96, 106 are, by the abruptness of the transitions, proved not to have belonged originally to the same composition. Besides, it contains an allusion to the Babylonish Exile; and even the doxology, which concludes the Fourth Book of the Psalms, is retained, as if it were a portion of the song itself. [See the addition in the Introduction to Psalms 106—J. F. M.]. We cannot determine the age of our Psalm more closely than to assign it a place later than the composition of the Pentateuch, and earlier than that of Chronicles. The opinion which infers the time of the Babylonish Captivity from the prevailing reference to the Egyptian period, is not to be relied on, especially as there is no definite indication of the custom, common both with the prophets and the poets, of comparing those periods. And the attempt (Rosenmüller following the older commentators) to separate a part, at least, of the Psalm, as the composition of David, from later additions, must be regarded as entirely at fault.
Psa_105:1-6. Call with His name [E. V.: Call upon His name].—This expression, Gen_4:26, includes two things, invocation and proclamation, or prayer and preaching. The whole of Psa_105:1 reminds us of Isa_12:4.—Seeking and inquiring after Jehovah and His face (Psa_105:4) are not to be restricted to visiting the temple and worshipping (De Wette, et al.). Nor is עז to be here, as in Psa_78:61, taken to refer to the ark of the covenant (the older expositors following the Rabbins). The context demands a general application of the word. In Psa_105:6, by a change in the pointing we could easily obtain the translation: his servants (Sept.), as in apposition to: seed of Abraham, and parallel to the following member: his chosen. But Psa_105:42 (comp. Psa_105:26), shows that by the servant of Jehovah is here meant Abraham. As his seed the Israelites were reminded of the fact that they held the same position as he did, and were encouraged to be mindful thereof by the fulfilling of the duties connected with that relation. And as children of Jacob, they were reminded that they occupied that position, not through hereditary succession, but by virtue of election.
Psa_105:8-9. The Psalmist does not call upon his fellow-countrymen to be mindful of the covenant (Sept.), but he tells them of the faithfulness of God, who had (præterite) given an everlasting place in His memory to the covenant which was concluded with Abraham and confirmed to Isaac with an oath (Gen_26:3; Gen_22:16). Since דָּבָר here describes the covenant with reference to its establishment by the Divine word of promise, so צִוָּה is to be taken in its primary meaning, as in Psa_111:9, and כָּרַת is to have the same application as in Hag_2:5. The form יִשְׂחָק instead of יצחָק:. occurs also in Amo_7:9; Jer_33:26.
Psa_105:11; Psa_105:15. The transition to the plural in Psa_105:11 is to be explained by the considerations that Jacob-Israel is the designation of a nation as well as a proper name, and that the promises given to the patriarchs were made to him as being the father of the chosen race, to which, therefore, they really belonged.—The term prophets, applied to the patriarchs in Psa_105:15, is taken from Gen_20:7, where God Himself employs this word in connection with those prohibitions (Gen. 12:20, 26), to which allusion is here made. It is doubtful whether or not their appellation: anointed has any special reference, beyond the idea that they were men consecrated to God and endowed with Divine gifts.
Psa_105:16-18. Support of bread [E. V.: staff of bread] as in Lev_26:26; Isa_3:1. Comp. Psa_104:15. The selling of Joseph was explained by himself as a sending-beforehand by God (Gen_45:5; Gen_1:20). His being fettered is also mentioned in Gen_40:3; it is therefore not a mere poetical filling out of the picture. It is doubtful whether בְּבֵרְזֶל=בַּרְזֶל=his soul (person) came into iron (most), or whether the iron, which, in the signification iron-fetter, might be regarded as feminine, according to the principle developed by Ewald, § 318, is not rather to be construed as the subject, and the whole clause taken in the sense in which it is said of water in Psa_69:2, that it presses into the soul (Hitzig, Del.; as previously Vatablus, Sachs). We prefer the latter construction, since the periphrastic use of בֶפֶשׁ for person is very remote from the context. If temptations (Hengstenb.) had been intended they must have been expressed.
Psa_105:19. His word cannot mean the word of God (most), but that of Joseph in the interpretation of the dreams, for all the preceding suffixes refer to him. The declaration [E. V., word] of Jehovah is, accordingly, not the promise of the possession of Canaan (Hengst.), nor the decree that Joseph should be tried (Clericus), but the revelation of God made to him (Aben Ezra), whose reliability he had to prove and attest in provings and trials of his own person. צרף never signifies glorifying and distinguishing (Rud., Rosenm.). For Ilam see on Psa_78:51.
The description of the plagues of Egypt, after Exodus 1-12, follows the narrative there given more strictly than do Psa_78:44 f. Here only the fifth and sixth are omitted, and the ninth, that of darkness, is placed first. A figurative explanation, according to which the whole period is supposed to be represented, during which God showed displeasure towards and inflicted misfortune upon them (Hengstenb.), is untenable. It is in accordance with the facts, and in general with the Old Testament mode of conception, to trace the hardening of the Egyptians to God.
Psa_105:27. In such connections as this the word דִּבְרֵי serves to denote various kinds (Hitzig), so that it is not quite superfluous, as though it were a mere periphrasis (De Wette); nor is it to be regarded as relating to the prophetic words, by which the miraculous signs were announced beforehand (Clericus and others, Hupfeld). But if we were to read the singular שָׂם instead of the plural שָׂמוּ, as in Exo_10:12; Psa_78:43, we could translate, since God would then be the subject: He placed among them, or He laid upon them the words of His signs (Sept., Vulg.).
Psa_105:28. The order of the sentences naturally suggests the reference of Psa_105:28 b to the Egyptians, but, as they yielded to God’s command only after long resistance and repeated refusals, and only when finally compelled by His judgments, this mode of expression is not suitable to them. It is not advisable to assume that a question is asked, as there would then result a whole sentence of a very feeble character. The suppression of the negative (Sept., Syr.) is unjustifiable. So also is a change of the verb, which would replace: resisted, by: heeded (Hitzig). Most, therefore, refer this negative statement of obedience to the Israelitish leaders, and suppose a contrast to the conduct recorded in Num_20:24; Num_27:14.
Psa_105:33 ff. [In Psa_105:33 b. instead of: trees of their coasts, render: trees of their bounds, that is, within the bounds of their country.—J. F. M.]. The spreading of the cloud for a covering (Psa_105:39) does not allude to protection against the enemy (Exo_14:19 f.), but to the cloud which was (Num_10:14) a covering and shady bower to the Israelites (Isa_4:5).—Labor (Psa_105:44) is used metonymically for its results, the acquisitions made by it (Isa_45:14).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. God grants the knowledge of His nature through His name. Therefore must His people call upon His revealed name in prayer, and thus make it known, that they have not to do with unknown powers, but that they know well to whom they address themselves when they offer thanksgiving or prayer. And this known God must not be honored merely by their own acknowledgment; they must also make Him known to those who know Him not, and by means of preaching diffuse the knowledge of God throughout the world.
2. The world has many vain things, of which it boasts, over which it vexes itself, after which it inquires and pursues. The Church must boast in the holy name of God, meditate upon His wondrous works, inquire after Him before all else, seek Him above all else, in order that she may be confirmed in communion with Him, and be preserved and extended as His inheritance in the world. For to this has she been chosen and called by Him. But she has many enemies, who aim to cast her down from this position of high privilege.
3. The preservation of the Church in the world, as well as her establishment, is the cause, work, and glory of God. And God remembers His covenant and the oath by which He confirmed it. But the blessings of that covenant can be shared only by those who submit to its conditions. He, therefore, who would inherit the promises given to the patriarchs, must conform to the conditions of salvation which God has instituted for that end. The seed of Abraham are not to forget that Abraham was God’s servant, and that, although this designation is indeed a title of honor, it is yet no empty title; for God solemnly asks, if His chosen act worthily of it.
4. God’s judgments, as the Judge of the whole world, fall upon those nations who resist Him, and serve at the same time to deliver His church from the power of her oppressors. But these events are not to excite a false feeling of security, but call for gratitude, trust and obedience; and in displaying the severity of the divine wrath are to quicken the conscience and beget a salutary fear. For if God protects His people miraculously, cares for them graciously, and guides them faithfully, and, besides leading them through all dangers to the place whither He promised to bring them, exalts them above all other peoples, they must make it their aim to fulfil their part of the covenant obligations, and to testify, both in word and life, their gratitude for such benefits, blessings, and privileges.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
We should testify our gratitude for God’s benefits: (1) by adoring His majesty; (2) by proclaiming His deeds; (3) by trusting to His guidance; (4) by obeying His commands.—God has delivered our nation so often in former times that we (1) should reproach ourselves for our ingratitude, (2) should be ashamed of our faintheartedness, (3) should grieve over our unfaithfulness.—God’s judgments upon the enemies of His Church: (1) as testimonies to His sway upon earth, (2) as the means of her preservation, (3) as a ground of hope in present distress.—The growth of God’s Church under affliction as being (1) after the typical history of Israel, (2) under the security given for God’s faithfulness to His covenant.—Many would like to share the honor of God’s servants, if they had only not to perform their service, or endure their trials.
Starke: When a man exhibits an ardent love to God, it is a living witness that be is His temple.—How can he glorify God rightly, who does not know by a living experience His name, deeds, and wonders? O, my soul! seek the Lord, so that thou mayest extol Him joyfully.—The more men turn away from God, the weaker they become, and the more they inquire after Him and draw near to Him in prayer, faith, and meditation, the more strength do they gain from Him.—If God always remains mindful of His promises to us, what is more reasonable than that we should never forget ours to Him?—The descend ants have as good a claim to, and as great a share in, the covenant of grace as their forefathers, with whom God established that covenant, provided only that they enter into it in faith.—Where there is prosperity, there is also envy and grudging; but he who has no friend but God cannot be harmed by the envy and enmity of the world.—The blood of true believers, poured out like water, has ever been a fountain of blessedness, from which spring forth the members of Christ.—The injury received by a pious man in one place is compensated by God in another with rich blessings: therefore guard against impatience and care for the body.—God has the hearts of His enemies in His power. If He takes their courage from them, He can deliver His own without a single stroke of His sword.—Let none despise the feeble or the poor: thou dost not know but that there are those among them who are in covenant with God, and whom He will yet employ for great things.—The history of the faithful patriarchs is a fit representation of the pilgrimage of believers, who have here no continuing city, but seek one to come.—In seasons of affliction, let us not look to men, but God,—upon Him who smites us, and not at the rod; it is not the rod that sends the pain, but He who employs it.—When calamities befall a whole nation, the pious must suffer with the wicked; yet God often proves to His children that His word abides sure: in the days of famine they shall be satisfied (Psa_37:19).—The members of the invisible church must often dwell in the tents of Meshech; but they are more secure sometimes in the midst of such enemies, than among those who outwardly are members with them of the common faith.—With regard to God’s deeds of goodness, believers must guard against two errors: they must ascribe nothing to themselves or their deserts, for God performs these deeds for the sake of His word and covenant; and they must not receive such benefits as a matter of course, or misuse them. Assiduous striving after sanctification and renewing ends at last in a hallelujah, which all the perfect righteous ones shall sing in unison, to the glory of the Lord, throughout eternity.
