Today we are going to look at Psalms 105 & 106. Both of these Psalms begin with a call to honor God by agreeing with what HE says He has done. We are instructed to worship Him by venerating the stories of His miraculous care for His people. Then both Psalms recount parts of biblical history and end with declarations of how it should be with God and His people despite the history of our rebellion.
Psalm 105 (200 cross references in 45 verses)
1 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. 2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. 3 Exult in His holy name; rejoice, you who worship Yahweh.
- We begin with gratitude to God based on His greatness
- As His people we are to proclaim what he has done and lift up who He is
4 Search for the Lord and for His strength; continually seek Him. 5 Remember the wonders He has performed, His miracles, and the rulings He has given, 6 you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.
- We are encouraged to seek God’s strength because we believe in it
- As the spiritual children of Abraham God has chosen us to believe in Him
7 He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land. 8 He always stands by his covenant—the commitment he made to a thousand generations. 9 This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac. 10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant: 11 “I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession.”
- Who He is describes what He has done
- We are to declare His faithfulness to redeem those HE makes His
- The recounting of HIStory begins with the Patriarchs
42 For He remembered His sacred promise to His servant Abraham. 43 So He brought His people out of Egypt with joy, His chosen ones with rejoicing. 44 He gave His people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops that others had planted. 45 All this happened so they would follow His decrees and obey his instructions. Praise Yahweh!
- The key idea is that God keeps His covenant promises.
- By leading Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised land He blessed them
- He revealed Himself to them so they would obey His instructions & commands
- It was the perfect set up! Hallelujah!
Psalm 106 (170 cross references in 48 verses)
1 Praise Yahweh! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. 2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise Him enough?
- Notice the approach
- We are to respond to the demonstration of mercy and grace by God with praise
- The attitude is that we can’t do it enough… (opposite of checking it off a list)
3 There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right. 4 Remember me, Lord, when You show favor to Your people; come near and rescue me. 5 Let me share in the prosperity of Your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of Your people; let me praise You with those who are Your heritage.
- Doing things God’s way results in the joy of being HIS!
- Being His only comes from His favor
- There is the hope of prosperity, fellowship and an inheritance
6 Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! 7 Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.
- Direct association with the people God chose, loved then watched rebel on Him
- Their downfall and ours: FORGETTING
- They lost the ‘Awe’
44 Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries. 45 He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love. 46 He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.
- Even after all of the time His people rebelled, He had mercy
- Yahweh perfectly remembers His covenant with Abraham and us
- God’s unfailing love is stronger than generations of rebellion, including ours
47 Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you. 48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!
- The plea for Yahweh to return the Israelites from exile
- The declaration that He is ‘our God’
- It ends with His eternal character being the focus of our praise
5 PRAYER LESSONS:
Approaching God in Prayer: We approach him in praise for who He is and What He has done. The truth about the God of our Bible is to be declared in the aggregate and in specifics. In these postures we are humbled.
Prayer to Remind Us of Our Faith Heritage: We are called to do so and it is for our own well being that we never minimize Yahweh’s actions that created our faith.
Prayer as Confession of Our Condition: We pray in agreement with God’s account of human history and the rebellion that we are part of. We need God to enable our relationship.
Prayer as Recognition of God’s Mercy: We recount how when faced with human rebellion The God of Scripture time and again displayed unfathomable grace as He does to us in Christ Jesus.
Prayer as Expression of Hope for Shalom: Because of these truths and so much more we can hope for an eternal relationship with Yahweh, with through surrendered Spirit Following of Christ.