Psalm 105
1 Oh, give thanks to Yahweh! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! 2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works!3 Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek Yahweh! 4 Seek Yahweh and His strength; seek His face evermore! 5 Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, 6 O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! 7 He is Yahweh our God; His judgments are in all the earth.
We are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promsie. “The psalmist exhorts the seed of Abraham (ver. 6) to give thanks to God and call upon His Name (vers. 1-3); to make Him known among the Gentiles (ver. 1b); to seek Him and His strength (ver. 4); and to bear in mind His marvelous works (ver. 5). The ‘works’ intended are those of His providential government of mankind, and especially those of His rule and government over His people Israel. Verse 1. - O give thanks unto the Lord ...Call upon His Name; i.e. call upon Him with prayer and praise, ‘according to His historically manifested glory’ (Hengstenberg). Make known His deeds (or, ‘his doings’) among the people; rather, among the peoples; i.e. the heathen nations.” (Pulpit Commentary)
“We ought to need no exhortation to remember such wonders, especially as He has wrought them all on the behalf of His people. His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth—these also should be had in memory.... God had but to speak and the enemies of His people were sorely afflicted; His threats were not mere words, but smote His adversaries terribly. As the Word of God is the salvation of His saints, so is it the destruction of the ungodly: out of His mouth goeth a two edged sword with which He will slay the wicked.” (C H Spurgeon)
8 He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, 10 and 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 allotment of your inheritance,”
“In His covenant with Abraham, God promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates (Gen. 15: 18-21; Ex. 23: 31; Deut. 1: 7, 8; Josh. 1: 4)…. This Psalm rehearses with great enthusiasm all that God did from the giving of the covenant to the time when He led the children of Israel into the promised land….Actually Israel has never yet fully occupied all the territory that was promised. The closest she came to it was during the reign of Solomon. Although he ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt, the people of Judah and Israel dwelt in the land from Dan to Beersheba (1 Kgs. 4: 21-25). But when her Messiah returns in power and glory, Israel's borders will then extend to include all the land which God deeded to Abraham. When that day arrives, [ALL] believing Israel will sing this song with new spirit and understanding.” (Believer's Bible Commentary)
“When the victims were divided and the burning lamp passed between the pieces (Gen. 15.) then the Lord made, or ratified, the covenant with the patriarch. This was a solemn deed, performed not without blood, and the cutting in pieces of the sacrifice; it points us to the greater covenant which in Christ Jesus is signed, sealed, and ratified, that it may stand fast for ever and ever…And his oath unto Isaac. Isaac did not in vision see the solemn making of the covenant, but the Lord renewed unto him His oath (Gen 26:2-5)…. And we have the privilege of seeing in our Lord Jesus both the sacrificial seal, and the eternal oath of God, by which every promise of the covenant is made ‘yea and amen’ to all the chosen seed.” (C. H Spurgeon)
“Although the fleshly, or racial, Israel defected from the covenant, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the New Israel, the True Vine, the Good Shepherd, now lives forever at the right hand of God; and ‘in Christ’ all of the ancient covenant with Abraham is still valid. ‘If ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise’ (Gal 3:29).” (Burton Coffman)
12 When they were few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it. 13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, 14 He permitted no one to do them wrong; yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, 15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.” 16 Moreover He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. 17 He sent a man before them— Joseph—who was sold as a slave. 18 They hurt his feet with fetters, he 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 the people let him go free. 21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, 22 To bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom. 23 Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham. 24 He increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies. 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 signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His Word. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. 30 Their land abounded with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and lice in all their territory. 32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. 33 He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, and splintered the trees of their territory. 34 He spoke, and locusts came, young locusts without number, 35 And ate up all the vegetation in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. 36 He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, the first of all their strength. 37 He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen 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 quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant. 43 He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. 44 He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, and they inherited the labor of the nations, 45 That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the Lord!
“When they were few in number, indeed very few, literally, ‘In their being people of number, very little.’ That is, they could then be easily numbered, and they were so few that they could not take possession of it themselves. This is in contrast with the promise then made to them that they should be in number as the stars, and as the sand on the sea shore.— ‘and strangers in it - Foreigners. They were mere sojourners. They did not become incorporated with the people of the land. They did not acquire property there. They were regarded and treated as belonging to a foreign people. See the notes at Hebrews 11:9. ‘When they went from one nation to another’ … - Wandered about, as if they had no home and no fixed habitation. See Genesis 12:6, Genesis 12:9-10; Genesis 13:1; Genesis 20:1; Genesis 26:1, Genesis 26:17, Genesis 26:22-23.
‘He suffered no man to do them wrong’- He protected them as they wandered from place to place, and as they were exposed to dangers. See the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in their wanderings, as it is recorded in the book of Genesis. ‘Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes’ - That He might protect them; that He might keep them from danger and from sin. See the case of Pharaoh in the time of Abraham, Genesis 12:17-20, and the case of Abimelech, Genesis 20:3, Genesis 20:6.— Saying, ‘Touch not mine anointed’ -
That is, this was the language of His ‘providence.’ It was as though God had said this. It is not meant that this was said in so many words, but this is the ‘poetic’ form of representing the dealings of Providence. Compare Genesis 26:11. The word ‘anointed’ here means that God had, as it were, set them apart to His service, or that they were to Him as kings, and priests, and prophets, sacred people, belonging to God. The ‘language’ is not found in the Old Testament as applied to the patriarchs, but the ‘idea’ is fairly implied there, that they belonged to God as sacred and holy men. ‘And do My prophets no harm’ - As if God had thus spoken to them, and called them prophets. That is, they belonged to God as a sacred order: they were separate from other men, and God regarded them as His own.” (Albert Barnes) He rehearses His dealing with His people— the intended end of all of His efforts on their behalf was “‘that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws (v. 45)’ - The end - the design - of all this was that they might be an obedient people. This was the purpose of all his interventions in their behalf; and their obligation to obedience was enforced and measured by what He had done. The same is true in regard to His people now.” (Albert Barnes)