The God of History

Psalm 105

¹Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

²Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

³Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

⁵Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

⁶O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

⁷He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁰which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹²When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it,

¹³wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,

¹⁵saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”

¹⁶When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread,

¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

¹⁸His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron;

¹⁹until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.

²⁰The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free;

²¹he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions,

²²to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the Lord made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes.

²⁵He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they did not rebel against his words.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood and caused their fish to die.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

³²He gave them hail for rain, and fiery lightning bolts through their land.

³³He struck down their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number,

³⁵which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.

³⁷Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,

⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

Whenever we get these rather long psalms, we can almost certainly be in for a recounting of Israel’s history with God. Here the psalmist tells the story of God’s promise to Abraham and then of the roadblocks that seems to rise up to keep that promise from being fulfilled. But God is never stymied by circumstance. Let me say that again – God is never stymied by circumstance. He in fact uses those events to forward His plan, for that plan is perfect. Verse 42 is the key to the psalm. God’s remembrance of his covenant is more than a calling to mind. It is taking decisive action for the benefit of his people. God’s faithfulness was not due to Israel’s worthiness but to his own faithfulness to the promise he had made to the patriarchs.

We are so incredibly finite and strictly limited in what we can see. But our view of the past can be fairly clear (unless you are into revisionist history – that’s a whole other deal.) So, with this clear view of the past, we look back and see that God’s faithfulness has never failed. He made a promise not only to Abraham but to us (as adopted children of Abraham) that He would bless the entire world through His relationship with His chosen people. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Abraham’s descendant, as He lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again, triumphant over death.

This psalm reminds me to look back over my own history and see God’s mighty hand at work on my little life. His blessings are so abundant they cannot even all be recounted. His promises have been kept, and I am overjoyed to be a part of His Kingdom. Take a moment to relive your own history with God and you will see His hand at work in You. It is a great faith builder!