Frisch: No more powerful consolation can be breathed into a troubled soul than the thought that God is eternally mindful of His covenant. Since the covenant is eternal, it cannot be annulled by death. Since it is a covenant of grace, thou needest not despond, even if thou hast perchance transgressed it.—Rieger: On the mercy of Christ we enjoy the blessing of Abraham; and God is ever mindful of His covenant, until He brings us into the Fatherland, and the city to which He has called us, and which He has prepared for us.—Richter: Canaan was intended as a school for Israel in view of the coming of Christ.—Guenther: The whole history of the Chosen People, before the time of Christ, is a type of the history of Christianity, and a representation of the experience of each believer; let us learn, then, what this special chapter of the history means for you and for me.—Taube: A call addressed to God’s people for the adoring remembrance of the mercy, displayed in God’s dealings towards the heirs of the promise, in order to strengthen their faith.—Godless and prayerless souls are also forgetful souls, who learn nothing from the deeds, wonders, and judgments of God; but he who seeks the Lord meets Him, for the strengthening of His faith, on all the paths on which he has promised that He will be found.—The rapture of deliverance excites grateful love, which knows that it is bound, by duty and obligation, to the Deliverer and Blesser, and which lives to please Him in all things.
[Matt. Henry: We are therefore made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the Psalm concludes, may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God’s favors, and as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them.—Has God done so much for us, and yet doth He expect so little from us? Praise ye the Lord.
Scott: We greatly mistake, if we do not rank afflictions among our mercies (Psa_105:17-19), as they tend to prove the reality of our faith and love, to humble our pride, to wean us from the world, to quicken our prayers, to enlarge our experience of the Lord’s faithfulness to His promises, to encourage our dependence, to bow our hearts into submission, and to soften them into compassion for our brethren.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–5 1. Oh give thanks—This verse is the same as…
1. Oh give thanks—This verse is the same as Isa_12:4. The one is copied from the other. Three particular modes of glorifying God are mentioned. The first is a personal offering to God of praise and thanksgiving; the second, prayer, as Gen_4:26; Psa_116:12; Psa_116:17; the third to declare, teach, cause to be known among the people, (the nations) his deeds, Psa_107:22
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–5 1. The LXX is probably right in placing Hallelujah…
1. The LXX is probably right in placing Hallelujah at the beginning of this Psalm instead of at the end of Psalms 104. The two companion Psalms 103, 104 will then begin and end with Bless ye Jehovah; and the two companion Psalms 105, 106 will begin and end with Hallelujah.
The first verse is taken verbatim from Isa_12:4.
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O give thanks unto the Lord] The LXX renders ἐξομολογεῖσθε, hence Vulg. and Jer. confitemini, ‘make confession,’ which may possibly be the primary meaning, from which the word derives its general sense to praise or give thanks. Psalms 106, 107, 118, 136 begin with the same invitation.
It is natural to connect these Psalms in which “Give thanks unto Jehovah” and “Praise ye Jah” (Hallelujah) recur so frequently with the function of the Levites “to praise and to give thanks” (1Ch_16:4; Ezr_3:11; Neh_12:24; &c.), and to regard them as composed expressly for the service of the Second Temple.
call upon his name] Rather, proclaim his name, as in Exo_33:19; Exo_34:5-6; cp. Deu_32:3.
make known his doings among the peoples] It was Israel’s mission to proclaim to the world Jehovah’s revelation of His character made known to them in the facts of their history. Cp. Psa_9:11.
1–6. The Israelites are summoned to proclaim to all the nations Jehovah’s mighty doings for His people, and to stir up their own hearts to praise and thanksgiving by the recollection of His marvellous works.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 (1) Call upon his name.—Literally, on (or, with) his…
(1) Call upon his name.—Literally, on (or, with) his name (comp. Psa_105:3, “glory in”), with idea of proclamation as well as invocation. Symmachus has “proclaim his name.” This verse, which is found word for word in Isa_12:4, is apparently one of the recognised doxologies of the Hebrew Church.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–5 This is sometimes called a "Hallelujah psalm," since it…
This is sometimes called a "Hallelujah psalm," since it ends with that phrase. It is a song of praise to God for his dealings with his people, resembling in its general character Psalm 78. The opening passage is nearly identical with 1Ch_16:8-22, and is thought to have been the original from which that passage was taken (Hengstenberg, Cheyne). The first six verse are an exhortation to praise, and constitute the "introduction." The remainder is an account of God"s mercies to Israel as a nation, traced historically from the time of the covenant with Abraham to the occupation of the land of Canaan.
The "introduction" forms a strophe by itself. It is usual to divide the historical portion into strophes; but this can only be done arbitrarily, there being no really marked divisions.
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Vers. 1-6. The psalmist exhorts the seed of Abraham (ver. 6) to give thanks to God and call upon his Name (vers. 1-3); to make him known among the Gentiles (ver. 1 b); to seek him and his strength (ver. 4); and to bear in mind his marvellous works (ver. 5). The "works" intended are those of his providential government of mankind, and especially those of his rule and government over his people Israel.
O give thanks unto the Lord. (comp. Psa_106:1 Psa_107:1 Psa_111:1 Psa_136:1 Psa_138:1) Call upon his Name; i.e. call upon him with prayer and praise, "according to his historically manifested glory" (Hengstenberg). Make known his deeds (or, "his doings") among the people; rather, among the peoples; i.e. the heathen nations. (comp. Psa_18:49 Psa_57:9 Isa_12:4)
Vers. 1-45. The testimony of history.
God reveals himself in many ways; of these one is found in human history. All history may be studied, that we may understand his Divine thought and purpose; but more especially sacred history, his dealings with his ancient people. The psalmist is continually returning to this as a source of striking and convincing illustration. Among other lessons brought out by this psalm are the following:
I HIS FAITHFULNESS. (Vers. 8-11, 42-44) Though, in the midst of oppression and misery in Egypt, it may have seemed that he had forgotten his covenant, it was not so. He remembered it. (see Exo_2:24) So it often seems to us, when we wait long for deliverance. We are inclined to ask, "Why hast thou forgotten me?". (Psa_42:9) But when "the end of the Lord" is seen, then we reprove our trustlessness and adore his faithfulness.
II HIS GOODNESS IN ADVERSITY. (Vers. 12-15) As God sheltered his people, though "few in number, yea, very few," and held back the threatening hand of the strong so that in their days of pilgrimage they were preserved, so has he guarded his people in all ages, not suffering the great world powers to crush them; thus does he now manifest his presence and his power to individual men as they walk the checkered path of life.
III HIS REDEEMING LOVE. (Vers. 20-22, 26, 27) God"s redeeming kindness shown to Joseph in his bondage and humiliation, and then to the whole nation in its captivity and suffering is an anticipation and a type
(1) of his delivering grace shown to us, his children, as we find ourselves first entangled or enthralled, and then graciously extricated or enlarged;
(2) of his redemption of our race in the gospel. A greater than Moses was "sent that "Servant of the Lord" (Isaiah 52), before whom "kings should shut their mouth;" who should work out a salvation compared with which the deliverance from Egyptian bondage was small indeed.
IV THE MYSTERY OF HIS WAYS. (Vers. 16-19) The famines which afflicted Canaan, (see Gen_12:10 Gen_26:1) which ultimately brought Israel into Egypt, and the disgrace and hard durance of Joseph, were "trying" to the faith of those who passed through them. God does try us now, and "the trial of our faith," in dark and mysterious times, is intended to draw us nearer to himself, and to deepen the roots of our confidence in him. A faith exercised when the way was always plain and pleasant would be a poor and feeble thing; the piety that did not trust when it could not see would be of little worth.
V THE MASTERY OF APPARENT IMPOSSIBILITIES. (Vers. 40, 41) He who gave "bread from heaven" and "water from the rock" can interpose and save in the darkest hour, in the direst necessity. Nothing is too hard for the Lord; certainly not our own particular embarrassment.
VI HIS LEADERSHIP. (Ver. 39) God led Israel in a way as well as by a way which they knew not a way his people could not possibly have imagined. So he leads his children now. We cannot predict either the means by which our God will guide us, or the path by which he will conduct us to our home.
VII HIS PURPOSE IN OUR PROSPERITY. (Vers. 43-45) Jehovah brought his people into the land of promise in order "that they might observe his statutes," i.e. in order that they might become a holy nation; for the end of all providential bounty and of all redeeming kindness is character, moral and spiritual worth. God enriches us, he redeems and reinstates us, in order that we may attain unto his own likeness, may be "partakers of his own holiness." Not comfort or enjoyment, but ennoblement, abiding worth, is the true end to which all blessings lead.
Vers. 1-5. The response of man to the providence of God.
What should be our attitude toward God in view of all his providential dealings with us?
I PRAISE. "O give thanks," etc.; "Sing unto him.
II PRAYER. "Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face.
III CONSIDERATION. We must remind ourselves of his works (ver. 5).
IV SACRED JOY IN HIM. (Ver. 3)
V PUBLICATION. "Make known his deeds among the people.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-45. "He watching over Israel slumbers not nor sleeps.
I A BLESSED RETROSPECT.
1. He knows it is blessed, because, ere the psalmist sets it down, he summons, in intensely earnest, varied, and emphatic wag, all people to give thanks unto the Lord.
2. And he tells them wherefore they should hearken to his Word because the Lord "hath remembered his covenant forever," etc. (ver. 8).
3. Then comes the covenant history. He tells what the covenant was (ver. 11), with whom it was made (ver. 9), and to whom confirmed (ver. 10). Then he tells of the apparent improbability of its fulfilment (ver. 12), yet how God guarded them (ver. 15). Then how strangely his work was carried on: sending dread famine (ver. 16), and making them exiles in Egypt; sending Joseph, whom he had wonderfully prepared to be their helper in Egypt (vers. 17-23). Then, when they were sufficiently multiplied, stirring up their nest there by means of the persecution they had to bear. Then came the mission of Moses and Aaron, and the ten plagues, so that at length Pharaoh was glad to let them go (ver. 38). Then the triumphant exodus and the perpetual help in the wilderness, ending in the promised Canaan when the people were prepared for it (vers. 44, 45). So did God lead his people by a right way, and so will he ever, though, as with Israel, the way may often seem very strange, unlikely, and the reverse of what we should have thought.
II ITS LESSONS.
1. God"s covenants ever come true, however unlikely and even impossible they may at times seem to be.
2. That it is a terrible thing to stand in opposition to them (vers. 14, 27-37). Let us beware how we hinder the work of God.
3. God knows where to find and how to prepare his ministers in this work. "He sent Joseph; he sent Moses" (vers. 17, 26). They who are to be chief in service have generally first to be chief in suffering.
4. The aim of God"s covenant is the creation of a holy people (ver. 45).
5. The remembrance of God"s leading will ever be blessed. S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. God in history.
"Tell the people what things he hath done" (Prayer book Version). As the word rendered "people" is a plural, the prominent idea seems to be the duty of making the God of history, whose working is so evident in the Jewish history, known to the heathen. If we can read history aright, and see God"s working in it, we must read it aloud, so that others may be helped to find what we have found. Reviews of history are always interesting, and were specially pleasing to the Jews, who regarded themselves as a specially favoured nation. History at first is but a collection of facts, then it becomes the estimate of relations, causes, and results, which we call the philosophy of history. But that philosophy is not complete or satisfactory which fails to recognize the overruling and modifying Divine force which moves history to preordained ends. He only reaches the true philosophy of history who finds God in history. In this psalm we have such a reading of the national history as the Jewish exiles would undertake when the prospect of return to Canaan was near. We have to see the special points of view from which they would conduct their review. The thing prominent in their minds was, that God was about to redeem them from captivity, and to restore them to their own land; so they read the story of their race to find God"s redemptions. And they were easy to find when men looked for them in such a mood.
