(Psalm 105:1-45)
1 Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make His deeds known among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Tell of all His wonders.
3 Boast in His holy name;
May the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments spoken by His mouth,
6 You descendants of Abraham, His servant,
You 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 as 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 people in number,
Very few, and strangers in it.
13 And they wandered from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 He allowed no one to oppress them,
And He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
15 “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do not harm My prophets.”
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 forced his feet into shackles,
He was put in irons;
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the Lord refined 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 high officials at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt;
So Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
24 And He made His people very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal cunningly with His servants.
26 He sent His servant Moses,
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 a swarm of flies
And gnats invaded all their territory.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He also struck their vines and their fig trees,
And smashed the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and locusts came,
And creeping locusts, beyond number,
35 And they ate all the vegetation in their land,
And ate the fruit of their ground.
36 He also fatally struck all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits of all their vigor.
37 Then He brought the Israelites 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 the Egyptians.
39 He spread out a cloud as 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 His servant Abraham;
43 And He led out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
44 He also gave them the lands of the nations,
So that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
45 And that they might keep His statutes
And comply with His laws;
Praise the Lord!
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Make His deeds known among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Tell of all His wonders.
3 Boast in His holy name;
May the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments spoken by His mouth,
6 You descendants of Abraham, His servant,
You 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 as 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 people in number,
Very few, and strangers in it.
13 And they wandered from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 He allowed no one to oppress them,
And He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
15 “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do not harm My prophets.”
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 forced his feet into shackles,
He was put in irons;
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the Lord refined 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 high officials at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt;
So Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
24 And He made His people very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal cunningly with His servants.
26 He sent His servant Moses,
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 a swarm of flies
And gnats invaded all their territory.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He also struck their vines and their fig trees,
And smashed the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and locusts came,
And creeping locusts, beyond number,
35 And they ate all the vegetation in their land,
And ate the fruit of their ground.
36 He also fatally struck all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits of all their vigor.
37 Then He brought the Israelites 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 the Egyptians.
39 He spread out a cloud as 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 His servant Abraham;
43 And He led out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
44 He also gave them the lands of the nations,
So that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
45 And that they might keep His statutes
And comply with His laws;
Praise the Lord!
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Remember how the Israelites grumbled as they were led through the wilderness? Have you ever been around a person who just grumbled and complained about everything? It is very tiresome! I've even been "the grumbler" from time to time. I'm sure those around me got very tired - because - I tired myself out! Seriously, grumbling and complaining takes a lot of energy. And for what? One can use the excuse about needing a chance to vent, but after a while, we have to realize that without moving forward and learning something... except for irritating others and alienating ourselves, we accomplish nothing.
Instead, no matter what we are going through, whether short-term or long-term, others will enjoy being around us more, and we will realize personal joy and peace when we apply verses 1-5, and 45:
- we are told to remember! Well, in order to remember God's words and everything He has done, is doing and will do, it helps to be consistently studying His word, and applying His word.
- thanking the Lord before calling upon Him for help, helps us to ask for things with right motives, in His will. It also helps us to not take the Lord for granted (which is a flippant-attitude-kind-of-thing that we all can so very easily fall into).
- telling others about the Lord and boasting about all that He has done, not only encourages others, but it really does encourage ourselves as well.
- praising the Lord will actually help us in obeying His will, not because we have to, but because we want to. Praising the Lord helps us remember and acknowledge His goodness and faithfulness.
- then there is singing to the Lord!!! Come on, we all know that singing anything can be so very moving and inspirational. So, let us sing praises to the Lord! Nothing else is as edifying as that.
- continually seeking the Lord and His strength will help us BE JOYFUL, because we are not doing things in our own strength and wisdom. And as we rely on Him, He fills us with His joy!
Doing all of these things will edify and fill us with the Lord's joy, no matter what we are going through. As verse 19 says, the word of the Lord refined Joseph while he went through hardships. Just so, as we study and live in God's word, God will refine us. This is huge! As I look over my life, I can see how the Lord has "refined" me and given me a deep joy and contentment, and He will continue to do so because He is faithful!
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