By Jay T. Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Mobile
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
Psalm 105:1–11, 42–45
In Psalm 105 the psalmist praised the Lord for how He faithfully kept the promises He had made to Abraham and his descendants in spite of the fact that Abraham’s descendants were consistently unfaithful to God. The psalmist recalled events from Israel’s history, highlighting Israel’s time in Egypt and exodus out of Egypt.
Call to Worship (1–6)
Gathering with the saints of God and worshipping Him is essential for God’s people. Worship occurs when we set our mind’s attention and heart’s affection on the One true God and praise Him for who He is and for what He has done for us in and through the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ.
In this psalm God commanded His people to worship Him. In the first five verses there are 10 imperatives that call the people of God to a time of remembering, celebrating and spreading the report abroad of the work of God on behalf of His people as a result of God’s covenant with Abraham. This psalm was written to remind Israel what God had done for them.
Christians are to proclaim the Lord to the world, delight in what He has done and said and who He is and show thanksgiving for past mercies by coming back to Him for more. We would be far more thankful people and more godly than we are if we would merely take time to remember God’s many mercies to us.
Covenant Made (7–11)
Although the opening stanza helps us identify Psalm 105 as a thanksgiving psalm, it is not until the second stanza (vv. 7–11) that we discover the theme of the psalm. It is about God’s faithfulness to keep His covenant with His people, specifically His covenant with Abraham. The word “covenant” appears three times in these verses.
A covenant is a solemn commitment, in this case made by God to Abraham and his descendants. God promised Abraham that He would give Abraham’s descendants a land of their own. The details are found in Genesis 15 and 17.
This covenant was a unilateral covenant, meaning that God alone set the terms and promised fulfillment apart from the faithfulness or lack of faithfulness of His people.
We cannot, however, suppose that the people were absolved from any response at all. Although God initiated the covenant and committed Himself to fulfilling it, He still expected obedience within the confines of the terms of the covenant (Gen. 17:9). The Apostle Paul recognized the fulfillment of these promises in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3).
Covenant Fulfilled (42–45)
One striking characteristic of this psalm is its repeated use of the pronoun “He” to refer to God. It is used 15 times in Psalm 105. This emphasizes the sovereignty of God in the affairs of man — in this case over Israel and even over her enemies.
The psalmist stressed that the Lord “remembered” His covenant with Abraham, thus recalling God’s faithfulness to His people. This final stanza rushes ahead from the events of the exodus to the time of Joshua, recalling that God “remembered His holy promise” to establish His people in the promised land.
Everything God had done for Israel was so they would “keep His statutes and obey His instructions.” God expected His people to live in obedience to His commandments in the land He gave them. The psalmist concluded this encouraging psalm with the command for the people to praise the Lord because of His faithfulness to them.
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