I GOD"S REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM THE EGYPTIAN FAMINE. This was at the very outset of the national history. The famine affected the neighbouring countries, and God made Egypt a refuge for his redeemed people. Deliverance by quiet providences.
II GOD"S REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM THE EGYPTIAN BONDAGE. For the place of refuge presently became a place of slavery. This deliverance was accompanied with displays of august power, which reached their climax in the death of the Egyptian firstborn. Deliverance by miraculous interventions.
III GOD"S REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM ITS OWN WILFULNESS. God"s deliverance of a man is never complete while it deals exclusively with his circumstances and surroundings. A man is not redeemed until he is redeemed from his bad self. The nation was not redeemed until God"s gracious working within it had been completed. We see this in scenes of the wilderness journey. We see it all through, up to the great Babylonish captivity. Redemption comes by Divine discipline. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-6. God in history.
"The mighty acts of Jehovah for his people from the first dawn of their national existence are recounted as a fitting subject for thankfulness, and as a ground for future obedience.
I GOD HAS WONDERFULLY REVEALED HIMSELF IN HISTORY.
1. By his marvellous work of love. To the Jews and to the world. Christianity a grand historical embodiment and exhibition of the love of God.
2. By his everlasting faithfulness. As witnessed in the fulfilment of his promises and threatenings to the Jews and the Christian Church. God departs neither from his word nor his plan.
3. By his righteous judgments upon the wickedness of men and nations. His righteousness is the guarantee both for his rewards and his punishments. Doing right is as much a part of the Divine character as doing good; i.e. justice and beneficence are both necessary to a perfect being.
4. By the publication of his law to mankind. (Ver. 5) "The judgments of his mouth" are the utterances of his moral law which he has given by the deliverances of Moses and of Christ.
II HOW THIS REVELATION SHOULD BE RECEIVED.
1. With rejoicing gratitude and thanksgiving. This one of the highest parts of the worship of God. Joyful gratitude is love, and when this is followed by obedience, then God is worshipped most acceptably.
2. With devout meditation. Thought, meditation, is necessary to understand the smallest fact of life; but infinitely necessary to interpret the stupendous facts of redemption.
3. With a spirit of earnest inquiry. We have only just begun to understand the Divine work, and if "the angels desire to look into these things," how much more eager should we be to bend over them with inquiring thought! We are only in the incipient stages of spiritual intelligence. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–5 This historical psalm was evidently composed by King David,…
This historical psalm was evidently composed by King David, for the first fifteen verses of it were used as a hymn at the carrying up of the ark from the house of Obededom, and we read in 1Ch 16:7, "Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord, into the hand of Asaph and his brethren." Such a song was suitable for the occasion, for it describes the movements of the Lord's people and his guardian care over them in every place, and all this on account of the covenant of which the ark, then removing, was a symbol. Our last psalm sang the opening chapters of Genesis, and this takes up its closing chapters and conducts us into Exodus and Numbers.
The first verses are full of joyful praise, and call upon the people to extol Jehovah, Ps 105:1-7; then the earliest days of the infant nation, are described, Ps 105:8-15; the going into Egypt, Ps 105:16-23, the coming forth from it with the Lord's outstretched arm, Ps 105:24-38, the journeying through the wilderness and the entrance into Canaan.
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We are now among the long Psalms, as at other times we have been among the short ones. These varying lengths of the sacred poems should teach us not to lay down any law either of brevity or prolixity in either prayer or praise. Short petitions and single verses of hymns are often the best for public occasions, but there are seasons when a whole night of wrestling or an entire day of psalm slinging will be none too long. The Spirit is ever free in his operations, and is not to be confined with, the rules of conventional propriety. The wind bloweth as it listeth, and at one time rushes in short and rapid sweep, while at another it continues to refresh the earth hour after hour with its reviving breath.
Ver 1. O give thanks unto the Lord. Jehovah is the author of all our benefits, therefore let him have all our gratitude.
Call upon his name, or call him by his name; proclaim his titles and fill the world with his renown.
Make known his deeds among the people, or among the nations. Let the heathen hear of our God, that they may forsake their idols and learn to worship him. The removal of the ark was a fit occasion for proclaiming aloud the glories of the Great King, and for publishing to all mankind the greatness of his doings, for it had a history in connection with the nations which it was well for them to remember with reverence. The rest of the psalm is a sermon, of which these first verses constitute the text.
Whole Psalm. This is the first of a series of "Confitemini Domino" Psalms, "O give thanks unto the Lord" (Ps 105:1 106:1 107:1 108:1 136:1) Christopher Wordsworth.
Whole Psalm. The 105th Psalm is a meditation on the covenant as performed on the part of God, the 106th on the covenant as kept by Israel. They both dwell on the predestinating will of God, electing men to holiness and obedience, and the mode in which human sin opposes itself to that will, and yet cannot make it void. Plain Commentary.
Ver. 1. The first fifteen verses were written at the bringing up of the Ark, 1 Chron. 6. They tell that it is sovereign grace that ruleth over allit is a sovereign God. Out of a fallen world he takes whom he pleasesindividuals, families, nations. He chose Israel long ago, that they might be the objects of grace, and their land the theatre of its display. He will yet again return to Israel, when the days of his Kingdom of Glory draw near; and Israel shall have a full sharethe very fullest and richestin his blessings, temporal and spiritual. Andrew A. Bonar.
Ver. 1. Call upon his name. The original meaning of this phrase is call (him) by his name, i.e., give him the descriptive title most expressive of his divine perfections; or more specifically, call him by his name Jehovah, i.e., ascribe to him the attributes which it denotes, to wit, eternity and self existence, together with that covenant relation to his people, which though not denoted by the name was constantly associated with it, and therefore necessarily suggested by it. The meaning of the next phrase is obscured, if not entirely concealed in the common version, "among the people." The plural form and sense of the original expression are essential to the writer's purpose, which is to glorify the God of Israel among the nations. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Ver. 1. Make known his deeds among the people. The people of God were not shut up in that narrow corner of the earth for the purpose of confining within their straitened territories the true knowledge and worship of God; but God wished that to be the fixed seat of the church, from which the sound of heavenly doctrine should go forth into all nations. Therefore he chose Canaan, which is interjected among the most powerful nations of the world, that from it as from a fountain might more easily issue the doctrine of God to the rest, of the nations: as Isaiah says, "Out of Zion shall go forth the law." Mollerus.
Ver. 1.
1. Praise God for former mercies.
2. Pray for further mercies.
3. Publish his famous mercies.
Ver. 1. A series of holy exercises.
"Give thanks"
"call upon his name"
"make known"
"sing"
"talk"
"glory"
"rejoice"
"seek"
"remember".
Psalms 105:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Make known His deeds among the people.
Psa_105:1
Make known His deeds among the people.
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God in Jewish history, an object of worship
I. Gratitude for His mercy is demanded.
1. The greatness of His favours.
2. The disinterestedness of His motives.
II. The celebration of His works is demanded (verse 2).
1. Publicly.
2. Rapturously.
III. Delight in Him is demanded (verse 3). If a noble son rejoices in his father because of the nobility of his character, the greatness of his influence, the superiority of his attainments, natural and acquired, the greatness of his resources, how much more should a true man delight in the Infinite Father, the Fountain of all goodness.
IV. Pursuit of Him is demanded (verse 4).
1. For this we were made.
2. This alone is our happiness.
V. The remembrance of Him is demanded (verse 5). There are here two subjects for memory.
1. Gods wonderful works for man.
2. Gods wonderful utterances to man.
God has spoken to humanity many things, many times, in many lands--wonderful thought! These words should be remembered by all men. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 105
Psalms 105
IT is a reasonable conjecture that the Hallelujah at the end of Psalms 104, where it is superfluous, properly belongs to this psalm, which would then be assimilated to Psalms 106, which is obviously a companion psalm. Both are retrospective and didactic; but Psalms 105 deals entirely with Gods unfailing faithfulness to Israel, while Psalms 106 sets forth the sad contrast presented by Israels continual faithlessness to God. Each theme is made more impressive by being pursued separately, and then set over against the other. The long series of Gods mercies massed together here confronts the dark uniformity of Israels unworthy requital, of them there. Half of the sky is pure blue and radiant sunshine; half is piled with unbroken clouds. Nothing drives home the consciousness of sin so surely as contemplation of Gods loving acts. Probably this psalm, like others of similar contents, is of late date. The habit of historical retrospect for religious purposes is likely to belong to times remote from the events recorded. Psa_105:1-15 are found in 1 Chronicles 16 as part of the hymn at Davids setting up of the Ark on Zion. But that hymn is unmistakably a compilation from extant psalms, and cannot be taken as decidedly the Davidic authorship of the psalm.
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Psa_105:1-6 are a ringing summons to extol and contemplate Gods great deeds for Israel. They are full of exultation, and, in their reiterated short clauses, are like the joyful cries of a herald bringing good tidings to Zion. There is a beautiful progress of thought in these verses. They begin with the call to thank and praise Jehovah and to proclaim His doings among the people. That recognition of Israels office as the worlds evangelist does not require the supposition that the nation was dispersed in captivity, but simply shows that the singer understood the reason for the long series of mercies heaped on it. It is significant that Gods "deeds" are Israels message to the world. By such deeds His "name" is spoken. What God has done is the best revelation of what God is. His messengers are not to speak their own thoughts about Him, but to tell the story of His acts and let these speak for Him. Revelation is not a set of propositions, but a history of Divine facts. The foundation of audible praise and proclamation is contemplation. Therefore the exhortation in Psa_105:2 b follows, which means not merely "speak," but may be translated, as in margin of the Revised Version, "meditate," and is probably best rendered so as to combine both ideas, "musingly speak." Let not the words be mere words, but feel the great deeds which you proclaim. In like manner, Psa_105:3 calls upon the heralds to "glory" for themselves in the name of Jehovah, and to make efforts to possess Him more fully and to rejoice in finding Him. Aspiration after clearer and closer knowledge and experience of God should ever underlie glad pealing forth of His name. If it does not, eloquent tongues will fall silent, and Israels proclamation will be cold and powerless. To seek Jehovah is to find His strength investing our feebleness. To turn our faces towards His in devout desire is to have our faces made bright by reflected light. And one chief way of seeking Jehovah is the remembrance of His merciful wonders of old, "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered," {Psa_111:4} and His design in them is that men should have solid basis for their hopes, and be thereby encouraged to seek Him, as well as be taught what He is Thus the psalmist reaches his main theme, which is to build a memorial of these deeds for an everlasting possession. The "wonders" referred to in Psa_105:5 are chiefly those wrought in Egypt, as the subsequent verses show.
Psa_105:6 contains, in the names given to Israel, the reason for their obeying the preceding summonses. Their hereditary relation to God gives them the material, and imposes on them the obligation and the honour of being "secretaries of Gods praise." In Psa_105:6 a "His servant" may be intended to designate the nation, as it often does in Isaiah 40-46. "His chosen ones" in Psa_105:6 b would then be an exact parallel; but the recurrence of the expression in Psa_105:42, with the individual reference, makes that reference more probable here.
