Psalm 105

Psalm 105 is a celebration of Israel's history. And what you're going to see in this Psalm is a recounting of how God dealt with and delivered Israel from their many challenges as His chosen nation. And this Psalm, Psalm 105, focuses on how God delivered His people, specifically from their bondage in Egypt and that's what's going to be the focus of this particular Psalm. By the way, the first part of this Psalm is identical to a section that we read in 1 Chronicles. I believe it's chapter 16, when David is bringing the tabernacle into the city of Jerusalem. And he tells Asaph and his other temple worshipers to sing this psalm. And it's for that reason that we believe that this psalm, even though it's not mentioned here, is probably written by David. And It goes like this. Verse 1,

And that's just the introduction of the Psalm, as if to say... Encouraging you and I, to speak of the things that the Lord has done. Let people be encouraged by them. It's called your "testimony" if it's something that the Lord did to you. Or, if you're telling another story about what the Lord did to someone else, or for someone else, you're just giving praise. I was reading just today about a gal was, it was an article I was reading. And she was telling about how when she and her husband were newly married, she said, we had very little money and she was pregnant. And they went to the store. They went to Sears to look for coats because her pregnancy was causing her coat not to fit and the weather was getting cold.

And they went to the store and they found a coat that fit just perfectly. And they looked at the price tag and it was something like $75 and that was too much. They couldn't afford it. They just weren't making that much money and having a hard time making ends meet. She said, we put it back. And on the way home, she said, I really just cried out to the Lord. Not in a complaining sort of a way, but just in a way of saying, Lord you know that there's this need. And we just don't have a lot of money to buy stuff right now. And we just really need your help. They just made their way home. And before they went into their apartment, they check their mail. And lo and behold... No, they didn't receive money, not cash anyway. You know what was in the mail? A gift certificate for $75 at Sears. She said, we got right back in the car and went right to Sears and bought the coat. And it was like, thank you Jesus! Well, what did I just do? I just told you about the works of the Lord, didn't I? That's exactly what the psalmist is telling us to do. Oh, tell of His wondrous works, tell of His goodness! Right? Doesn't that little story just like that just put a little lilt in your heart? And you're just, yay, God! He cares. He knows our needs and He's able to meet our needs according to His great mercy..., and so forth. Well, that's what this psalm is telling us to do. Verse 4. It says,

And now he's going to begin to speak of the history of Israel beginning with Abraham. And he says,

Talking about just the way God used Joseph so powerfully as you read in the Book of Genesis. "

Now speaking of how the Egyptians put the Israelites to servitude. "

Now he's going through and talking about all the plagues that were put upon the Egyptians. "

41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. 43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones was singing. 44 And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the people's toil, 45 that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!" It's a simple kind of recounting of just a portion of the history of Israel, isn't it? Where the psalmist is just praising God. Praising God for how He took care of Israel. Now, did you notice the Psalm doesn't make any mention of Israel's mistakes? Really? It doesn't really, because that's not the focus. The focus isn't Israel here. The focus is God. Now in the next Psalm and don't read ahead, but in the next Psalm, he is going to focus on Israel's mistakes. But again, not to focus necessarily on Israel but to focus on God's mercy, even though Israel made mistakes. But here it's just the story of God's faithfulness. It's the story of God's goodness toward Israel. And I want you to think for just a moment; what if your story was put to poetic Psalm? The story of you, maybe the story of your family. The story of how: when you were born; and then the promises God made to you; even perhaps before you knew the Lord. And then how you came to know Christ as your Savior. And how you began to walk with the Lord and God's faithfulness to you to take care of you. And your story, if it was written by God, it would include things you probably didn't even know happened. You didn't even know God was watching over you and did things for you. And you might read them in here and go, wow, that's pretty incredible God! But what would your story say if it was put to a Psalm like this to show forth God's faithfulness? God has been faithful to you just as much as He has been to Israel. God has shown His faithfulness to you. You may not be fully aware of it. There was 25 years of my life where I had absolutely no consciousness or awareness of God's faithfulness in my life. Because it took that long for me to humble myself, like a big idiot, and finally dropped to my knees and say, okay, you win! Uncle. I'll give my life to You! Took 25 years and a lot of pretty significant failures in my life to bring me to that place. But one of the things the Lord spoke to me very early on in my Christian life was this statement. The Lord said, I knew you when you knew Me not. And that's a very humbling thing to hear from the Lord. I knew you when you knew Me not. In other words, I was watching over your life before you even had any inkling of who I was, or how I was operating in your life. And I believe that statement is not unique about me by any stretch of the imagination. I believe God knew you when you knew Him not. God knew what was going on in your life. God knew what you needed the most, even when you weren't sure, or, you thought you were sure. But He knew what you really needed. And He was working in your life to bring about the purpose of His will, even when you thought maybe you'd even been abandoned. Even when you thought God had left you alone. Even when you thought your prayers were going nowhere He was listening and He was faithful. And He was working all things together for good, even though you were unaware of it. This Psalm is all about faithfulness, God's faithfulness. And this is just the stuff we know. This is just the stuff the psalmist knew enough to write about. How much more faithful has God been in areas that we have absolutely no idea?