December 5, 2018 (Wednesday)
(From the Cambridge Bible Commentary:) Psalms 105 is a Psalm of thanksgiving, recapitulating the marvelous works by which the LORD demonstrated His faithfulness to the covenant which He made with Abraham. (Psalms 106 is a Psalm of penitence, reciting the history of Israel’s faithlessness and disobedience. The two psalms present the common prophetic theme of the LORD’s lovingkindness and Israel’s ingratitude). Psalms 105 was very suitable as an encouragement to the community of the Restoration. The psalm consists of four nearly equal divisions: God’s faithfulness to the covenant with the Patriarchs (1-12), God’s protection in their wanderings (13-24), God’s power over Egypt (25-36), God’s providence in leading them from Egypt to the promised land (37-45).
(Comments by Charles H. Spurgeon:)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.
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.
New International Version (NIV)
I. GOD HAS DONE MARVELOUS WORKS FOR ISRAEL (1-6)
1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
II. GOD HAS GIVEN ISRAEL THE LAND OF CANAAN (7-12)
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
12 When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
III. GOD HAS GIVEN PROVIDENTIAL GUIDANCE TO ISRAEL (13-24)
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
16 He called down famine on the land
and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them–
Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him,
the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes as he pleased
and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel entered Egypt;
Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
he made them too numerous for their foes,
IV. GOD’S POWER PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE EXODUS (25-36)
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark–
for had they not rebelled against his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood,
causing their fish to die.
30 Their land teemed with frogs,
which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,
with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their manhood.
V. GOD HAS BEEN WITH ISRAEL THROUGH THE EXODUS, THE WILDERNESS MIRACLES, AND THE SETTLEMENT OF CANAAN (37-45)
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39 He spread out a cloud as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail;
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a river in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise
given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for–
45 that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord.
Compare three translations side by side. Click here.
My Tribute
Andrae Crouch
How can I say thanks for the things
You have done for me?
Things so undeserved yet You gave
To prove Your love for me
The voices of a million angels
Could not express my gratitude
All that I am, and ever hope to be
I owe it all to Thee
To God be the glory
To God be the glory
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
Just let me live my life and
Let it be pleasing Lord to Thee
And if I gain any praise
Let it go to Calvary
With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has rasied me
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
For the things He has done
For the things He has done