Psalm 105: A History of God's Faithfulness

Written by Everett, age 18

Psalm 105:1-45 (NLT)

            Today we will be going through Psalm 105. Written by David, this is a psalm of worship unto the Lord, recounting the Lord’s covenant with Abraham and Israel’s birth as a nation. It’s a bit of a history lesson, but we can see that David knew Israel’s history of everything the Lord had done for them. Kings were supposed to study the Law all the time: I think this is evidence that David was familiar with God’s Word. In this Psalm, David shows how God remained faithful to His promise throughout the generations as Israel grew and how God brought His people out of Egypt. Psalm 105 is also 45 verses long, so I think it would be best to go through it verse by verse rather than read the whole thing at once, though I do recommend reading it from start to finish afterwards. But for now, let’s start at verse 1, which says:

1 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.

            Here we can see David’s love and respect for the Lord, and the same thought continues through verses 2-6, which say:

2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.

    Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. 

3 Exult in his holy name;

    rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

4 Search for the Lord and for his strength;

    continually seek him.

5 Remember the wonders he has performed,

    his miracles, and the rulings he has given,

6 you children of his servant Abraham,

    you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

            David is worshiping the Lord by praising Him for all His wonderful deeds. In verse 4, he gives us a piece of priceless advice that we should all strive to remember when he says, “Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” We all need to continually seek the Lord. God should be the One who we strive for above all else. And this is a goal we can seek for all our lives.

We need to remember the wonders God has performed, and the rulings He has given. We can’t afford to forget that God is just. Which is what verse 7 asserts by saying:

7 He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land.

            Throughout the Old Testament, we see how the Lord delivers justice for Israel, but He also delivers justice to Israel. When the Israelites followed God’s Law, He blessed them and everything they did prospered, but when they turned away, He removed His hand and repaid them for their works of evil.

We know the Lord is constant and steadfast; He doesn’t change. Likewise, real justice is always just. The Lord never fails to deliver justice. Deuteronomy 32:4, in The Song of Moses, says, “The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.”

            Since He is righteous and true, God is the One to deliver justice as He sees fit. And He is faithful through and through, as verse 8 in our Psalm 105 explains:

8 He always stands by his covenant—

   the commitment he made to a thousand generations.

            The Lord’s Word is Law, and who understands that better than God Himself? He is always true to what He says. A perfect example of this is shown in verses 9-11 of this Psalm, which say:

9 This is the covenant he made with Abraham

    and the oath he swore to Isaac. 

10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

    and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:

11 ‘I will give you the land of Canaan

    as your special possession.’

            Abraham was a man who obeyed the Word of God. The Lord even tested this to the extreme when He asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to Him. I think that Abraham had faith that God would spare Isaac in exchange for his obedience, but nonetheless, Abraham showed faith and obedience by following through with that command until the Lord sent an angel to intervene and told him not to harm Isaac, and so he sacrificed a ram instead. God would never ask for a person to be sacrificed to Him, but true fear of the Lord will have us do anything He tells us, regardless of what it is. The point was that Abraham proved he truly feared God by not withholding even his own son when asked to lay him down. I also think that Abraham had faith in God’s character, that He is just, righteous, and merciful. But either way, it was because of Abraham’s faith, proven by obedience, that God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. And then He stayed true to Israel; never abandoning them. Even when they turned away, He always accepted their repentance when they were willing to repent. This speaks volumes about the Lord’s incredible love for His creation; that He would even still consider His people after all the ways they would fail to follow Him. All it took was for Israel to repent.

Moving on, verses 12-15 explain the circumstances surrounding Israel when the Lord made His covenant:

12 He said this when they were few in number,

    a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.

13 They wandered from nation to nation,

    from one kingdom to another.

14 Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.

    He warned kings on their behalf:

15 ‘Do not touch my chosen people,

    and do not hurt my prophets.’

