Psalms 105

1 Alleluia. Acknowledge ye to the Lord, and inwardly call ye his name; tell ye his works among heathen men. (Alleluia. Give ye thanks to the Lord, and call ye on his name; tell ye about his works among the heathen.)
2 Sing ye to him, and say ye psalm to him, and tell ye all his marvels (and tell ye of all his marvellous deeds);
3 be ye praised in his holy name. The heart of men seeking the Lord be glad; (glory ye in his holy name. Let the hearts of the people seeking the Lord be glad;)
4 seek ye the Lord, and be ye confirmed; seek ye ever[more] his face. (seek ye the Lord, who is your strength; seek ye his face forevermore.)
5 Have ye mind on his marvels, which he did; on his great wonders, and dooms of his mouth. (Remember the marvellous deeds, which he hath done; and the judgements, which came forth from his mouth.)
6 The seed of Abraham, his servant; the sons of Jacob, his chosen man. (Ye descendants of his servant Abraham; ye children of his chosen man Jacob.)
7 He is our Lord God; his dooms be in all the earth. (He is the Lord our God; his judgements be for all the earth.)
8 He was mindful of his testament into the world; of the word which he commanded into a thousand generations. (He shall remember his covenant forever; yea, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.)
9 Which he disposed to Abraham; and of his oath to Isaac. (The covenant which he made with Abraham; and his oath to Isaac.)
10 And he ordained it to Jacob into a commandment; and to Israel into everlasting testament. (And he ordained it to Jacob for a law; yea, to Israel for an everlasting covenant.)
11 And he said, I shall give to thee the land of Canaan; the cord of your heritage (yea, your possession, your inheritance).
12 When they were in a little number; and the comelings of them were full few. (When they were little in number; yea, very few, and newcomers, or strangers, in that land.)
13 And they passed from folk into folk; and from a realm into another people. (And they went from one nation to another; and from one kingdom to another.)
14 He left not a man to annoy them; and he chastised kings for them. (He did not let anyone harm them; and he admonished, or warned, kings about them.)
15 (Saying,) Do not ye touch my christs; and do not ye do wickedly among my prophets. (Saying, Do not ye touch my anointed servants; and do not ye harm my prophets.)
16 And God called hunger on earth (And God called for hunger, or a famine, on the earth); and he wasted all the steadfastness of bread.
17 He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold into a servant (Joseph was sold as a slave).
18 They made low his feet in fetters, iron passed by his soul; (They put his feet in fetters, and an iron collar around his neck;)
19 till the word of him came. The speech of the Lord enflamed him; (until the word of the Lord came as predicted. The word of the Lord proved him right;)
20 the king sent and unbound him; the prince of peoples sent and delivered him. (then the king sent and unbound him; yea, the ruler of the nations sent word, and set him free.)
21 He ordained him lord of his house; and prince of all his possession. (He ordained him lord of his house; and the ruler of all his possessions.)
22 That he should learn his princes as himself (And that he should teach his leaders, or his officials, as he desired); and that he should teach his eld men prudence.
23 And Israel entered into Egypt; and Jacob was a comeling in the land of Ham. (And then Jacob, or Israel, came down to Egypt; and he was a newcomer, or a stranger, in the land of Ham.)
24 And God increased his people greatly; and made them steadfast on his enemies. (And God greatly increased his people; and he made them stronger than their enemies.)
25 He turned the heart of them, that they hated his people; and did guile against his servants. (And then he turned the hearts of their enemies, so that they hated his people; and they were deceitful with his servants.)
26 He sent Moses, his servant; [and] that Aaron, whom he chose.
27 He putted in them (to tell and to do) the words of his miracles; and of his great wonders in the land of Ham. (And they told of his miracles beforehand; and then they performed his great wonders in the land of Egypt.)
28 He sent darknesses, and made (it) dark; and he made not bitter his words. (He sent darkness, and all the land was made dark; but still the Egyptians resisted his commands.)
29 He turned the waters of them into blood; and he killed the fishes of them.
30 And the land of them gave paddocks; in the privy places of the kings of them. (And their land brought forth frogs; even the king's private rooms were filled with them.)
31 God said, and a flesh fly came; and gnats in all the coasts of them. (And God spoke, and then swarms of flies came; and gnats as well, in all their coasts.)
32 He setted their rains (into) hail; (and) fire burning in the land of them.
33 And he smote the vines of them, and the fig trees of them; and all-brake the trees of the coasts of them.
34 He said, and the locust(s) came; and a bruchus of which (there) was no number (and innumerable bruchi).
35 And it ate all the hay in the land of them; and it ate all the fruit of the land of them. (And they ate all the plants in their land; and they ate all the fruit of their land.)
36 And he killed each the first engendered thing in the land of them (And he killed all their first-born in their land); the first fruits of all the travail of them.
37 And he led out them with silver and gold; and none was sick in the lineages of them. (And he led them out with silver and gold; and no one was weak, or feeble, in all their tribes.)
38 Egypt was glad in the going out of them; for the dread of them lay on Egyptians. (The Egyptians were glad that they left; for the Egyptians feared them.)
39 He spreaded abroad a cloud, into the covering of them (for their covering); and (a) fire, that it shined to them by night.
40 They asked, and a curlew came; and he [ful]filled them with the bread of heaven. (They asked for food, and the curlews came; and then he fulfilled them with bread, or manna, from heaven.)
41 He brake the stone, and waters flowed; floods went forth in the dry place. (He broke open a rock, and waters flowed out; yea, a river went forth there in the desert, or in the wilderness.)
42 For he was mindful of his holy word; which he had (said) to Abraham, his servant. (For he remembered his solemn promise; which he had made to his servant Abraham.)
43 And he led out his people in full out joying; and his chosen men in gladness. (And so he led out his people rejoicing; and his chosen in gladness.)
44 And he gave to them the countries of heathen men; and they had in possession the travails of (other) peoples. (And he gave them the countries of the heathen; and they had in possession what other peoples had toiled for, or had worked so hard for.)
45 That they keep his justifyings; and keep his law. (So that they would obey his statutes; and obey his laws.)

