Following a chronologically ordered Bible study set forth by Skip Andrews, who admits, "Although we may not be able to precisely date these Psalms at this time, their general themes fit the topics we have just read in Deuteronomy," I continue with Psalm 105:
(Psalm 105:1) O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people!
Although this psalm is thought to be made by David, it could have just as easily been made by Moses. It speaks of the time of Israel from Abraham through the exodus from Egypt. The psalmist exhorts the people to give thanks to their Lord, call upon Him in prayer, and proclaim His works among the people.
(2) Sing to Him; sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works.
He encouraged the people to sing to the Lord and play music for Him. The original word "zamar" that was transcribed as "psalms" has a fuller meaning of making music and song. They were to talk and sing about all their Lord's wonderful works.
(3) Glory in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice who seek the Lord.
They were to rejoice in the Lord, those who sought the Lord with all their hearts and souls (Deuteronomy 4:29).
(4) Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore.
The people were encouraged to always seek the Lord, seeking strength and mercy and favor from Him.
(5) Remember His marvelous works that He has done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth.
The psalmist exhorted the people to remember all the wonderful things the Lord had done, His miracles and His judgments and commandments.
(6) O seed of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen!
He reminds the people that they are the descendants of God's servant, Abraham, descendants of Jacob, His chosen people.
(7) He, the Lord our God, His judgments in all the earth.
The God of Abraham and Jacob, the one true God, was their Lord God. And as the one true God, His judgments were executed all over the earth.
(8) He has remembered His covenant forever, the word He commanded to a thousand generations.
The Lord had kept His covenant and promise to His people forever, up to that point and to future generations, even though His people often defaulted on their end.
(9) Which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, (10) And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, to Israel an everlasting covenant.
The Lord had kept that covenant He had made with Abraham, reiterated with Isaac, and confirmed with Jacob, and promised it to be an everlasting covenant.
(11) Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance," (12) When they were few men in number, yes, very few, and strangers in it.
The Lord's part of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan as an inheritance. He made that promise when His people were small in number and strangers in their promised land.
(13) When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, (14) He allowed no man to do them wrong; yes, He reproved kings for their sakes; (15) "Do not touch My anointed and do My prophets no harm."
Before they inhabited their promised land, the people wandered from one nation to another with no permanent place to call their home. While they wandered about, the Lord protected them and even reproved kings for their sakes, telling them not to touch His anointed ones, also called His prophets, to do them any harm.
(16) Moreover He called for a famine on the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.
The Lord called for a famine in the land in the time of Jacob, which was the reason he migrated to Egypt. The Lord had cut off their supply of food.
(17) He sent a man before them, 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.
The Lord had sent Joseph before Jacob and Jacob's sons, Joseph's brothers. His brothers had sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned until the time that his vision came to pass that he would be exalted above his brothers. That vision, that word of the Lord, tried Joseph's faith and patience before it was accomplished.
(20) The king sent and loosed him, the ruler of the people let him go free.
At that point, the king of Egypt had Joseph released from prison.
(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.
The king of Egypt made Joseph the lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions and affairs. Even his princes would be under Joseph's command to learn from him.
(23) Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
Jacob (Israel) and Joseph's brothers also came to Egypt when they learned that Joseph was alive, and they all dwelt there in the land of Ham, the father of the Egyptians.
(24) And He increased His people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies.
God increased the people of Israel greatly in the land of Egypt. He also made them stronger than the Egyptians who would become their enemies.
(25) He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal treacherously with His servants.
Whereas the Egyptians had once highly esteemed Joseph's family, the Lord allowed their hearts to be turned against them. He may have actively turned them against His people in order to fulfill His will to lead them away and into their promised land. However, I believe He just allowed it to happen naturally. By enlarging and blessing His people, the Egyptians would naturally become jealous, and God allowed that to happen for His purposes. The Egyptians made them slaves and put them to hard labor.
(26) He sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.
The Lord then sent Moses as His servant and Aaron, Moses's brother, chosen to be his spokesman (Exodus 4:16).
(27) They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
Moses and Aaron showed the Lord's signs and miracles in the land of Egypt.
(28) He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not rebel against His word.
The Lord commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand toward heaven to make a darkness fall upon Egypt, and he and Aaron did just as He commanded (Exodus 10:22).
(29) He turned their waters into blood and killed their fish.
Continuing to describe the signs and wonders from verse 27, the psalmist tells how the Lord turned the Egyptians' waters into blood which killed all the fish (Exodus 7:19).
(30) Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.
The Lord caused a plague of an abundance of frogs that covered the land, even in the bedchambers of their kings (Exodus 8:3).
(31) He spoke and there came diverse sorts of flies and lice in all their territory.
The Lord spoke and brought a swarm of flies that corrupted the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:24), and He brought forth lice from the dust of the land (Exodus 8:16).
(32) He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land.
The Lord caused it to rain hail on Egypt and caused lightning to run along the ground (Exodus 9:23).
(33) He struck their vines also and their fig trees and broke the trees of their territory.
The hail struck "every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field" (Exodus 9:25).
(34) He spoke and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and those without number, (35) And ate up all the herbs in the land and devoured the fruit of their ground.
The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts to eat up every herb the hail may had left (Exodus 10:12). They were so numerous that they could not be numbered, and they darkened the sky (Exodus 10:15). Again we are told of caterpillars that were not mentioned among the plagues in Exodus. I believe these must refer to young locust nymphs.
(36) He killed also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.
The Lord killed all the firstborn of both man and beast in the land of Egypt (Exodus 11:5). The firstborn were called the first or beginning of all their strength (Genesis 49:3).
(37) He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and not one feeble among their tribes.
God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with silver and gold from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35), and there was not one person feeble and unable to travel.
(38) Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them fell upon them.
The Egyptians were glad when the Israelites left them because they were afraid of what plague might be next.
(39) He spread a cloud for a covering and fire to give light in the night.
The Lord spread a cloud over the Israelites by day (Numbers 10:34) and a pillar of fire over them at night (Exodus 13:21).
(40) They asked and He brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
This refers to the first time that the people asked for meat (Exodus 16:13), and the Lord brought the quails to them and satisfied them with manna the next morning.
(41) He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
The Lord opened the rock to bring forth water (Exodus 17:6), and it ran like a river through their dry places.
(42) For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham, His servant.
The Lord did these marvelous things for His people because of the promise He had made to their forefather, Abraham.
(43) And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen with gladness, (44) And gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people.
It pleased the Lord to bring His people out of Egypt to lead them to their promised land, but this may refer more to the joy of the people when they were led out and how they gladly sang praises to their Lord for bringing them out (Exodus 15:1). The Lord gave His people lands of the heathens in righteous judgment against those countries so that His people were able to dwell in houses already built and fields already worked and wells already dug, etc.
(45) That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the Lord!
The Lord did all these things for His people as His part of His covenant with them. All that was asked of His people was that they should be obedient to the One from whom all blessings flow. Praise the Lord! That was the full intent of this psalm. It is similar to Psalm 78 in that it recited a history of God's people. However, the 78th psalm pointed out the sins of the people and God's just punishment for those sins, whereas this psalm only pointed to the goodness of God, exciting the people to thanksgiving and praise to and for Him.
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