Psalm 105: We shall be tested by every Promise

 He opened the rock and water flowed out...

 it ran in the dry places like a river.

Psalm 105 traces God’s sovereign hand in choosing Israel as His people, protecting them and delivering them through the miraculous events of the Exodus. He preserved them in the wilderness and brrought them into the Promised Land.  Everything in Israel’s history was for God’s sovereign purpose… God did it all.

         PSALM 105

 1   Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name—

      Make known His deeds among the peoples.

 2   Sing to Him, sing praises to Him… Speak of all His wonders!

 3   Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually.

             5   Remember His wonders which He has done—

      His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth?

 6   O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

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

 8   He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations,

 9   The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac.

10   Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11   Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance,”

12   When they were only a few men in number, very few, and strangers in it.

13   And they wandered about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

14   He permitted no man to oppress them, and He reproved kings for their sakes:

15   “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.”  

 

16   And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.

17   He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18   They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons—

19   Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.

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

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

22   To imprison his princes at will, that he might teach his elders wisdom.

23   Israel also came into Egypt; thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24   And He caused His people to be very fruitful, and made them stronger than their adversaries.

 

25   He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants. 
26 He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27 They performed His wondrous acts among them, and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His words.

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

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

31   He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies and gnats in all their territory.

             32   He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.

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

34   He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number...

35   And ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36   He also struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor. 

 

37   Then He brought them out with silver and gold, and among His tribes there was not one who stumbled. 

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

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

40   They asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

41   He opened the rock and water flowed out; it ran in the dry places like a river.

42   For He remembered His holy word with Abraham His servant;

43 And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout.

44 He gave them also the lands of the 1nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor—
45 So that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws.
      Praise the Lord!  Our salvation is totally of the Lord. God chose us, He called us to Himself, He protects us when we were weak and vulnerable, He guides us in His ways.  Salvation is through God’s mighty power, not through our own.

Tested by God’s Promise
            God sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
             They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons;

Until the time that his word came to pass… the word of the Lord tested him. (105: 17-19)

 

Josephs life was filled with promise.  God gave him a dream that one day he would be elevated to a position of great authority. He would rule in another land, over many people including his own brothers.  

 

He was the youngest of all his brothers, so they betrayed him because of this dream and his pride. The sold him as a slave into Egypt.  His faithfulness to his Egyptian master caused him to end up in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  The story of Joseph begins in Genesis Chapter 37.

 

When the Lord gives us a word of promise, there is a time fixed with its fulfillment.  We can not be impatient, we cannot rush God.  We must hold on the His promise and not be tempted to think ahead of God. or believe God has forgotten us.  When God has tested us—and only He knows when we are ready—the promise will be fulfilled as it was for Joseph.

The Miracle of Redemption

He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,

And from among the tribes… no one faltered.  (105:37)

 

Back in the time of the Exodus, Israel was redeemed from Egypt under Moses.   All was inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit, all who were within the tribes no one had faltered.  Millions of people marched through the desert.  Just the day before, all of these people were underprivileged slaves suffering through poverty and oppression. 

 

What brought about the change?  The Passover lamb… as they applied its blood to their door posts and fed upon its flesh, they and their situation were transformed.   This is the fullness of God’s redemption.  It does just provide for our comfort and peace for our soul, but provides life eternal.  The Apostle Paul reminds us, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”  (1 Corinthians 5:7)  The sacrifice of Christ covers all that was accomplished through the Passover back in Egypt.  Christ only had to die once for our sin, and the efficacy is eternal.

 

He Overshadows Us 

He spread out a cloud as a covering,

And a fire to give light at night.  (105:39)

 

The Lord guided and protected His people Israel on their 40 year journey through the desert of Sinai.  He spread out a cloud as a covering during the day as protection from the harsh heat of the day, and at night He gave them fire for light and warmth.  

 

For us, the cloud that guided Israel and was their shield is the place of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Paul tells us “Those who are lead by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)   He guides us by His Spirit—in times of heat He overshadows us, in times of darkness He gives us light.  Everything all around us is tempered by His presence.  

 

God was in the Rock 

 

He opened the rock and water gushed out…

Like a river it flowed in the desert.  (105:41)

 

God is the provider for all His peoples needs. In a dry and barren land where there was no water—God provided water in abundance!  He provided it out of a “rock.’’  Today we have understood that the Rock is God himself.  He provided drink from a spiritual rock , that rock was Christ.  

 

It is important to also know how to approach the rock, not as Moses once did, striking it with force as he commanded it to produce water.  We may find ourselves in a place of barrenness and provisions lacking.  Like a rock the time may seem hard and unyielding.  We may even run away from the “rock” thinking there can be no hope.  As we reorganize God is in all things and approach Him in faith and obedience, the Rock becomes our source becomes our source and provision.

 Nothing will stop God’s Purpose for His People

God called and used Joseph and Moses, and many others.  But He called them and used them as a representatives of a nation of people. Many Christians say they don’t need to go to church—but God’s purpose is not just to save individuals, but to form “a holy nation, a people for [His] own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

The Lord's strength is magnified in our weakness, so that all glory goes to Him 

God works with His people, not focusing on the greatness of any one man. It is within God’s ability to accomplish His good pleasure through weak instruments. God accomplishes His purpose in ways that often make no sense to us.  All glory goes to God when He keeps us going and shows us that nothing can separate us from His great love in Christ Jesus.