The fundamental fact underlying all Israels experience of Gods care is His own loving will, which, self-moved, entered into covenant obligations, so that thereafter His mercies are ensured by His veracity, no less than by His kindness. Hence the psalm begins its proper theme by hymning the faithfulness of God to His oath, and painting the insignificance of the beginnings of the nation, as showing that the ground of Gods covenant relation was laid in Himself, not in them. Israels consciousness of holding a special relation to God never obscured, in the, minds of psalmists and prophets, the twin truth that all the earth waited on Him, and was the theatre of His manifestations. Baser souls might hug themselves on their prerogative. The nobler spirits ever confessed that it laid on them duties to the world, and that God had not left Himself without witness in any land. These two truths have often been rent asunder, both in Israel and in Christendom, but each needs the other for its full comprehension. "Jehovah is our God" may become the war cry of bitter hostility to them that are without, or of contempt, which is quite as irreligious. "In all the earth are His judgments" may lead to a vague theism, incredulous of special revelation. He who is most truly penetrated with the first will be most joyfully ready to proclaim the second of these sister thoughts, and will neither shut up all Gods mercies within the circle of revelation, nor lose sight of His clearest utterances while looking on His more diffused and less perfect ones.
The obligations under which God has come to Israel are represented as a covenant, a word and an oath. In all the general idea of explicit declaration of Divine purpose, which henceforth becomes binding on God by reason of His faithfulness, is contained; but the conception of a covenant implies mutual obligation, failure to discharge which on one side relieves the other contracting party from his promise, while that of a word simply includes the notion of articulate utterance, and that of an oath adds the thought of a solemn sanction and a pledge given. God swears by Himself-that is, His own character is the guarantee of His promise. These various designations are thus heaped together, in order to heighten the thought of the firmness of His promise. It stands "forever," "to a thousand generations"; if is an "everlasting covenant." The psalmist triumphs, as it were, in the manifold repetition of it. Each of the fathers of the nation had it confirmed to himself, -Abraham; Isaac when, ready to flee from the land in famine, he had renewed to him {Gen_26:3} the oath which he had first heard as he stood, trembling but unharmed, by the rude altar where the ram lay in his stead; {Gen_22:16} Jacob as he lay beneath the stars of Bethel. With Jacob (Israel) the singer passes from the individuals to the nation, as is shown by the alternation of "thee" and "you" in Psa_105:11. The lowly condition of the recipients of the promise not only exalts the love which chose them, but the power which preserved them and fulfilled it. And if, as may be the case, the psalm is exilic or post-exilic, its picture of ancient days is like a mirror, reflecting present depression and bidding the downcast be of good cheer. He who made a strong nation out of that little horde of wanderers must have been moved by His own heart, not by anything in them; and what He did long ago He can do today. Gods past is the prophecy of Gods future. Literally rendered, Psa_105:12 a runs "Whilst they were men of number," i.e., easily numbered. {Gen_34:30, where Jacob uses the same phrase} "Very few" in b is literally "like a little," and may either apply to number or to worth. It is used in the latter sense, in reference to "the heart of the wicked," in Pro_10:20, and may have the same meaning here. That little band of wanderers, who went about as sojourners among the kinglets of Canaan and Philistia, with occasional visits to Egypt, seemed very vulnerable; but God was, as He had promised to the first of them at a moment of extreme peril, their "shield," and in their lives there were instances of strange protection afforded them, which curbed kings, as in the case of Abram in Egypt {Genesis 12} and Gerar, {Genesis 20} and of Isaac in the latter place. {Genesis 26} The patriarchs were not, techinally speaking, "anointed," but they had that of which anointing was but a symbol. They were Divinely set apart and endowed for their tasks, and, as consecrated to Gods service, their persons were inviolable. In a very profound sense all Gods servants are thus anointed, and are "immortal till their work is done." "Prophets" in the narrower sense of the word the patriarchs were not, but Abraham is called so by God in one of the places already referred to. {Gen_20:7} Prior to prophetic utterance is prophetic inspiration: and these men received Divine communications, and were, in a special degree, possessed of the counsels of Heaven. The designation is equivalent to Abrahams name of the "friend of God." Thus both titles, which guaranteed a charmed, invulnerable life to their bearers, go deep into the permanent privileges of God-trusting souls. All such "have an anointing from the Holy One," and receive whispers from His lips. They are all under the aegis of His protection, and for their sakes kings of many a dynasty and age have been rebuked.
In Psa_105:16-22 the history of Joseph is poetically and summarily treated, as a link in the chain of providences which brought about the fulfilment of the Covenant. Possibly the singer is thinking about a captive Israel in the present, while speaking about a captive Joseph in the past. In Gods dealings humiliation and affliction are often, he thinks, the precursors of glory and triumph. Calamities prepare the way for prosperity. So it was in that old time; and so it is still. In this resume of the history of Joseph, the points signalised are Gods direct agency in the whole-the errand on which Joseph was sent ("before them") as a forerunner to "prepare a place for them," the severity of his sufferings, the trial of his faith by the contrast which his condition presented to what God had promised, and his final exaltation. The description of Josephs imprisonment adds some dark touches to the account in Genesis, whether these are due to poetic idealising or to tradition. In Psa_105:18 b some would translate "Iron came over his soul." So Delitzsch, following the Vulgate ("Ferrum pertransiit animam ejus"), and the picturesque Prayer Book Version, "The iron entered into his soul." But the original is against this, as the word for iron is masculine and the verb is feminine, agreeing with the feminine noun soul. The clause is simply a parallel to the preceding. "His soul" is best taken as mere periphrasis for he, though it may be used emphatically to suggest that "his soul entered, whole and entire, in its resolve to obey God, into the cruel torture" (Kay). The meaning is conveyed by the free rendering above.
Psa_105:19 is also ambiguous, from the uncertainty as to whose word is intended in a. It may be either Gods or Josephs. The latter is the more probable, as there appears to be an intentional contrast between "His word," in a, -and "the promise of Jehovah" in b. If this explanation is adopted, a choice is still possible between Josephs interpretation of his fellow prisoners dreams, the fulfilment of which led to his liberation, and his earlier word recounting his own dreams, which led to his being sold by his brethren. In any case, the thought of the verse is a great and ever true one, that Gods promise, while it remains unfulfilled, and seems contradicted by present facts, serves as a test of the genuineness and firmness of a mans reliance on Him and it. That promise is by the psalmist almost personified, as putting Joseph to the test. Such testing is the deepest meaning of all afflictions. Fire will burn off a thin plating of silver from a copper coin and reveal the base metal beneath, but it will only brighten into a glow the one which is all silver.
There is a ring of triumph in the singers voice as he tells of the honour and power heaped on the captive, and of how the king and many nations "sent," as the mightier King in heaven had done (Psa_105:20 and Psa_105:17), and not only liberated but exalted him, giving him, whose soul had been bound in fetters, power to "bind princes according to his soul," and to instruct and command the elders of Egypt. Psa_105:23-27 carry on the story to the next step in the evolution of Gods purposes. The long years of the sojourn in Egypt are summarily dealt with, as they are in the narrative in Genesis and Exodus, and the salient points of its close alone are touched-the numerical growth of the people, the consequent hostility of the Egyptians, and the mission of Moses and Aaron. The direct ascription to God of all the incidents mentioned is to be noted. The psalmist sees only one hand moving, and has no hesitation in tracing to God the turning of the Egyptians hearts to hatred. Many commentators, both old and new, try to weaken the expression, by the explanation that the hatred was "indirectly the work of God, inasmuch as He lent increasing might to the people" (Delitzsch). But the psalmist means much more than this, just as Exodus does in attributing the hardening of Pharaohs heart to God. Psa_105:27, according to the existing text, breaks the series of verses beginning with a singular verb of which God is the subject, which stretch with only one other interruption from Psa_105:24 to Psa_105:37. It seems most probable, therefore, that the LXX is right in reading He instead of They. The change is but the omission of one letter, and the error supposed is a frequent one. The word literally means set or planted, and did is an explanation rather than a rendering. The whole expression is remarkable. Literally, we should translate "He" (or "They") "set among them words" (or "matters") "of His signs"; but this would be unintelligible, and we must have recourse to reproduction of the meaning rather than of the words.
If "words of His signs" is not merely pleonastic, it may be rendered as by Kay, "His long record of signs," or as by Cheyne, "His varied signs." But it is better to take the expression as suggesting that the miracles were indeed words, as being declarations of Gods will and commands to let His people go. The phrase in Psa_105:5, "the judgments of His mouth," would then be roughly parallel. Gods deeds are words. His signs have tongues. "He speaks and it is done"; but also, "He does and it is spoken." The expression, however, may be like Psa_65:4, where the same form of phrase is applied to sins, and where it seems to mean "deeds of iniquity." It would then mean here "His works which were signs." The following enumeration of the "signs" does not follow the order in Exodus, but begins with the ninth plague, perhaps because of its severity, and then in the main adheres to the original sequence, though it inverts the order of the third and fourth plagues (flies and gnats or mosquitoes, not "lice") and omits the fifth and sixth. The reason for this divergence is far from clear, but it may be noted that the first two in the psalmists order attack the elements; the next three. (frogs, flies, gnats) have to do with animal life; and the next two (hail and locusts), which embrace both these categories, are considered chiefly as affecting vegetable products. The emphasis is laid in all on Gods direct act. He sends darkness, He turns the waters into blood, and so on. The only other point needing notice in these verses is the statement in Psa_105:28 b. "They rebelled not against His word," which obviously is true only in reference to Moses and Aaron, who shrank not from their perilous embassage.
The tenth plague is briefly told for the psalm is hurrying on to the triumphant climax of the Exodus, when, enriched with silver and gold, the tribes went forth, strong for their desert march, and Egypt rejoiced to see the last of them, "for they said, We be all dead men". {Exo_12:33} There may be a veiled hope in this exultant picture of the Exodus, that present oppression will end in like manner. The wilderness sojourn is so treated in Psa_105:39 sqq. as to bring into sight only the leading instances, sung in many psalms, of Gods protection, without one disturbing reference to the sins and failures which darkened the forty years. These are spread out at length, without flattery or minimising, in the next psalm; but here the theme is Gods wonders. Therefore, the pillar of cloud which guided, covered, and illumined the camp, the miracles which provided food and water, are touched on in Psa_105:39-41, and then the psalmist gathers up the lessons which he would teach in three great thoughts. The reason for Gods merciful dealings with His people is His remembrance of His covenant, and of, His servant Abraham, whose faith made a claim on God, for the fulfilment which would vindicate it. That covenant: has been amply fulfilled, for Israel came forth with ringing songs, and took possession of lands which they had not tilled, and houses which they had not built. The purpose of covenant and fulfilment is that the nation, thus admitted into special relations with God, should by His mercies be drawn to keep His commandments, and in obedience find rest and closer fellowship with its God. The psalmist had learned that God gives before He demands or commands, and that "Love," springing from grateful reception of His benefits, "is the fulfilling of the Law." He anticipates the full Christian exhortation, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 “This Psalm,” says Perowne, “like the 78th and the…
INTRODUCTION
“This Psalm,” says Perowne, “like the 78th and the 106th, has for its theme the early history of Israel, and God’s wonders wrought on behalf of the nation; but it differs from both those Psalms in the intention with which it pursues this theme. The 78th Psalm is didactic: its object is to teach a lesson; it recalls the past as conveying instruction and warning for the present. The 106th Psalm is a psalm of penitential confession. The history of the past appears in it only as a history of Israel’s sin. In this Psalm, on the other hand, the mighty acts of Jehovah for His people, from the first dawn of their national existence, are recounted as a fitting subject for thankfulness, and as a ground for future obedience. Those interpositions of God are specially dwelt upon which have a reference to the fulfilment of His promise, which exhibit most clearly His faithfulness to His covenant. Hence the series begins with the covenant made with Abraham, tracing all the steps in its fulfilment to the occupation of the promised land.” Neither the author of the Psalm nor the occasion on which it was composed is known.
