Psalms 105:8 - Meaning and Application

We are taught here, in praising God, to look far back and give him credit for what he did for his church in earlier times. This is especially true for the years when he was building and shaping it, because later believers enjoy the benefit of those early works and should thank him for them. We can rightly draw praise from the Gospel histories and the Acts of the Apostles, which tell of the birth of the Christian church, just as the psalmist draws praise from Genesis and Exodus, which tell of the birth of the Jewish church. And the history of the Christian church is far greater.

Two things are the subject of praise here, God’s promise to the patriarchs, and his care for them while they waited for that promise. The great promise was that he would give their descendants the land of Canaan as an inheritance. This pointed ahead to the greater promise of eternal life in Christ for all believers. In all the wonderful things God did for Israel, he remembered his covenant (Psalms 105:8), and he will remember it forever. It is the word he commanded for a thousand generations. This shows the power of the promise, because it was God’s own commanded word and would surely take effect. It also shows how lasting it is, because it stands for a thousand generations, and the family line of that promise will never end.

In the parallel passage, this is also given as our duty, “Remember his covenant forever” (1 Chronicles 16:15). God will not forget it, and neither must we. The promise is called a covenant because it included what was required from man as well as what was promised by God. The covenant was made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, grandfather, father, and son, all of them notable believers (Hebrews 11:8-9). It was made firm with everything sacred. Is a promise sure if it is sworn to? Yes, and this one was confirmed by God’s oath to Isaac and to Abraham (Hebrews 6:13-14). Is it sure if it is established as law? Yes, and God confirmed it as a law that would never be repealed. Is it sure if it becomes a mutual agreement? Yes, and here it is confirmed as an everlasting covenant, one that cannot be broken.

The covenant itself was this: “To you I will give the land of Canaan” (Psalms 105:11). The patriarchs had a right to it, not by ordinary providence, but by promise. Their descendants would take possession of it, not by the usual way nations settle into land, but by miracles. God would give it to them himself, almost with his own hand. It would be given as their allotted share, the inheritance marked out for them by God. They would receive it by birthright, not by purchase, by God’s favor, not by their own merit. Heaven is the inheritance we have received (Ephesians 1:11). And this is the promise God has given us, as Canaan was the promise he gave them, namely eternal life (1 John 2:25; Titus 1:2).

The second subject is God’s providence, his wise and loving care, toward the patriarchs while they were waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. These things also show us how God cares for his people in this world while they are still on this side of the heavenly Canaan. These events happened as examples and encouragements to all who inherit the promise, to live by faith as they did.

They were wonderfully protected and sheltered, as the Jewish writers put it, gathered under the wings of the divine Majesty. This is explained in Psalms 105:12-15. We can see, first, how exposed they were to harm from other people. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received rich promises from God, and God again and again told them he would be their God. Yet his outward dealings with them in this world did not seem to match those promises, and if he had not prepared for them a city in the world to come, he would have seemed ashamed to be called their God (Hebrews 11:16). But God is always generous. Even so, he did not fail them here, and because he meant to show unusual care for them, he allowed them to go through unusual trials.

They were few, very few. Abraham was called alone (Isaiah 51:2). He had only two sons, and one of them he sent away. Isaac had only two sons, and one of them had to leave his country for many years. Jacob had more sons, but some of them, instead of defending him, put him at risk. When he said, “I am few in number, and if they join against me, they will destroy me and my house” (Genesis 34:30), he spoke the truth. God’s chosen people are only a little flock, few, very few, and yet they are upheld.

They were strangers, and strangers are often treated badly and cannot easily defend themselves. Their religion caused people to see them as outsiders (1 Peter 4:4), and to mock them like a speckled bird (Jeremiah 12:9). Even though the whole land had been promised to them, they did not claim ownership of it. Instead, they admitted that they were strangers in it (Hebrews 11:13).

They were unsettled too. They went from one nation to another, from one part of the land to another, because several peoples then occupied Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3, Genesis 13:18). They even moved from one kingdom to another people, from Canaan to Egypt, and from Egypt to the land of the Philistines. That could only make them weaker and more exposed, yet famine forced them to move. Frequent moves are not always desirable or wise, but sometimes there is a fair and necessary reason for them, and even good people may face that lot.