            Israel wasn’t wealthy, they weren’t especially upstanding or intelligent, nor were they great in number. There was nothing that they could do to earn His love, and yet He was faithful to His covenant with Abraham. In the same way, God is our Maker, and He knew us before we were even born. He already loved us, and there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more; His love is a gift given to us, not something that we earn for ourselves. This is why we should love Him back with all our hearts and minds: God gave us the gift of existence and life, and He loved us as He knit us together in our mother’s wombs.

We see this same love shown to the people in the Old Testament. Back to Psalm 105, verses 16-18 explain what happened next:

16 He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,

     cutting off its food supply.

17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—

     Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18 They bruised his feet with fetters

     and placed his neck in an iron collar.

            Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob, and his brothers sold him as a slave out of jealousy. They originally wanted to murder him but decided they could make some money by selling him instead. Notice how it says that he was in chains? Imagine being led across a desert wearing a heavy iron collar — it sounds incredibly hot and uncomfortable. But it was in this way that Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold to a man named Potiphar. The Lord’s favor was with Joseph through it all, and he gained favor with his master and was given administrative responsibility over everything Potiphar owned.

The next verse in Psalm 105, verse 19, is very interesting when paired with the next part of Joseph’s story. It says:

19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,

     the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

            Joseph had many dreams since his youth, he had thought they were visions, but his family discouraged these thoughts since most of them involved Joseph being exalted over his brothers. But while Joseph was running his master’s household, Potiphar’s wife began to lust after Joseph and made numerous attempts at tempting him into adultery. However, Joseph resisted her and stayed loyal to Potiphar and to God, but that isn’t the end of the story. Potiphar’s wife then falsely accused Joseph of assaulting her. Genesis 39:19-23 tells the story: “Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. So, he took Joseph and threw him into the prison…But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison…The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.”

To sum up the next part of Joseph’s story, Pharaoh’s cupbearer and chief baker were thrown in jail, and they both had dreams that Joseph interpreted for them. Joseph explains that all he was doing was listening to what the Lord said the dreams meant. The interpretations of the dreams came to pass: the cupbearer was restored to his position in Pharaoh’s household, and the baker was impaled on a pole. Joseph asked the cupbearer to mention him to Pharaoh, but he forgets to do so. Later, he remembers Joseph when Pharaoh had another dream that needed interpreting.

Before moving on to the next verses, I would like to point out that Joseph’s experience in Egypt is such an amazing example of the Lord’s great faithfulness. Sometimes, it can seem like things only get harder when we follow God’s will for us, maybe it costs us a friendship, or it could feel like we’re missing out on something other people are doing. But the thing is, God’s plans for us are so much more fulfilling than anything of this world, and if we follow Him, He will never, ever, forsake us. So, if the Enemy tries to get us down and make us feel like we got the short end of the stick, that way of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth! Even when we can’t see it, God has a purpose for us, and we should follow Him to the ends of the Earth if He tells us. We see how His plans for Joseph all came together in the next verses of Psalm 105. Verses 20-22 explain:

20 Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;

     the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.

21 Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;

     he became ruler over all the king’s possessions.

22 He could instruct the king’s aides as he pleased

     and teach the king’s advisers.

            The Lord basically placed Joseph in charge of all Egypt, where he managed the nation’s preparation for a famine, and did a good enough job of it that people from other nations traveled all the way there to purchase grain for themselves. (It was a far-reaching famine). But all this happened because Joseph stayed true to God’s word. He’s an example of how the Lord repays obedience tenfold; we just need to follow Him.

            To summarize the next chain of events, Joseph’s brothers all went to Egypt to buy grain, but Joseph recognized them and heard them say how they once had another brother, but he had apparently died. Then Joseph tested his brothers to see if they had since changed and felt repentant about the way they wronged him. They proved themselves to be remorseful, and then Joseph revealed his true identity to them (they hadn’t recognized him before then). Then, Joseph had his father Jacob come to Egypt to see him again, and that’s where the Psalm picks up the story. Verses 23-25 explain:   

23 Then Israel arrived in Egypt;

     Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.