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THE WORKS AND WORSHIP OF THE LORD
(Psa_105:1-7)
Let us consider—
I. The worship of the Divine Being. The Psalmist calls upon Israel to celebrate the worship of Jehovah, in—
1. Thankful praise. “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him. Glory ye in His holy name.” The reasons for this praise are the Lord’s glorious deeds, afterwards mentioned in the Psalm, and His holiness. God should be thankfully and joyfully praised because of His perfections and works.
2. Trustful prayer. Here is prayer for Divine strength: “Seek the Lord and His strength.” Only as we are strengthened by the Lord are we able to perform the duties and endure the trials of life. For Divine favour: “Seek His face evermore;” i.e., Seek His favour. (See a sketch on Psa_80:3.) Here is perpetual prayer: “Evermore.” The godly soul will seek the favour of the Lord through all time and all eternity, and will progress in the enjoyment of that favour evermore. Here is prayer with gladness of heart. “Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” Barnes: “Let their heart rejoice, (a) because they are permitted to seek Him, (b) because they are inclined to seek Him, (c) because they have such a God to come to,—one so mighty, so holy, so good, so gracious.” And, may we not add? because of the encouragement which. His former deeds afford us in seeking Him.
II. The character of the Divine works. The deeds to which the Psalmist refers are those wrought on behalf of His people. He represents them as—
1. Marvellous. “His wondrous works, … marvellous works that He hath done.” The deeds mentioned in this Psalm (Psa_105:27-41) were fitted to excite wonder and admiration.
2. Significant. In Psa_105:5, Perowne does not translate “His wonders,” as in the A.V., but “His tokens.” The miracles which He wrought were not only surprising but instructive. His doings in the past were a foundation on which to base a joyful hope for the future. They abounded in encouragement and in warning.
3. Judicial. “The judgments of His mouth.” “The wonders of God in Egypt were exactly so many judicial decisions of God in the case of Israel against the Egyptians, or of the Church of God against the world.”
III. The treatment of the Divine works. The Poet calls upon the people to—
1. Remember them. “Remember His marvellous works.” The doings of God on behalf of His people, both providential and redemptive, should never be forgotten by them. To forget them would involve
(1) base ingratitude to God;
(2) foolish disregard of the advantage of remembering them. The recollection of them would tend to strengthen faith, promote obedience, &c.
2. Ponder them. “Talk of all His wondrous works.” Both Hengstenberg and Perowne translate, “Meditate,” &c. Reflection must follow recollection. (See a sketch on Psa_77:11-12.)
3. Publish them. “Make known His deeds among the people.” Declaration should follow reflection. (See on Psa_77:11-12.)
IV. The people of the Divine choice. “Ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen. He is the Lord our God.” “His chosen, plural, referring to the people, not to Jacob. It is on this ground, because they are Jacob’s children, heritors of the covenant and the promises, that they are bound beyond all others to ‘remember’ what God had done for them.”—Perowne. As the chosen people of God, they were the heirs of His promises, and so His mighty deeds in the past were pledges of His omnipotent help in the future. Being the people of God, theirs was the privilege of His protection and support and salvation. And theirs was the duty of praising His name, publishing His deeds, and performing His commands.
Let the people of God, in this age of Gospel grace, be mindful of both their privileges and their responsibilities.
SPIRITUAL JOYS
(Psa_105:3. “Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.”)
Here is a generic term for God’s people—“they seek the Lord,”—definite, yet comprehensive; it may be applied to the awakened sinner—he “seeks the Lord,”—to the professing Christian—all his life life is “seeking the Lord,”—and the matured, departing believer can do no more; he dies, “seeking the Lord,” nor will he fully find Him until he sees Him as He is in glory,—“I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness.” To such persons it is that the Psalmist addresses the exhortation of the text: “Let the heart of them rejoice,” &c. Observe—
I. That it is God’s will that His people should be happy. We might show that, notwithstanding all the disturbing causes, the goodness of God in desiring His creatures’ happiness appears in the animate world and among men in general, but the text limits it to His own people.
1. Consider what God has done to promote and secure the happiness of His people. He has redeemed them from sin, guilt, and corruption by the death, and passion, and glorification of His dear Son. That Son lives to intercede for them, and supplies them with all grace out of His fulness in glory. To comfort, cheer, animate, as well as to sanctify them, His Holy Spirit dwells in them. “All things are theirs.” They have abounding consolation and Divine joys, and “peace which passeth all understanding.” See Psa_84:11.
2. The exhortations to joy and peace abound in Holy Scripture. It is a duty, as well as a privilege, for believers to be happy. See Psa_33:1; Joh_16:22; 2Co_2:14; Eph_4:4.
II. Still in all ages God’s people have been for the most part a sad and sorrowing people.
It is often assumed that their portion in this world is usually a sorrowful one. Large portions of sadness were administered to Jacob, to Joseph, to Moses, to David, Elijah, Jeremiah—to say nothing of Job himself. See Act_14:22.
And of modern Christians it is constantly alleged that they are gloomy and melancholy,—and there is much in them to justify the world’s accusation, as happy and rejoicing believers are rather the exception than the rule among persons of piety.
III. How is this to be accounted for? God has made a rich provision for His people’s happiness, but they are not happy,—why is this?
May it not be accounted for by their trials, temptations, afflictions? Certainly not! because God sends corresponding help and grace; all persons of experience would attest that the happiest and most rejoicing Christians are to be found among those who are most deeply afflicted. See 2Co_1:5.
Does not God sometimes withhold spiritual consolations from His faithful and consistent people? He does so. See Isa_50:10. But such cases are rare, and the time of shadows short, and speedily lead to stronger exercises of faith and surer joys. The absence of religious joy and peace is chiefly to be accounted for—
1. In some instances by the hollowness of religious profession. The heart is not true and right with God,—some secret passion, appetite, lust, desire, is allowed or indulged in. There can be no real happiness in religion while an idol is in the heart. See Mat_6:24; 1Jn_3:21.
2. Where there is not direct heart treachery nor self-deception there may be an unsuccessful conflict with indwelling sin. See Romans 7; 2Co_5:4; Gal_5:17. Natural character, impure or sceptical, or vain, passionate, and revengeful—and the workings of these destroy peace of mind.
3. Defective views of God’s all-sufficient grace:—labour as slaves, as hirelings, as legalists—forgetting that He who purchased forgiveness secured grace. See Joh_15:4; Rom_7:25; 2Co_12:8-9.
4. Errors as to the ground and source of a believer’s rejoicing. Our joy, peace, comfort, &c., must spring not from our growth in grace, nor from anything in us nor done by us, but in and out of Christ alone—and all our sorrows are intended to drive us to this. (Psa_5:11-12; Isa_12:1-3; Isa_61:10-11; Hab_3:18.) So in the New Testament. (Php_4:4.) God in Christ is the only abiding source of happiness to His people.
1. Let all sincere Christians believe that a sorrowful experience is a defective and imperfect condition of soul. Better be sad than indifferent, slumbering, &c. But a melancholy, gloomy, downcast, doubting state is not the normal condition of a believer.
2. Let all search and see whether any allowed sin, or inconsistency, or idol, remain in their hearts. There can be no peace, no success, no joy, till this A chan is stoned and burnt.
3. Let no one be satisfied until he is both happy and holy. Both within your reach.
Are you afflicted?—no matter from what source, rejoice. “Suffer affliction with people of God,” &c.
Consolation withheld? Wait, and watch, and pray—and look for the Spirit, and search for Christ until you find Him.
Corruptions? “Nothing too hard for the Lord.” Union with Christ by His Spirit alone subdues them.
Confused ideas? perplexed views? doubt? See Isa_54:13. Pray for light, &c.
Happiness, present now, immediate, in store for you. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour.”—F. Close, D.D.
THE FAITHFUL PROMISES
(Psa_105:8-15)
The Poet here sings of the covenant of the Lord with His ancient people, and the early stages of its fulfilment. In doing this he brings out several truths of universal application as to God and His engagements with man, on which we may profitably reflect.
I. The Lord’s remembrance of His promises. “He hath remembered His covenant for ever.” God cannot forget anything. All the things which He hath promised He will perform, though tedious ages may intervene between the giving of the promise and its fulfilment. If God were to forget His engagements He would cease to be God. “If God were to forget for one moment,” says Macdonald, “the universe would grow black—vanish—rush out again from the realm of law and order into chaos and night.” His infinite intelligence, His unchangeableness and His past doings afford ample guarantees of the Lord’s unfailing remembrance of His promises.
II. The perpetuity of His promises. “The word which He commanded to a thousand generations.” Hengstenberg translates: “The word which He ordained,” &c. Perowne: “The word which He confirmed,” &c. “A thousand generations” means innumerable generations, always. AS the Psalmist says, the covenant is “an everlasting covenant.” “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” The promises of of God are to all generations. This is a glorious truth. Promises of pardon, sufficient grace, eternal and blessed life to every believer in the Lord, are for man in all ages and in all lands.
III. The confirmation of His promises. “The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” For the confirmation to Isaac, see Gen_26:3-5; and to Jacob, Gen_28:13-15; and to Israel, Gen_35:9-12. In the experience of every generation God confirms the truth of His promises. Every age, as it passes away from this world, leaves behind it an additional volume testifying most conclusively to the faithfulness of God.
IV. The recipients of His promises. Concerning these the Psalmist indicates three characteristics. They are—
1. Believers of the Divine Word. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were eminent for faith. (Heb_11:8-9; Heb_11:17-21.) God required the Israelites to believe His word and obey His commands. The blessings of salvation are promised to those who believe.
2. Consecrated to the Divine service. “Mine anointed.” The patriarchs were not anointed; but the Poet uses the language of his own day to set forth the idea that they were called and consecrated to the service of God. Those who truly believe the word of God, and accept the offers of His grace, devote themselves to His service. To them the promises of protection, sanctification, and the heavenly inheritance are made.
3. Recipients of Divine communications. “My prophets.” “A good instance,” says Perowne, “of the wide signification of this word. It is derived from a root signifying to boil, to bubble up. The prophet is one in whose soul there rises a spring, a rushing stream of Divine inspiration. In the later language he not only receives the Divine word, but he is made the utterer of it, the organ of its communication to others. But in the earlier instances, as in that of Abraham, his official character does not distinctly appear, though doubtless, like Noah, he was ‘a preacher of righteousness,’ and taught his own family (and through them ultimately the whole world) the way of the Lord. See Gen_18:19. Here the prophet means little more than one to whom God speaks, one with whom He holds converse, whether by word, or vision, or dream, or inner voice. (Comp. Num_12:6-8.) We approach nearest to what is meant by styling the patriarchs prophets when we read such passages as Gen_18:17 : ‘And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?’ or again, the pleading of Abraham for Sodom, in Psa_105:23-33 of the same chapter. It is, indeed, as pleading with God in intercession that Abraham is termed a prophet in Gen_20:7. The title is thus very similar to that of the ‘Friend of God’ (Isa_41:8; 2Ch_20:7; Jas_2:23).” The people of God, in whose experience His gracious promises are fulfilled, are in communication with Him. He speaks to them by His Word and by His Spirit. They have fellowship with Him. Such are three of the characteristics of the recipients of the promises of the Lord.
