“The Wonders of the Lord” Psalm 105

 

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11222015TheWondersOfTheLordPsa105DonRuhl

 

The Wonders of the Lord 

See the seven wonders of the Lord, and the wonders we perform

Psalm 105

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • November 22, In the year of our Lord, 2015

Scripture Reader and Reading: Mike Crisp – Luke 6.46–49

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Phil Joseph – Anything magnifying or praising the Lord

Persuasion: 

  1. Psalm 105.1–7 – The Wonders of the Lord

    1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
    Call upon His name;
    Make known His deeds among the peoples!
    2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
    Talk of all His wondrous works!
    3 Glory in His holy name;
    Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
    4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
    Seek His face evermore!
    5 Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
    His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
    6 O seed of Abraham His servant,
    You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
    7 He is the Lord our God;
    His judgments are in all the earth.

    1. Did you notice all the things that the psalmist told us to do in verses 1–4?
      1. Give thanks to the Lord.
      2. Call upon His name.
      3. Make known His deeds.
      4. Sing to Him (2x).
      5. Talk of His wondrous works.
      6. Glory in His name.
      7. Seek the Lord (2x).
    2. Then verse 5 summarized those seven actions with
      1. remember His marvelous works.
      2. The psalmist spoke to the seed of Abraham.
        1. Remember who comprises the seed of Abraham,

          28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3.28–29).
        2. Therefore, all of us need to hear what this Psalm declares!
    3. As verse 7 announces:
      1. He is the Lord our God.
      2. His judgments are in all the Earth,
        1. not just Israel, whether ancient or modern, but
        2. whatever He does in the world now,
          1. He does for the sake of His chosen ones,
          2. which is the church, the New Jerusalem.
  2. Psalm 105.8–12 – First Wonder: He Remembers His Covenant

    8 He remembers His covenant forever,
    The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
    9 The covenant which He made with Abraham,
    And His oath to Isaac,
    10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
    To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
    11 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    As the allotment of your inheritance,”
    12 When they were few in number,
    Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

    1. The Lord made a covenant,
      1. first with Abraham,
      2. then with Isaac, and
      3. finally to Jacob or Israel
        1. that He would give them the Land of Canaan.
    2. The Lord made that covenant
      1. when the numbers of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were small,
        1. less than 70 people, and
      2. while they were strangers in that land.
    3. Yet, the psalmist implies that the Lord kept His covenant!
    4. This also applies to the peoples (v. 1), and all the Earth (v. 7), because
      1. once Israel became a nation with a land,
        1. they could bring into the world
        2. the special seed of Abraham, the Messiah.
      2. Also, the Lord has given Christians
        1. this whole planet on which we live,

          5 “Blessed are the meek,
          For they shall inherit the earth.”
          (Matt 5.5)

          22b
          …the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
          (Pro 13.22)

        2. The Lord has kept His covenant with the spiritual children of Abraham.
  3. Psalm 105.13–15 – Second Wonder: He Permitted No One to Harm Them

    13 When they went from one nation to another,
    From one kingdom to another people,
    14 He permitted no one to do them wrong;
    Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
    15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
    And do My prophets no harm.”

    1. As the three patriarchs wandered the Land of Canaan,
    2. they lived in the different kingdoms and nations that occupied the land.
      1. No one ever hurt any of them,
      2. although some tried.
        1. Abraham even led an army of several hundred in a brief war.
        2. Jacob had problems with his uncle/father-in-law.
          1. Nevertheless, all three of them came out victorious.
          2. They roamed about people whom their descendants called giants.
    3. So it is with Christians.
      1. One nation after another has persecuted the church, but
      2. every single one of those persecuting nations
        1. is either gone or
        2. adopted what they once persecuted.
          1. Yet, the church continues to spread all over the Earth, and
          2. the church will be here when nations today have long disappeared.
  4. Psalm 105.16–22 – Third Wonder: He Called for a Famine

    16 Moreover He called for a famine in the land;
    He destroyed all the provision of bread.
    17 He sent a man before them—
    Joseph—who was sold as a slave.
    18 They hurt his feet with fetters,
    He was laid in irons.
    19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
    The word of the Lord tested him.
    20 The king sent and released him,
    The ruler of the people let him go free.
    21 He made him lord of his house,
    And ruler of all his possessions,
    22 To bind his princes at his pleasure,
    And teach his elders wisdom.

    1. The Lord needed to move the family of Jacob out of Canaan, and
      1. so He sent Joseph down into Egypt,
      2. where he served as a slave.
        1. When falsely accused of approaching a woman,
        2. they threw him into prison.
    2. Meanwhile the Lord called for a famine in the Land of Canaan
      1. that Jacob and his family might be driven to Egypt to look for food.
      2. The Lord caused adversity that He might save them.
    3. Back in Egypt the Lord worked to bring Joseph out of prison and
      1. make him the number 2 man in the nation.
      2. The Lord had caused adversity to Joseph that he might save his family.
    4. Why do we suffer in this world?
      1. Why does the Lord exalt us?
      2. We cannot always know the answer to those questions, but
        1. the lives of Joseph and his father and brothers, and their families,
        2. shows that suffering, even national suffering,
          1. sometimes happens that the Lord might help His people later, and
          2. like Esther, He exalts us individually or nationally,
            1. not for our own sake, but
            2. for the sake of our people.
  5. Psalm 105.23–25 – Fourth Wonder: He Increased His People

    23 Israel also came into Egypt,
    And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
    24 He increased His people greatly,
    And made them stronger than their enemies.
    25 He turned their heart to hate His people,
    To deal craftily with His servants.