24 And the Lord multiplied the people of Israel

     until they became too mighty for their enemies. 

25 Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,

     and they plotted against the Lord’s servants.

            Eventually, Joseph and his brothers all passed away, and then came a Pharaoh who didn’t know what the Lord and Joseph had done for Egypt, and when he saw how great their nation was growing, he oppressed them into slavery. Exodus 1:13-14 explains: “So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.”

            And yet the more Israel was oppressed, the more they multiplied, so when this Pharaoh saw how Israel was multiplying so greatly, he felt threatened by their numbers and wanted to shrink their population, and he came up with a terrible plan. He instructed the Hebrew midwives to kill any newborn boys. However, the midwives feared God, so they didn’t kill them. It says that because of their obedience to the Lord in sparing the lives of the Israelite children, God even gave them families of their own. And the nation of Israel continued to multiply even in oppression. But then, Pharaoh concocted another scheme. He gave an order to all his people, saying: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.”

            Unfortunately, the Egyptians weren’t following the Lord, and Pharaoh’s word was law to them, so they carried it out just as he decreed. However, one Hebrew woman in particular bore a son and knew he was special. You probably know where the story goes next: the woman put her son in a basket and hid him in the Nile where Pharaoh’s daughter found him and took pity on him, then she decided to adopt him and name him Moses. Moses grew up and saw how badly his people were getting treated, then he fled from Egypt after killing an Egyptian slavedriver. Moses then went to Midian, where he lived for the next few years and got married. Exodus 2:23-25 explains what happened next: “Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.”

            The Lord then appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush and explained that He was there to liberate His people. Exodus 3:9-10 says, “Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

            But Moses protested, so the Lord gave him miraculous signs to show Pharaoh, but Moses continued to doubt his abilities at speaking and whether he was really up to the task, to the point where the Lord became angry with him. So, God chose Moses’ brother Aaron to help him with speaking to Pharaoh. And Psalm 105 picks this up around the same point. Verses 26 and 27 say:

26 But the Lord sent his servant Moses,

     along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27 They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,

     and wonders in the land of Ham.

            But Pharaoh wouldn’t relent. Before sending Moses, the Lord explained that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart against them. It’s been debated why that is, and I think there are a few reasons. Firstly, Exodus 4:21-23 says, “And the Lord told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go. Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’””

            So, we see that Egypt was due for some Divine Judgement after all they had done to Israel. It’s also plausible that the Israelites would have gone back to Egypt if they could’ve after leaving, but God made that impossible with everything He brought down on Pharaoh. It also was an awesome display of the Lord’s power that would’ve helped some other nations to leave Israel alone, and what’s more, to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God, and not any person, that brought Israel out of Egypt. (Though He did get frustrated enough at them that He once called them “your people who you brought out of Egypt” to Moses, momentarily disowning them.) But we should let that instance be a warning to us not to push the buttons of the Almighty God; His patience is amazing, but let’s not test it!

The next verses of Psalm 105 list the plagues that the Lord struck Egypt with. Verses 28-36 say: 28 The Lord blanketed Egypt in darkness,

    for they had defied his commands to let his people go.

29 He turned their water into blood,

    poisoning all the fish.

30 Then frogs overran the land

    and even invaded the king’s bedrooms.

31 When the Lord spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians,

    and gnats swarmed across Egypt.

32 He sent them hail instead of rain,

    and lightning flashed over the land.

33 He ruined their grapevines and fig trees

    and shattered all the trees.

34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came—

    young locusts beyond number.

35 They ate up everything green in the land,

    destroying all the crops in their fields.

36 Then he killed the oldest son in each Egyptian home,

    the pride and joy of each family.