Second, we see how they were guarded by God’s special care. The wisdom and power of that care shine all the more because they were exposed in so many ways (Psalms 105:14-15). They could not protect themselves, yet no one was allowed to hurt them. Even those who hated them, and would gladly have done them harm, had their hands tied and could not do what they wanted. This may refer to Genesis 35:5, where the terror of God came upon the cities around them, so that although they had cause to be angry, they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

Even kings who tried to harm them were not only warned and rebuked, but stopped and frustrated. God reproved kings for their sake in dreams and visions, saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was struck with plagues (Genesis 12:17), and Abimelech, king of Gerar, was sharply rebuked (Genesis 20:6) for doing Abraham wrong. First, even kings are accountable to God if they do wrong. Second, God’s prophets are his anointed ones, because they have the Spirit’s anointing, the oil of joy (1 John 2:27). Third, those who try to touch God’s prophets, with intent to hurt them, will hear of it one way or another. God is jealous for his prophets, and whoever touches them touches the apple of his eye. Fourth, even those who touch the prophets, even those who kill them, as many did, cannot truly harm them.

God’s anointed prophets are dear to him even more than anointed kings. When Jeroboam, king of Israel, stretched out his hand against a prophet, his hand withered at once. God guards those who speak for him.

God’s people were also wonderfully cared for and supplied. Yet he first brought them into deep need. Even in Canaan, the promised land, he called for a famine (Psalm 105:16). This shows that all judgments answer to God’s command, and no land is free from them when he sends them. To test the faith of the patriarchs, the fathers of Israel, he broke the whole staff of bread, even in that good land, so they could see clearly that he was leading them to a better country.

At the same time, God kindly provided relief. They were living in Canaan because they were obeying his command and trusting his promise, so he could not let any real harm come to them, or leave them lacking what they needed. He kept one Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, from mistreating them, and he raised up another to show kindness by promoting Joseph. In Joseph’s story, we get a short summary of how God saved his people.

Joseph was to be the shepherd and stone of Israel, meaning the one who would guide and support them, and he was to keep that holy family alive (Genesis 49:24; Genesis 50:20). To do that, he was first brought very low (Psalm 105:17, Psalm 105:18). God sent a man ahead of them, Joseph. Many years before the famine began, he was sent ahead to feed them during the famine. God’s wise plans reach far ahead and work over long periods.

But how did Joseph go to Egypt, where he would later care for God’s people? He did not go as an envoy, a business agent, or any honored officer. He was sold there as a servant, a slave for life, with no hope of freedom. That was low enough, and it seemed to leave no chance that he would ever rise to greatness. Yet he was lowered even more. He was made a prisoner (Psalm 105:18). His feet were hurt with chains. He had been falsely accused of a serious crime, an attempted assault on his mistress, and the iron went into his soul. The false charge, which caused his imprisonment, deeply grieved him and cut him to the heart. Still, this was the very road to his rise.

Joseph was then lifted very high. He stayed a prisoner, not tried or freed on bail, until God’s appointed time for his release (Psalm 105:19). Then his word came true, meaning his interpretations of dreams were shown to be right, and word of this reached Pharaoh through the chief cupbearer. In that way, the Lord’s word cleared Joseph. God had given him the power to speak what would happen, and that made it clear that the charges against him were false. God’s word tested Joseph, testing his faith and patience, and then it came with power to open the prison door. God has set a time when his word will bring comfort to all who trust it (Habakkuk 2:3). At the end it will speak and not lie.

God gave the word, and then the king sent for Joseph and set him free, for the king’s heart is in the Lord’s hand. Pharaoh saw that Joseph had God’s favor. First, he released him from prison (Psalm 105:20). God often defends oppressed innocence by turning providence in unexpected ways. Then Pharaoh raised Joseph to the highest offices of honor (Psalm 105:21, Psalm 105:22). He made him master of his house, manager of all his property, chief minister of state, one who could instruct the princes and command them, and the ruler over all his substance (Genesis 41:40, Genesis 41:43, Genesis 41:44). He also made him chief judge, with authority even over the officials who sat in council.

In all this, Joseph was meant to be a father to the church of that time, saving the house of Israel from starvation. He was made great so that he could do good, especially for God’s household. He also pointed forward to Christ, who humbled himself and took the form of a servant, and was then highly exalted, with all judgment given to him.

After Joseph had been sent ahead and given the means to support his father’s house, Israel also came into Egypt (Psalm 105:23). There Joseph and all his family were well cared for and lived comfortably for many years. In the same way, the New Testament church has a place prepared for her even in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time (Revelation 12:14). Truly, she will be fed.

God also greatly multiplied his people, keeping his promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the sand of the sea (Psalm 105:24). In Egypt he increased them greatly. They multiplied like fish, so quickly that in a short time they became stronger than their enemies and a cause of fear. Pharaoh noticed it and said, “The children of Israel are more and mightier than we” (Exodus 1:9). When God chooses, a small people can become a great one. His promises may work slowly, but they always work surely.