    1. Finally, Jacob and the members of his household made it to Egypt.
    2. While there, the Lord increased the size of that family.
      1. When Jacob, his sons, including Joseph, and their families entered Egypt,
      2. their numbers were small relatively speaking,

        26 All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy (Gen 46.26–27).

        1. Four hundred years later, their numbers had increased greatly.
        2. How many families do you know that increased this much?

          45 So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel— 46 all who were numbered were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty (Num 1.45–46).
        3. Add the number of the Levites, who had different qualifications,

          39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand (Num 3.39).

          1. 603,550 warriors of the non-Levites between 20 and 50 years old.
          2. Add 22,000 of all Levites males over 1 month of age, and
            1. all females of whatever age and
            2. all males under 20 and over 50,
            3. you can estimate 3 to 3.5 million.
    3. Likewise, start with either 12 or 120 disciples on the Day of Pentecost, and
      1. today we cover the globe,
      2. so that our numbers exceed man’s ability to count,

        9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7.9–10).
  6. Psalm 105.26–36 – Fifth Wonder: He Sent His Servant Moses

    26 He sent Moses His servant,
    And Aaron whom He had chosen.
    27 They performed His signs among them,
    And wonders in the land of Ham.
    28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
    And they did not rebel against His word.
    29 He turned their waters into blood,
    And killed their fish.
    30 Their land abounded with frogs,
    Even in the chambers of their kings.
    31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
    And lice in all their territory.
    32 He gave them hail for rain,
    And flaming fire in their land.
    33 He struck their vines also, and their fig trees,
    And splintered the trees of their territory.
    34 He spoke, and locusts came,
    Young locusts without number,
    35 And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
    And devoured the fruit of their ground.
    36 He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land,
    The first of all their strength.

    1. Roughly 400 years later, the Lord sent Moses and his brother.
    2. They did huge signs in the land of Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let Israel go.
      1. The psalmist began with the ninth plague,
      2. then followed the sequence in Exodus,
        1. except he skipped the fifth (death of livestock), and
        2. he skipped the sixth (boils).
        3. Darkness,
        4. water to blood,
        5. frogs,
        6. flies,
        7. lice,
        8. fiery hail,
        9. locusts, and
        10. death of the firstborn.
      3. These were huge events, and
        1. the rest of the world knew about them,
        2. which is the focus of one of the videos I will show at my Friday night class during the first three months of 2016.
    3. When European nations persecuted what became America’s forefathers,
      1. the Lord opened the North American continent to them, and
      2. Europe has suffered badly since then.
  7. Psalm 105.37–41 – Sixth Wonder: He Brought Them Out with Treasure

    37 He also brought them out with silver and gold,
    And there was none feeble among His tribes.
    38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
    For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
    39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
    And fire to give light in the night.
    40 The people asked, and He brought quail,
    And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
    41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    It ran in the dry places like a river.

    1. When Israel left Egypt, the family of Israel did not leave empty-handed.
    2. They just had to ask the Egyptians for precious metals, and they gave it.
      1. Egypt was glad to be rid of the Israelites.
      2. A hostile environment awaited them, but
        1. the Lord provided for them everyday.
        2. They wanted more and better things.
          1. Nevertheless, He led them by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of a cloud during the day.
          2. He brought in quail, dropped bread out of heaven, and gave them water from a rock!
    3. Truly, the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.
      1. Therefore, while the world does not favor the teachings of Scriptures, and
      2. does not favor our promotion of it, and
        1. as they do all they can to silence us,
        2. we still enjoy all the good things the world produces for us,
          1. although they do not know
          2. that the Lord allows them to do so for us,

            21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (1Co 3.21–23).
  8. Psalm 105.42–44 – Seventh Wonder: He Remembers His Holy Promise

    42 For He remembered His holy promise,
    And Abraham His servant.
    43 He brought out His people with joy,
    His chosen ones with gladness.
    44 He gave them the lands of the Gentiles,
    And they inherited the labor of the nations,

    1. After centuries, the Lord had not forgotten His promise, but
    2. He kept it just as He had promised.
      1. He gladly brought His people out of Egypt,
      2. gladly carried them through the wilderness, and
      3. gladly gave them the Land of Canaan.
        1. When they left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea,
        2. Paul said in First Corinthians 10,
          1. that they were baptized into Moses, and
          2. then they wandered in the wilderness.
    3. We have been baptized into Christ and
      1. we now wander the wilderness, but
      2. the time will arrive when we enter our Land of Canaan.
    4. Look at verse 44, and see the wealth of the sinner laid up for the righteous.
      1. Do not be tempted to think
      2. that America or some other thing of this world provides for you.
        1. The Lord uses that entity, but
        2. if He rids the Earth of that entity,
          1. He will use another one
          2. to take care of you.
  9. Psalm 105.45 – The Two Wonders of His Chosen Ones

    45 That they might observe His statutes
    And keep His laws.
    Praise the Lord!

    1. Why did the Lord perform these wonders for Israel and the church?
    2. First, that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws.
    3. Second, we respond with praise.