            So, we see how God really paid Egypt back for their treatment of His people. After the plague of death, Pharaoh finally relented and said they could leave. But not long after leaving, the Egyptians chased after Israel and pursued them as far as the Red Sea. Then, God parted the waters of the Red Sea, and the Israelites passed right through, with the sea getting set back to normal as the Egyptians tried to follow them. Israel’s leaving, known as the Exodus, is summarized in verses 37 and 38 of Psalm 105, which say:

37 The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold;

    and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled.

38 Egypt was glad when they were gone,

    for they feared them greatly.

            See, because the Lord struck Egypt with so many plagues, the Egyptians were “glad when they were gone, for they feared them greatly.” This way, the people of Israel couldn’t have gone back when they got discouraged traveling across the desert. At different points, the people did complain and state that they wished they’d stayed in Egypt, but that oppression was no way to live.

Sometimes the Lord takes us out of the familiarity of our comfort zones to show us how much more He has in store for us. We should be careful that we don’t complain or develop desires to go back to something the Lord has rescued us from.

Finally, the rest of Psalm 105 highlights Israel’s travels through the desert. Verses 39-45 say:

39 The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering

    and gave them a great fire to light the darkness.

40 They asked for meat, and he sent them quail;

    he satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven.

41 He split open a rock, and water gushed out

    to form a river through the dry wasteland.

42 For he remembered his sacred promise

    to his servant Abraham.

43 So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy,

    his chosen ones with rejoicing.

44 He gave his people the lands of pagan nations,

    and they harvested crops that others had planted.

45 All this happened so they would follow his decrees

    and obey his instructions. Praise the Lord!

            We see in all of this how the Lord was always faithful to Israel: He took care of them—literally giving them food and water in the desert where it was scarce. He did it all so they would follow His decrees and obey His instructions, because of His great love for them. See, the Lord’s commandments and prohibitions were all for Israel’s own good, but they were also practicable ways of serving God simply by obeying Him. God’s Law is so much more than a bunch of rules that say Don’t do this and don’t do that. The things in God’s Law are there to be followed as ways to test obedience. In the New Covenant, things like “love thy neighbor” and “do to others as you would have them do to you” are also things we can do to please the Lord by obeying His Word.

There is nothing that the Lord lacks, nothing that He needs: we cannot add anything to what He has done for us. He simply wants us to obey Him and let Him take care of us. It sounds too good to be true, but that’s how great His love for us is. We should obey Him to show that we love Him back, otherwise it becomes this one-sided relationship where we would expect God to take care of us while we ignore Him. That would be totally unreasonable, and yet it’s an attitude some people actually have. It’s like saying, “Bless me, Lord” and then forgetting all about Him. What self-respecting individual would put up with that? How could they be expected to? We need to obey all of the Lord’s commands, so that we remain faithful to Him forever. Fortunately for us, the Lord is amazingly patient and merciful, but we still need to put everything into obeying Him to prove that we love and believe in Him, or else we are in danger of falling away.

            This Psalm really shows how much the Lord values obedience. He really loves it when we follow Him, because He really loves us a lot; more than we know. We should always strive to follow His commands to show Him how much we love and believe in Him. This also is where fear of the Lord comes in: if we understand that God is the Creator, the One Who made us from nothing, then we should realize how mind-boggling it is that He loves us so much, because who are we that He even considers us at all? So we really, really need to be obedient, out of love, out of fear, and out of respect for Who He is and everything He has done. God wants us to depend on Him, but also to acknowledge our dependence on Him, that way we don’t find ourselves saying, “Look at how amazing I am, look what I have accomplished!” No, we need to recognize and admit that apart from God we can do nothing. But when we obey God, we can participate in the amazing things that He does. Like how He used Joseph and Moses, all they needed to do was obey Him, and He took care of the rest, He always does.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for always being faithful to us. We ask Your forgiveness for when we haven’t been as faithful as we ought to, please help us to always obey You in everything we do. And we ask that You would help us to keep Your Word constantly present in our hearts and minds, so that we may recognize when You are giving us instructions, and to help us always follow through. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.