Thursday, March 27, 2014

Psalm 105:1-45


... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.[1]

Psalm 105:1-45[2]

Give thanks to the Lord.  Call on His name.  Make known His deeds among the people.  Sing to Him.  Sing psalms to Him.  Talk of all His wondrous works.  Glory in His holy name.  Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.  Seek the Lord, and His strength.  Seek His face evermore.  Remember His marvelous works, which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth. 

O you seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob His chosen.  He [is] the Lord our God.  His judgments [are] in all the earth.  He has remembered His covenant forever, the word He commanded to a thousand generations: that He made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac.  [He] confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, to Israel, an everlasting covenant: saying, “To you will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:”

When they were few men in number, yes, very few, and aliens in it.  When they went from one nation to another, from [one] kingdom to another people.  He suffered no man to do them wrong.  Yes, He reproved kings for their sakes, “Touch not My Christ.  Do My prophets no harm.”

Moreover, He called for a famine on the land.  He broke the whole staff of bread.  He sent a man before them.  Joseph was sold for a slave, whose feet they hurt with fetters.  He was laid in iron: until the time that his Word came.  The Word of the Lord tried him.  The king sent and released him.  The ruler of the people, and let him go free.  He made him lord of his house, ruler of all his substance: to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom.  Israel also came to Egypt.  Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

He increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies.  He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtly with His servants.  He sent Moses His servant, [and] Aaron whom He had chosen.  They showed His signs among them, wonders in the land of Ham.  He sent darkness, and made it dark.  They rebelled not against His word.  He turned their waters to blood, and slew their fish.  Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.  He spoke.  There came different kinds of flies, lice in all their coasts.  He gave them hail for rain, flaming fire in their land.  He struck their vines also, their fig trees, and broke the trees on their coasts.  He spoke.  The locusts came, and caterpillars, and these without number, and ate up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.  He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.

He brought them forth also with silver and gold.  [There was] not one feeble among their tribes.  Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell on them.  He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night.  [They] asked.  He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.  He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out.  They ran in the dry places [like] a river: for He remembered His holy promise, [to] Abraham His servant.  He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen with gladness.  [He] gave them the lands of the heathen.  They inherited the labor of the people: so that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.

Praise the Lord.



[1] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost or share any of them as you wish.
[2] Psalm 105 is sung in obedience to the Great Shema.  Israelite children were to be taught their history among the Egyptians, their oppression, the plagues on the idols of Egypt, the Passover, the Exodus, the entry into Canaan, so that they would grow up loving Yahweh and longing to worship Him.  From earliest childhood they were taught to seek Him and His Face, so that when they went up to Jerusalem three times a year, they would know Who that Flaming Presence of His Glory was.
The children were to learn that Yahweh was faithful to them; He honored His covenant promises as they were made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The children of Israel were to grow up knowing that were a specially chosen people.
When they were only a powerless handful of people, wandering the earth, God protected them from harm.
The famine that threatened Jacob and his family was brought by Yahweh’s purpose and will.  Joseph’s sale into slavery was also part of the Divine plan.  However, Joseph was sent to bear the Word of Yahweh, so he was promoted from prison to be the chief prince of Egypt, and provided a way to protect his father Israel in Egypt.
The Israelites came to Egypt in weakness, but left in Yahweh’s display of power and glory.  The affection that Joseph enjoyed, decayed into affliction and malice.  Then Yahweh raised up Moses and Aaron to be prophets to Pharaoh, and they destroyed the idols and idolatry of Egypt with great plagues: even the firstborn were all slain.
The Egyptians were so glad to be rid of them that they showered them with silver and gold.  The flaming pillar of Yahweh’s Glory gave them light at night, and formed a smoky sheltering cloud during the day.  Throughout the whole journey of the Exodus, Yahweh fed them with the miraculous bread of heaven and quenched their thirst with water from the rock.  He brought them into a new land so that they would honor His Law and strive to do it.

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