V. The fulfilment of His promises.
1. God’s promises will be fulfilled however great the apparent improbability. When God promised the land of Canaan to the patriarchs, the fulfilment of the promise seemed utterly improbable. At that time they were
(1) very “few in number.” Was it likely that they would ever be able to take possession of the land? or that their seed would ever be “as the stars of the heaven” for multitude?
(2) They were strangers in that land. They did not unite themselves with the people of the land, or acquire property there.
(3) They were wanderers. “They went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people.” They had no fixed residence. They were exposed to frequent dangers. How improbable that the land promised to them should ever be theirs! Yet the Lord fulfils His promise, and gives them the land. The things which appear to man improbable, or even impossible, God accomplishes, if He has promised to do so. Apply this to the perfection of individual character, to the future triumphs of Christianity in the world, &c.
2. God’s promises will be fulfilled though their fulfilment may necessitate the control of the greatest powers. “He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes.” See Gen_12:10-20; Gen_20:1-7. The Lord controls the mightiest as well as the meanest powers, for the protection of His people and the fulfilment of His promises.
CONCLUSION.
1. Warning to the wicked. God will inflict the punishment which He has denounced against sin.
2. Encouragement
(1) to the repentant sinner. The promises of forgiveness and grace are gloriously reliable.
(2) To the people of God. However improbable, apparently, not one good thing of all that He hath promised shall fail.
HISTORICAL SURPRISES
(Psa_105:16-24)
From the 16th verse to the 38th verse the Psalmist gives an outline of the history of Israel in Egypt, exhibiting in it the fulfilment of the Divine purposes and the working of the Divine power. In the verses under consideration at present we have several surprises of the Divine providence.
I. A famine driving the people from the land promised to them, yet contributing to their possession of it. “He called for a famine upon the land; He brake the whole staff of bread.” The famine referred to is that which occurred in the time of Jacob, and which occasioned his migration into Egypt. This famine was no chance occurrence; it came not merely by the operation of material laws; God called for it; He ordered it. By reason of it “Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.” Thus they departed from the promised laud; and so the fulfilment of the promise was rendered apparently more unlikely than ever. Yet in the providence of God their absence from the land of Canaan contributed to their ultimate possession of it. While in Egypt they increased in number, in power, in intelligence, &c.
II. A slave becomes the saviour of a country and of the chosen people. Notice here—
1. The sin of man. “Joseph was sold for a servant,” or slave. Joseph’s position as a slave in Egypt was brought about by the envy and jealousy, the hatred and cruelty, of his brethren.
2. The providence of God. “He sent a man before them.” God so ordered events that Joseph was taken into Egypt, and there wondrously enabled to preserve the people of that land from perishing by famine, and to arrange for the reception and support of Israel and his family. Joseph’s position in Egypt was not an accident or a freak of fortune. “Be not grieved, nor angry that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” The brethren of Joseph were free in their wickedness in selling him; they were guilty, in the sight of God, of jealousy, hatred, cruelty. God’s overruling of man’s sin does not extenuate his guilt. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee,” &c. In the providence of God, the detested slave became the honoured saviour of nations.
III. A prisoner is made the ruler over the land.
1. Imprisonment as the result of the wickedness of another. Joseph was imprisoned despite his own virtue, and by reason of the sins of his master’s wife. (Gen_39:7-20.)
2. Imprisonment painful to the sufferer. “Whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron.” Margin, as in the Heb.: “His soul came into iron.” P. B. V.: “The iron entered into his soul” is a very expressive rendering, but it is incorrect. Perowne points out that in this verse we have a picture of an imprisonment much more severe “than that given in Gen_39:20-23; Gen_40:4. But it may refer to the earlier stage of the imprisonment, before he had won the confidence of his gaoler, or it may be tinged with the colouring of poetry.” But even, under the least unfavourable circumstances, imprisonment is painful to an upright man. It is one of the most severe trials to the soul of such a man. Moreover, in the case of Joseph, imprisonment was a trial of his faith. “The word of the Lord tried him.” God had promised to the family of which he was a member the possession of Canaan; and to him, in his dreams, exaltation and honour had been promised. So the saying or promise of God is said to try him, because during the years of his suffering and imprisonment it tested his faith and patience. Would God make good His word and raise him to honour? was an inquiry which often pressed itself upon Joseph.
3. Imprisonment Divinely overruled. Joseph’s imprisonment was overruled by God to promote the accomplishment of purposes the most important and benevolent. The Psalmist mentions
(1) The means by which his release was brought about. “Until the time that his word came.” The “word” is the word of Joseph by which he interpreted to the servants of Pharaoh their dreams in the prison. The verification of his interpretation of the dreams and his release from prison are regarded as cause and effect.
(2) The wisdom which he displayed. Joseph manifested such wisdom in interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, and advising him as to the measures to be adopted to provide for the people during the years of famine, that the elders of Egypt were instructed by him. “To teach his senators wisdom,” is not to be interpreted that he literally instructed them in the art of politics. He displayed a wisdom superior to theirs, by which they were instructed.
(3) The power with which he was invested. As a result of the wisdom which he manifested, Pharaoh “made him lord of his house and ruler of all his substance,” &c. The administration of the affairs of the kingdom was placed entirely under his control. The most complete authority was given unto him. (Gen_41:44.) Wonderful are the changes brought about in the providence of God, and wonderful the means by which they are brought about!
IV. A subject people growing stronger than a sovereign people. “He increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies.” (Exo_1:7-9.) This increase in number and power the Poet attributes to God. The virtues of a godly character promote the growth and progress of a people. We have an illustration in the growth of the Christian provinces of Turkey in Europe, while the dominant Mahommedans are decaying.
CONCLUSION. From these surprises in the outworking of the Divine Providence, let us learn to TRUST GOD amid its mysteries.
1. Let those who are condemned and suffer wrongfully trust Him. In due time He will vindicate them, even as He did Joseph.
2. When the current of events seem opposed to His avowed purposes and promises, let us trust Him. He oft moves in a way that is mysterious to us. But He will accomplish His purposes and fulfil His promises.
A CRUEL PERSECUTION AND A GLORIOUS EMANCIPATION
(Psa_105:25-38)
In these verses the Psalmist gives us a glimpse of—
I. Israel persecuted in Egypt. We see here
1. The root of the persecution. “He turned their heart to hate His people.” The hostility of the Egyptians to the Israelites is here ascribed to God. Now we know that God is not in any sense the author of moral evil. “God is light.” Hence the statement of the Psalmist has occasioned much difficulty. The difficulty is of the same kind as when it is said that the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. (See Homiletic Commentary, Critical Note, on Exo_7:3.) We shall do well to bear in mind three facts.
(1) Pharaoh and his people were free in what they did to the Israelites.
(2) The Lord manifested His disapprobation of their conduct.
(3) Yet, “nothing—not even the human will, free as it is—is independent of God; and not even the worst passions of men are outside of His plan, or independent in such a sense that He does not afford the opportunity for their development and display.” God so ordered events that the Egyptians became the enemies of His people, and rendered their removal to another land necessary. The goodness of the Lord to the Israelites exasperated the Egyptians against them. “Though God is not the author of the sins of men, yet He serves His own purposes by them.” The root of the persecution was the hatred of the Egyptians. The growing number and power of the Israelites aroused the jealousy, suspicion, and hatred of the Egyptians. Hatred is incipient murder.
2. The manner of the persecution. “To deal subtilly with his servants.” The word which is here rendered “to deal subtilly,” in Gen_37:18, is rendered “they conspired against.” There is a reference to Exo_1:10 : “Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply,” &c. So, with diabolic cunning and cruelty, the male children were ordered to be slain as soon as they were born, and the burdens of the people were grievously increased. “Malice is crafty to destroy: Satan has the serpent’s subtlety with his venom.”
II. Israel emancipated from Egypt. God listened to the cries of His oppressed people and delivered them. Their emancipation was effected by the Lord God—
1. By human instruments. He employed Moses and Aaron to accomplish this great work. They were
(1) Divinely commissioned. “He sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He had chosen.” They were not popular agitators, but men of distinguished abilities, called of God to a great work.
(2) Divinely authenticated. “They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.” (Comp. Exo_4:28; Exo_4:30; Exo_10:2; Psa_78:43.)
(3) Obedient to the Divine commission. “They rebelled not against His words.” At first Moses was unwilling to undertake the mission; but afterwards he and Aaron shrank not from the task, but faithfully performed the bidding of the Lord. Unmoved by fear of Pharaoh, or by pity for his people, they did the work which the Lord committed to them.
2. By overcoming the most persistent resistance on the part of Pharaoh. Pharaoh would not obey the Divine command until the Lord had visited him and his people and country with terrible plagues. Psa_105:28-36. (See Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:42-53, and Exodus 7-12.)
3. In circumstances favourable to His people. They were brought out of Egypt with
(1) Wealth. “He brought them forth with silver and gold.” In Exo_12:35 it is said, “They borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold.” “Borrowed” is an unhappy rendering, as the word—שָׁאַל—signifies to penetrate, to ask pressingly, to require, to request, to beg, &c.
(2) Health. “There was not one feeble person among their tribes.” Perowne: “There was none among their tribes that stumbled.” Notwithstanding their afflictions, the people were healthy and hardy when they left Egypt.
(3) Respect. “Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them fell upon them.” The Lord had so pleaded their cause that they were regarded by the Egyptians as under the special protection of God. The Egyptians were afraid of them, and realised a great feeling of relief when they had gone out from amongst them.
(4) Joy. “He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen with gladness” (Psa_105:43). God exchanged their cry by reason of their burdens, for glad songs by reason of their deliverance.
CONCLUSION. Our subject speaks—
1. Encouragement to the oppressed.
2. Warning to the oppressor.
3. Hope for the future of the race. “The Lord reigneth.”
DIVINE BLESSINGS IN HUMAN PILGRIMAGE
(Psa_105:39-45)
In these verses the Psalmist briefly refers to the goodness of God to the Israelites in the wilderness, and their inheritance of Canaan, and states the reason why He had so dealt with them, and His purpose in His dealings with them. This portion of the poem may be used as illustrating the blessings of God in the pilgrimage of human life. These blessings are—
I. Adapted to human needs. The needs of Israel in the wilderness represent the needs of human life. The Divine blessings were adapted to those needs.
1. Direction. “He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night.” “In the daytime He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.” See Exo_8:21. “The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” He does so—
(1) by the teachings of His Word;
(2) by the influences of His Spirit;
(3) by the indications of circumstances.
2. Protection. In the burning wilderness the cloud was a protection to the people against the heat of the sun by day; and by night the fire shielded them from the attacks of wild beasts. God is the sure defence of His people. “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”
3. Provision. “They asked, and He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.” (On Psa_105:40, see Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:24-29; and on Psa_105:41, see Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:15-16.) God provides for His people all needful things for the body. Of the righteous the Lord says, “Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure.” “No good will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Mat_6:30-32). Spiritually His provisions are adapted to all our needs. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
4. Possession. “He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labour of the people.” (See Homiletic Commentary on Psa_78:55.) During the wanderings in the wilderness the Israelites looked forward to the possession of Canaan as the end of their wanderings, their rest and home. A glorious inheritance awaits the good at the end of their pilgrimage,—“an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, is reserved in heaven” for them. This is an inspiration during the pilgrimage, &c.
