Psalm 105

What’s Happening?  

God promised Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars and inherit an eternal homeland (Genesis 15:18-21). The song of Psalm 105 recounts God’s faithfulness throughout Abraham’s family history and calls God’s people and the world to praise Abraham’s God (Psalm 105:1-8). Early in Abraham’s life, God watched over and protected his chosen family when they were just a handful of vulnerable nomads wandering through foreign lands and at the mercy of powerful kings (Psalm 105:12-15). When famine and starvation threatened Abraham’s family, God sent Joseph to provide for them (Psalm 105:16-17). And when Joseph was imprisoned, God miraculously freed him and gave him a position of power in Egypt (Psalm 105:18-22). As time passed, God’s family grew larger. But threatened, Egypt forgot the good Joseph did and began to persecute and enslave God’s growing family. But not even this could prevent God from keeping his promises to Abraham to give them their homeland (Psalm 105:23-25). As with Joseph, God raised another leader, this time to confront Egyptian power. With many signs of God’s power, they freed God’s captive people and defeated their oppressors (Psalm 105:26-36). God then filled his family’s hands with Egyptian treasures and brought them safely to their promised land, where they could worship and follow God’s commands without fear of slavery or persecution (Psalm 105:37-41, 44-45). God did everything he promised Abraham he would do. In Abraham’s family history, God has been faithful. So Abraham’s children and the whole world should recognize and celebrate the faithfulness of Israel’s God (Psalm 105:42-43, 1-5).

Where is the Gospel?

God promised Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars and inherit an eternal homeland (Genesis 15:18-21). While God was faithful to Abraham and his family grew significantly and lived in Canaan for a time, it is through Jesus, Abraham’s ultimate descendent, that God’s promise of innumerable descendants and an eternal homeland finally comes true.

Like his forefathers, Jesus wandered as a vulnerable nomad on the earth, and like Joseph, he was oppressed and mistreated by the rulers in power. But through Jesus, God worked an even greater rescue than what he did for his oppressed children in Egypt. When Jesus was sentenced to die by crucifixion, he was marching to battle to save his people from slavery to the ultimate enemy of God’s people—death itself (Hebrews 2:14-15). God’s sign of power and rescue was Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (John 12:32). By pouring out his life to death, Jesus, the greatest son of Abraham, secured the world as a homeland for his people (Revelation 5:9). He rose from the dead to be promoted as ruler over all kings and powers of the world and to free everyone who had been held captive to death (Philippians 2:8-11; Hebrews 2:15). Now everyone who believes that Jesus’ resurrection has secured his people an eternal homeland are members of Abraham’s family (Galatians 3:7). 

Jesus is Abraham’s son seated on God’s throne above all powers and kingdoms (Ephesians 1:20-21). And because God is faithful to Abraham, Jesus will give his family the eternal homeland he promised. When Jesus returns to claim his kingdom and people as his inheritance, the entire world will be given to Jesus, with innumerable people from every tribe and nation celebrating him (Revelation 7:9-10; 11:15).

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who has kept his promise to Abraham. And may you see Jesus as Abraham’s greatest son, who has promised the world to his chosen people.