Psalms 105:1-45
1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: 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 lota 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: heb 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:c
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 subtilly 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 caterpillers, 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:d
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. Praisee ye the LORD.
This psalm, to Psalms 105:15, is the same as 1 Chronicles 16:8: whence it is evident that David was the author. It celebrates the dealings of God with Israel, from the call of Abraham to their settlement in the promised land. The subjects referred to have been already considered. See 1 Chronicles 16.; and for the remainder of the psalm, see on Exo 6:-10. It is not improbable, as supposed by some, that this psalm was enlarged and sung on the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity.
Psalms 105:19. Until the time that his word came. Until Joseph was divinely inspired to interpret the dreams of the chief baker and butler; and afterwards of Pharaoh. See Genesis 40. and 41.
Psalms 105:22. To bind, or to inform, his princes. Thus many of the Versions read; and it harmonizes the couplet.
Psalms 105:25. He turned their heart to hate his people. Diodati says in his learned commentary, “He suffered envy, groundless fears, and other evil affections to induce the Egyptians to hate the Israelites, as much as they had once loved them.” This is a uniform case in providence: when men dally with sin, and secretly cherish it in their hearts, God usually gives them up to it in his anger.
Psalms 105:28. He sent darkness and they rebelled not against his word, which required them to be circumcised, about the time of this darkness which fell on the Egyptians, as stated in Exodus 10:23.
Psalms 105:39. He spread a cloud. This adds something to what is said of the cloudy pillar in Exodus 13., for it indicates that the cloud was large.
Psalms 105:41. They ran like a river. The earthquake might contribute to the superabundance of the waters, by pressing in the superincumbent strata.
Psalms 105:45. Praise ye the Lord. Hebrews Hallelujah. Justin Martyr adds here, Praise ye with joy to God.
REFLECTIONS.
This psalm is a sort of Te Deum in the Hebrew church, surveying the care of providence over them from the calling of Abraham, till Joshua had divided the land by lot. From which we gather, that we are so to review past mercies as to trace the neverceasing care of providence; to learn to trust the Lord at all times, to enkindle the heart to devotion, and to learn future obedience from past errors. This is the true spirit in which we should read the sacred volume, and trace the steps of the divine economy.