II. Adequate to human needs. “He satisfied them.” “The waters ran in the dry places like a river.” The Divine provision for the Israelites in the wilderness was abundant. No one lacked anything. Having the Lord with them, they had all-sufficiency. So in the pilgrimage of human life the Divine provisions are adequate to every need. “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” “He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” His wisdom is adequate to our direction; His wisdom and power to our protection; His resources for our provision, &c.
III. Guaranteed by Divine faithfulness. “For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant.” It is said of Israel in Egypt: “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham,” &c. (Exo_2:24-25). “Because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand,” &c. They were unworthy and unfaithful, but God did these great things for them because of His word to their fathers. The faithful promises of God guarantee to us the blessings we need during our pilgrimage. Harvest may be blighted; fountains may be dried up; all finite resources may fail.
“If this fail,
The pillar’d firmament is rottenness,
And earth’s base built on stubble.”
IV. Bestowed for the most worthy purpose. The end of all God’s dealings with the Israelites was “that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.” His design was that Israel should be a holy nation, representing Him in the world, and claiming the world for Him as His own. The final cause of all the blessings He confers upon His people now is their conformity to His will. We are redeemed, called, guided, guarded, sustained, and animated with hopes of heaven, all with a view to our holiness.
The blessings of God in the pilgrimage of life—
V. Call for devout praise. “Praise ye the Lord.” He has done, and is ever doing, great things for us; and to Him let us ascribe the praise. Hallelujah!
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. Israel went down into Egypt to buy food,…
Psa 105:17
I. Israel went down into Egypt to buy food, and found one of themselves at the head of the government; and from that Divine provision flowed in natural order the whole after-Bible story. A local famine ministered to the scheme of the world’s salvation; out of partial evil came universal good. The Gospel feast was remotely spread through the jealousy of Jacob’s sons, and in the pressure of the great dearth. The presence of evil in God’s world must ever remain an unfathomable mystery. The book of Genesis shows us, indeed, the beginning of evil upon the earth; but it represents evil as already existent, and as being brought into this world by a tempter not of this world. There is thus a chapter before the first chapter of Genesis, which remains unwritten. A lesser mystery than the creation of evil is the sufferance of evil. God, who created it not, permits it, uses it for His own purposes. The darkness which hangs about even the sufferance of evil, both moral and’ physical, is in a measure lightened by the remembrance that He who permits evil sees at the selfsame moment, not as a future, but as a present, thing, the good which comes out of it. It was so with the history of Joseph. It was so with the scheme of man’s redemption through Christ. And so with the discipline of our daily life. To us the multitude of events which mark the lapse of the years, even in the most uniform lives, appear to come tumbling upon one another, like the waves of the sea. He in whose hand is the soul of every living thing has laid long before the whole train of circumstances by which we are to be tried. The ministering angel was commissioned ere the messenger of Satan was permitted to buffet. Nay more, the increased hope and strength, all those high spiritual graces which are formed in saintly souls by endurance, were present things to the eternal eye, not visions of the future, when He arranged the trial.
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II. From this doctrine flow several principles of faith and practice. (1) In the light of these truths, how strongly comes out to view the supernatural character of the commonest events in which we play our part! (2) A keen recognition of these "previsions of God" leads to spiritual repose in the midst of worldly disquiet. God employs evil for His purposes of good. Man may not do evil that good may come. Three great attributes of God account for the difference: (a) His infinite knowledge; (b) His certain control; (c) His perfect holiness.
Bishop Woodford, Sermons on Subjects from the Old Testament, p. 143.
References: Psa 105:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1277. Psa 105:24.—G. S. Barrett, Old Testament Outlines, p. 140. Psa 106:4, Psa 106:5.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1454; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 235. Psa 106:8.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 115. Psa 106:9.—Ibid., vol. ii., No. 72. Psa 106:13.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 259.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 The story of His ways as with His people.
The story of His ways as with His people.
The last two psalms of the book show us God’s ways with His people, and (in confession on their part) their ways with Him, which had necessitated the discipline of His hand. But this has done its work, and they are thus ready for the final blessing, the principles and character of which we find fully in the fifth book.
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These two psalms are naturally therefore of very simple character, a review of Israel’s history as already known to us in the books of Moses, with a mere glance at the after events when in the land. In fact the story of the wilderness is typical of all the rest; just as Israel as a nation is but a sample of man generally, -the "heart of man" anywhere being but the full, fair reflection of "man" at large.
The hundred and fifth psalm is not the story of God’s governmental ways with Israel as a whole, but simply of that which has to do with His action on their behalf, mainly in the deliverance in Egypt, and ending with their possession of the land. One verse alone declares this last.
1. The first section; in seven verses, calls for the celebration of Jehovah their God, as known in His glorious deeds. His Name is holy. His power is needed by human frailty. The "judgments of His mouth" interpret His acts, and make them illustration of His perfect ways. To this glorious God His people stand in relation as the "seed of Abraham His servant" the one marked by his history for his obedience as such. They are "the children" too, "of Jacob His chosen": whose history is of another character, and shows the struggle of a soul in the hand of God, whom it knows, but too little knows. And this necessitates those dealings of God with it, by which at last an Israel emerges out of a Jacob. These struggles and this divine discipline are, as easily seen, the type of the nation’s history afterward. They are but a too faithful reproduction of their father; while the victorious grace of God will not cease toward them, until in them also He has produced an Israel indeed. And this is "Jehovah our God," whose "judgments," essentially of the same character, "are in all the earth."
2. The psalmist goes on to speak of the covenant-relation in which He stands to them. It is an abiding one: He is ever mindful of it; He has commanded it to a thousand generations -a round number, as it would seem, for as many as may be (comp. Deu 7:9). Made with Abraham; and with an oath to Isaac, He confirmed it to Jacob for a decree unalterable, and to Israel as an everlasting covenant. Here the double name, and used evidently with regard to the people as well as to the father of their twelve tribes, has (as always) its significance. To Jacob, with all the frailty and sinfulness that the word implies, it takes nevertheless the form of a decree, the fixed expression of His absolute will; with Israel, in whom as such His transforming power is realized, it is an everlasting covenant. He works thus in perfect sovereignty, and according to the holiness of His own nature. According to this covenant the land is secured to them; and was so when they were in it as sojourners only, a few people and in men’s account of no consideration.
3. The next section; briefly but effectively, shows how in their after-history Jehovah was a sanctuary to them: according, indeed, to the care He had shown for Abraham, when Abraham himself also had been sadly untrue to the promise which had been given him; in yielding up the designated mother of the seed to be, into the hands of the Philistine king (Gen 20:1-18), and here He owns His "prophet" in the one who had so failed. This was but a sample of how He had come in for the nation in whom He had set the mouth-pieces of His revelation to man. And here is the declaration of those larger purposes of His which connect themselves with this people, set apart not for their own blessing merely, as not at all on account of righteousness in them, but in grace towards all the sons of men.
4. The fourth section naturally speaks of trial; but while the famine which came upon the land in Jacob’s time is the occasion of it, the psalmist goes on to show how God had provided for it by one sent before them into Egypt to be His servant in the service of man: one himself fully tried, and made to realize what in a world like this such service means; tried too by that word of Jehovah which in him as the Spirit of prophecy had announced His exaltation; and which at last came to pass. In Joseph we have, as every one knows, the type of the Lord Jesus, in whom God has provided indeed for blessing, both to Israel and the earth, and deliverance out of the great trial that is coming for both. The divine issue came at last for him: loosed from his chains, he is made the lord of Egypt, with fullness of power based upon fullness of wisdom. Such an One, but far transcending Joseph, shall the world find at last.
5. But Israel’s coming into Egypt was only their introduction into manifold experiences, in which they found exercise indeed, but God manifesting Himself with them in that which fell upon the mightiest power of that day, -signs which Israel themselves could ever look back to with thanksgiving and for the renewal of confidence, and which are to be repeated in their deliverance in the last days (Mic 7:15, and comp. Rev 16:1-21), and are the necessary humiliation of all the pride of the world and its idols before God, when the day of the Lord succeeds man’s day.
(a) Two verses show the occasion of these trials. First, "Israel came into Egypt": the people of God, graced by the purpose of God, were in the land of "double straitness," the place of the conflict between the desert and the river, -of life struggling with death; alas, the land of Ham; the "sun-darkened," a darkness upon which the light shone and it comprehended it not. The people of God are in a world opposed to God; hence necessarily in opposition to them as that; but then this people of God are themselves looked at from another side, -"Jacob": and Jacob, though but a sojourner in the land of Ham, is in danger from more than opposition. He needs all the exercise through which he is made to pass.
They increase greatly, through the favor of God, and become stronger than their enemies, as Pharaoh’s own words declare (Exo 1:9). And here is the way, doubtless, in which we are to interpret the verse following: "He turned their heart to hate His people." It needs no more than that the favor of God should be thus manifested, to set the tide of opposition in full force.
(b) The opposition and God’s intervention for them are next spoken of. Moses is sent, and Aaron; and signs and wonders show unmistakably the broad seal of their commission.
(c) The order in which the miracles are given is different from the historical one. For this, of course, there must be a reason. It would seem that we have a classification of them in two divisions: first, the signs proper, those whose force lay for the most part in their testimony to the conscience; the second consists rather of those that really prostrated the land -miracles of destruction that made Egypt desolate. Among the signs proper, the darkness is put at the head, the light of heaven withdrawn: one of those things which would appeal most strongly to the conscience of man as supernatural; and which to the Egyptians, who made the night especially a sign of the prevalence of evil, and for whom the sun was the great deity, would be a cause of the greatest consternation. In fact, they moved not from their seats during the three days it lasted: a thing to which the psalmist refers here when he says, "they rebelled not against His word." To refer this (with most interpreters) to the Israelite leaders, in contrast with their conduct at the waters of Meribah, seems quite opposed to the connection. Nor can it refer to the final submission of the Egyptians; here they were appalled into perfect stillness -no doubt, only for the time: but it made their after-attitude all the more solemn.
Next we have, what was really the first miracle of judgment, the waters turned to blood, the means of refreshment becoming death, and then that of the frogs swarming out of the river-bed, and into the chambers of the king, as to which I can add nothing to the notes on the book of Exodus. The lice follow, in the historical order; but with these are put the "swarms" or "mixture" (probably, of flies), which may there go with the lice (see the "notes" Exo 8:16-19) in stamping man with the brand of vanity.
(d) The moral or spiritual lessons are indeed thus far upon the surface, and well-fitted to bring the conscience into the presence of God. Those that follow compel man to feel, whether he has conscience or not. Hail and lightning together break up the fruit-trees in the land, while the locusts strip it of every green leaf to be found. Its desolation is complete, although not yet is their rebellious pride humbled; and it requires one last decisive blow to bring submission.