Images for Psalms 105

Psalms 105 Commentary

Chapter 105

A solemn call to praise and serve the Lord. (1-7) His gracious dealings with Israel. (8-23) Their deliverance from Egypt, and their settlement in Canaan. (24-45)

Verses 1-7 Our devotion is here stirred up, that we may stir up ourselves to praise God. Seek his strength; that is, his grace; the strength of his Spirit to work in us that which is good, which we cannot do but by strength derived from him, for which he will be sought. Seek to have his favour to eternity, therefore continue seeking it while living in this world; for he will not only be found, but he will reward those that diligently seek him.

Verses 8-23 Let us remember the Redeemer's marvellous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. Though true Christians are few number, strangers and pilgrims upon earth, yet a far better inheritance than Canaan is made sure to them by the covenant of God; and if we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, none can do us any harm. Afflictions are among our mercies. They prove our faith and love, they humble our pride, they wean us from the world, and quicken our prayers. Bread is the staff which supports life; when that staff is broken, the body fails and sinks to the earth. The word of God is the staff of spiritual life, the food and support of the soul: the sorest judgment is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Such a famine was sore in all lands when Christ appeared in the flesh; whose coming, and the blessed effect of it, are shadowed forth in the history of Joseph. At the appointed time Christ was exalted as Mediator; all the treasures of grace and salvation are at his disposal, perishing sinners come to him, and are relieved by him.

Verses 24-45 As the believer commonly thrives best in his soul when under the cross; so the church also flourishes most in true holiness, and increases in number, while under persecution. Yet instruments shall be raised up for their deliverance, and plagues may be expected by persecutors. And see the special care God took of his people in the wilderness. All the benefits bestowed on Israel as a nation, were shadows of spiritual blessings with which we are blessed in Christ Jesus. Having redeemed us with his blood, restored our souls to holiness, and set us at liberty from Satan's bondage, he guides and guards us all the way. He satisfies our souls with the bread of heaven, and the water of life from the Rock of salvation, and will bring us safely to heaven. He redeems his servants from all iniquity, and purifies them unto himself, to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 105

This psalm was penned by David, and sung at the time when the ark was brought from the house of Obededom to the place which David had prepared for it; at least the first fifteen verses of it, the other part being probably added afterwards by the same inspired penman, as appears from 1Ch 16:1-7. The subject matter of the psalm is the special and distinguishing goodness of God to the children of Israel, and to his church and people, of which they were typical: the history of God's regard to and care of their principal ancestors, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and of the whole body of the people, in bringing them out of Egypt, leading them through the wilderness, and settling them in the land of Canaan, is here recited, as an argument for praise and thankfulness.

Psalms 105 Commentaries

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.