Psalms 105:16-45

16 He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 The LORD made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark— for had they not rebelled against his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die.
30 Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39 He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
45 that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws. Praise the LORD.[a]

Psalms 105:16-45 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References 50

  • 1. S Genesis 12:10; Genesis 41:54; S Leviticus 26:26; Isaiah 3:1; Ezekiel 4:16
  • 2. S Genesis 37:28; Genesis 45:5; Acts 7:9
  • 3. S Genesis 40:15
  • 4. S Genesis 12:10; Genesis 40:20-22
  • 5. Genesis 41:40
  • 6. Genesis 41:14
  • 7. Genesis 41:43-44
  • 8. S Genesis 41:40
  • 9. Genesis 46:6; Acts 7:15; Acts 13:17
  • 10. Genesis 47:28
  • 11. S Psalms 78:51
  • 12. Exodus 1:7,9; Acts 7:17
  • 13. S Exodus 4:21
  • 14. Exodus 1:6-10; Acts 7:19
  • 15. S Exodus 3:10
  • 16. S Exodus 4:16; S Numbers 33:1
  • 17. S Numbers 16:5; Numbers 17:5-8
  • 18. ver 28-37; Ex 7:8-12:51
  • 19. S Exodus 4:17; S Exodus 10:1
  • 20. S Exodus 3:20; Daniel 4:3
  • 21. S Genesis 1:4; S Exodus 10:22
  • 22. S Exodus 7:22
  • 23. S Psalms 78:44
  • 24. Exodus 7:21
  • 25. S Exodus 8:2,6
  • 26. Psalms 107:25; Psalms 148:8
  • 27. Exodus 8:21-24; S Psalms 78:45
  • 28. Exodus 8:16-18
  • 29. Exodus 9:22-25; S Job 38:22; S Psalms 78:47
  • 30. Psalms 78:47
  • 31. Exodus 10:5,12
  • 32. Psalms 107:25
  • 33. S Ex 10:4,12-15
  • 34. S 1 Kings 8:37
  • 35. Joel 1:6
  • 36. S Exodus 4:23; S Exodus 12:12; Exodus 12:29
  • 37. S Exodus 3:21,22; Exodus 12:35
  • 38. Exodus 12:33; Exodus 15:16
  • 39. S Exodus 13:21; 1 Corinthians 10:1
  • 40. Nehemiah 9:12; S Psalms 78:14
  • 41. Psalms 78:18,24
  • 42. S Exodus 16:13
  • 43. S Exodus 16:4; John 6:31
  • 44. Exodus 17:6; S Numbers 20:11; Psalms 78:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:4
  • 45. Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:13-16
  • 46. Exodus 15:1-18; Psalms 106:12
  • 47. Exodus 32:13; Joshua 11:16-23; Joshua 12:8; Joshua 13:6-7; Psalms 111:6
  • 48. Deuteronomy 6:10-11; Psalms 78:55
  • 49. S Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 6:21-24; Psalms 78:5-7
  • 50. S Psalms 104:35

Footnotes 1

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