6. The rest of the psalm details the victory of God; the incidents of the wilderness and the putting them in possession of the land itself being associated with the deliverance from Egypt naturally, as completing what began there. The story speaks for itself, and needs no comment. The death of the first-born; their own departure from the land in prosperous strength, the fear in the hearts of their enemies; His presence with them, sheltering and guiding; the satisfaction of their hunger, refreshment brought for them out of the flinty rock: this sums up the deliverance accomplished, in which the word of promise is fulfilled and Abraham is remembered. They are brought into the land, to possess labors not their own; and this is to be the practical effect of all upon them; "that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 This Ps. and the following one form a closely…
This Ps. and the following one form a closely connected pair, and may be looked on as by the same author. From the closing vv. of Psalms 106 it appears that they were written after the first return from exile had taken place, but while many Israelites were still scattered among the heathen. Both Pss. are partly wrought into the composite poem in 1 Chronicles 16. Psalms 105 is a song of thanksgiving, recalling with gratitude God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Psa_105:8-12), His guidance of Israel into Egypt, with special reference to the history of Joseph (Psa_105:13-23), His goodness to them there in the days of oppression (Psa_105:24-25), His deliverance wrought through Moses and Aaron by means of the plagues (Psa_105:26-38), His mercies in the wilderness (Psa_105:39-41), and finally His gift of Canaan to His people in fulfilment of His ancient promise (Psa_105:42-45).
1. People] RV 'peoples.' So in Psa_105:20, Psa_105:44.
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14. Kings] Pharaoh (Gen_12:17), and Abimelech (Gen_20:17-18).
15. Anointed] a phrase not literally applicable to the patriarchs, but used by the Psalmist because they were the heads of the nation, like the kings of later times.
Prophets] Abraham is so called in Gen_20:7.
19. His word] Joseph's interpretation of the butler's and baker's dreams (Gen_40:20-22).
28-36. The ninth plague is placed first, the third and fourth are transposed, and the fifth and sixth are omitted.
31. Divers sorts] RV 'swarms.' Coasts] RV 'borders.' So in Psa_105:33.
44. Heathen] RV 'nations.' Inherited] RV 'took in possession.'
45. Praise ye the Lord] see on Psa_104:35. Psalms 105, like Psalms 106, probably begins and ends with 'Hallelujah.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Psalm 105 and 106
Psalm 105 and 106
The Memories of the Past
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The last two Psalms of this fourth section review the entire history of Israel up to the time of the judges. It is the story of God’s faithfulness and mercy, and the story of their shameful failure and apostasy. He is ever mindful of His covenant, and that covenant is mentioned first, as the foundation of all. Then how He watched over them. The story of Joseph is mentioned, followed by the rehearsal of the deliverance out of Egypt. Psa 106:1-48 is couched in words of confession, showing their failure all the way, sinning, forgetting, lusting, unbelieving and disobedient. Only infinite mercy and grace could save such a people. Prophetically these Psalms express the repentance and national confession of Israel, when the Lord has saved them. Then with a new heart, the nation born again, with a new spirit within them, they read their history aright and learn to know the God of Jacob as never before. It is the fulfillment of Eze 36:31. “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.”
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Thanksgiving for God’s Benefits.
Thanksgiving for God’s Benefits.
After an exhortation to praise God, directed especially to the congregation of Israel, the psalmist offers his reasons for the admonition presented, in a summary of Israel’s history from the calling of Abraham to the settlement in Canaan.
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v. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name, both in praising His glory and in proclaiming His essence and attributes; make known His deeds among the people, this proclamation among the nations serving as a missionary call.
v. 2. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, with the joyful accompaniment of music; talk ye, in willing discussions at home and abroad, of all His wondrous works, of all the miracles performed in the interest of Israel.
v. 3. Glory ye in His holy name, boasting in His perfections, as His attributes show in His deeds; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord, in true faith and trust.
v. 4. Seek the Lord and His strength, desiring to possess it according to His gracious invitation and promise; seek His face evermore, to bask in the merciful light of His countenance.
v. 5. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, manifested in the past deliverances, as found in the history of Israel; His wonders and the judgments of His mouth, for His miracles showed Him in His decisions for the good and against the wicked,
v. 6. O ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen, the text implying principally the spiritual descendants of Abraham and Jacob as they were found in the midst of the nation of Israel. After this preliminary exhortation the inspired poet briefly tells of some of Jehovah’s notable deeds.
v. 7. He is the Lord, our God, the Jehovah of salvation to all believers; His judgments are in all the earth, in love upon those who fear Him, in anger upon those who oppose Him.
v. 8. He hath remembered His covenant forever, the merciful agreement by which Jehovah had accepted the children of Israel as His own, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, for the promise by which Abraham and his descendants were designated as the Lord’s people included the wider Messianic meaning and pertained to the chosen of the Lord of all times.
v. 9. Which covenant He made with Abraham, Gen 12:2-7, and His oath unto Isaac, Gen 26:1-6;
v. 10. and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, a covenant ordinance, and to Israel, here the second name of Jacob, Gen 32:32, for an everlasting covenant;
v. 11. saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, Gen 13:14-15; Gen 15:18, the lot of your inheritance, the expression denoting the land which is measured off with a cord,
v. 12. when they were but a few men in number, Gen 34:30, yea, very few, and strangers in it.
v. 13. When they, the patriarchs, the ancestors of God’s chosen people, went from one nation to another, being obliged to change their dwelling-place often, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Philistia, and Egypt being the countries of their sojourn, from one kingdom to another people,
v. 14. He suffered no man to do them wrong, not even after the revenge which Simeon and Levi took upon the Shechemites, Genesis 34; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes, as, Pharaoh and Abimelech, the kings of Egypt and Philistia, respectively, Gen 12:10-20; Genesis 26, 31;
v. 15. saving, Touch not Mine anointed, for so the patriarchs were called as the ancestors of kings, priests, and prophets, and do My prophets no harm, for all the patriarchs not only proclaimed the name of the Lord, but also foretold future events, especially in the blessings pronounced upon their children.
v. 16. Moreover, He called for a famine upon the land, the one of the seven lean years at the time of Jacob, Gen 41:54; He brake the whole staff of bread, by withholding the chief source and supply of food, that of grain.
v. 17. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who himself acknowledges the guiding providence of God in the fact that he was sold into Egypt, Gen 50:20, who was sold for a servant, Gen 37:28-36;
v. 18. whose feet they hurt with fetters, when he was unjustly imprisoned, Gen 39:20; he was laid in iron, literally, "iron came on his soul," said either of the chains with which he was bound or of the feeling of misery which took hold of him in prison,
v. 19. until the time that his word came, his own prediction of his exaltation being fulfilled, Gen 42:9; the word of the Lord tried him, for the revelation of God made to him proved his faith in the trials upon his own person.
v. 20. The king, Pharaoh of the great famine, sent and loosed him, Gen 41:14, even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
v. 21. He made him lord of his house, after Joseph had interpreted his dreams, Gen 41:40, and ruler of all his substance, putting all his possessions, the entire rule of the country, into Joseph’s power and retaining only the supreme sovereignty for himself, Gen 41:40-44,
v. 22. to bind his princes at his pleasure, without any intervention and interference on the part of Pharaoh, and teach his senators, the ancient men, the counselors of the country, wisdom.
v. 23. Israel also came into Egypt, as a consequence of the great famine and Joseph’s exaltation, Gen 46:6; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham, this being a general designation of Egypt because it was settled by descendants of Ham.
v. 24. And He increased His people greatly, blessing them with a very rapid growth, Exo 1:7; and made them stronger than their enemies, this fact being expressed in the fear expressed by the Pharaoh of the exile, Exo 1:9-10.
v. 25. He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly, with wicked craft, with His servants. Since they deliberately plotted meanness, the Lord held them to their wicked plans, in order thereby to bring about their own destruction.
v. 26. He sent Moses, His servant, Exo 3:10, and Aaron, whom He had chosen, Exo 4:14-30.
v. 27. They showed His signs among them, which the Lord intended for strong admonitions addressed to the Egyptians and Pharaoh, and wonders in the land of Ham, in the great plagues.
v. 28. He sent darkness and made it dark, Exo 10:21-23; and they rebelled not against His word. that is, Moses and Aaron carried out the commands of God just as they had received them.
v. 29. He turned their waters into blood, Exo 7:19-24, and slew their fish.
v. 30. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, Exo 8:1-15, in the chambers of their kings, Exo 8:3.
v. 31. He spake, through the mouth of His representative, Moses, and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts, Exo 8:16-19.
v. 32. He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land, Exo 9:22-25.
v. 33. He smote their vines also, Psa 78:47, and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts, stripping them not only of their foliage, but even of their smaller twigs and branches.
v. 34. He spake, and the locusts came and caterpillars, that is, grasshoppers, and that without number, Exo 10:12-20,
v. 35. and did eat up all the herbs in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground, everything that was left after the hail.
v. 36. He smote also all the first-born in their land, Exo 12:29, the chief of all their strength, for so the oldest sons were called, Gen 49:3.
v. 37. He brought them forth also with silver and gold, freely given to them by the Egyptians, by the direction of the Lord, Exo 12:35-36; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes, that is, unfit for the march through the wilderness, Exo 13:18.
v. 38. Egypt was glad when they departed, rejoicing to be rid of their unlucky presence; for the fear of them, through the agency of the Lord, fell upon them.
v. 39. He spread a cloud for a covering, for a bower or protecting screen against the heat of the sun, and fire to give light in the night, for that was the purpose of the pillar of fire, Exo 13:21.
v. 40. The people asked, the true Israelites, the believers, among them, praying, the others demanding, and He brought quails, Exo 16:12-14; Num 11:31, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven, Psa 78:24-25; Joh 6:31, the miraculous feeding with manna.
v. 41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, in great abundance, Exo 17:6; Num 20:10-11; they ran in the dry places like a river, Psa 78:15-16. The Lord’s reasons for these marvelous dealings with His people are given in conclusion.
v. 42. For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham, His servant, His faithfulness to the word of His promise being His motive in showing such kindness to the children of Israel, Exo 2:24.
v. 43. And lie brought forth His people with joy, surely giving them occasion enough for rejoicing, and His chosen with gladness, with the voice of singing, Exo 15:1;
v. 44. and gave them the lands of the heathen, whose land they occupied after the conquest of Canaan; and they inherited the labor of the people, of the heathen nations, Deu 6:10, taking possession of homes and cultivated lands which others had prepared with hard work,
v. 45. that they might observe His statutes, the precepts of the covenant, and keep His laws, those pertaining to mankind in general, this being the second reason why the Lord showed Israel His favor, to induce them to show obedience to Him. Praise ye the Lord, this hallelujah being echoed by the true, spiritual Israel, the Church of God, at all times, for all the marvels of His gracious favor in and through Christ, the Redeemer.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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call on his name ... Boast in his holy name
Here "name" represents Yahweh. AT: "call on him ... Boast in Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
the nations
This refers to the people in the nations. AT: "the people of the nations" (See: Metonymy)
let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice
Here "the heart" represents the person who seeks Yahweh. AT: "let the people who seek Yahweh rejoice" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
Yahweh
call
name
know
works
nation
praise
amazed
boast
holy
heart
joy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v1 Ps 105 This hymn praises the Lord’s faithfulness to…
Ps 105 This hymn praises the Lord’s faithfulness to Abraham and his descendants in all their journeys—from Ur to Canaan (105:12), to Egypt (105:17, 23), through the wilderness (105:37, 41), and back to Canaan (105:44). All of this fulfilled the Lord’s promise to Abraham (105:9, 42), which was the basis for Israel’s very existence. Joseph, whose suffering was changed into glory, is a paradigm of encouragement for Israel (105:16-25). • Psalm 105:1-15 (along with 96; 106:1, 47-48) is included in David’s song of praise recorded in 1 Chr 16.
105:1-5 The poet begins with the exhortation Give thanks (see also 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136:1). The other psalms continue with the refrain “for he is good!” The rest of Ps 105 tells of God’s goodness.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.