The Covenant Keeper

Psalms 103 & 104 went together in that one spoke of God’s salvation, the other of God’s creation. Psalms 105 & 106 go together as well. In Psalm 105 we see the faithfulness of God in keeping his covenant. In Psalm 106 we see the unfaithfulness of God’s people toward the covenant.

Psalm 105 is not difficult to outline. It basically walks through the history of Israel.

A call to praise God (1-6)

The God of the covenant (7-11)

God’s faithfulness to the patriarchs (12-15)

The account of Joseph (16-22)

400 years in Egypt (23-25)

The plagues (26-36)

The exodus (37-42)

The possession of the Promised Land (43-45)

1. A call to praise God (1-6).

There are a lot of imperatives in the opening of the Psalm:

Give thanks to the Lord

Call upon His name

Make known His deeds among the peoples

Sing praises to Him

Tell all of His wonderful works

Glory in his holy Name

Seek the Lord

Remember His wondrous works

I could use our entire evening explaining each of these. We wouldn’t get far into the Psalm though.

Much of what is said has to do with publicly praising God. The phrase “make known his deeds among the people” summarizes a good bit of what the Psalmist commands. The Psalmist does this very thing in the Psalm. He recounts the history of Israel. He makes it clear that God has been faithful to his people.

It should be our goal to tell of all God has done.

Tell people about the stories recorded in the Old Testament

Tell people about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Tell people about the book of Acts.

Tell people about our salvation.

Tell people about the faithfulness of God in our own lives.

The other emphasis in the opening is the seeking of the Lord.

Seek the Lord and His strength.

Seek his presence continually.

How is this done?

1) Through the Word of God

2) Through prayer

3) Through the filling of the Holy Spirit

When we look at verse six, we should not think these commands are only for the Jewish people. We are sons and daughters of Abraham through faith in Christ (Gal. 3:26).

We have a responsibility to:

Publicly Praise God

Personally seek God

2. The God of the covenant (7-11).

Notice how many times the word “covenant” is used.

Verse 8, Verse 9, verse 10.

He also mentions three of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God initially made His covenant with Abraham. The promise was passed down to his descendants. The promise was the same. God would give His people a land to inherit.

The promises of God are as sure as the character of God. God remembers His covenant forever. That means there will never be a time that God does not keep the promises He has made to his people.

When Jesus promised us a home in heaven He said “If it were not so I would have told you.”

God promised to give the descendants of Abraham a lan for their own. The Lord delivered that promise. That promise was a shadow of a greater promise. The Lord promised to send a Savior who would remove our sins and give us a home in heaven. Just as God fulfilled His promise in giving Israel the land of Canaan, He will fulfill His promise of leading us into the Promised Land.

How do I know I am forgiven? The Lord told me (1 John 1:9)

How do I know I am going to heaven when I die? The Lord told me (John 14).

When we say God is a covenant keeping God we mean that He keeps His promises. He does not break even one of them. The promises He gave to us are the same ones He gives to our children.

3. God’s faithfulness to the patriarchs (12-15).

In the beginning there was Abraham. God chose him to be the father of the nation. We see Abraham and his family wandering about Egypt and the surrounding areas. We see this from Genesis 12-35. Even though they were small God protected them.

Pharaoh tried to take Sarah from Abraham and God intervened (Gen. 12:17).

The same thing happened with another king named Abimelech (Gen. 20:7).

The Lord protected Isaac from the Philistine king (Gen. 26:26-32)

The Lord protected Jacob from his own brother (Esau).

These men formed the foundation of the Jewish nation. God would create a great nation through their line. God kept His promise to Abraham and protected these men when they were small and weak.

They are called “my anointed ones and prophets” in verse 15.

I want to mention something. There is no such thing as luck. When you consider all you have made it through in life please do not contribute it to luck. God has kept you alive. God is the one who holds our lives in His hand. Our life is not subject to chance. God is in complete control. It is because of His faithfulness that we have lived as long as we have. God was faithful to keep the patriarchs alive so He could create the nation of Israel.

4. The account of Joseph (16-22).

Jospeh was sold by his own brothers into slavery.

Joseph was in slavery/prison for 13 years (Genesis 37:2; 41:46). Some of that time he was a slave in Potiphar’s house. He was falsely accused of trying to assault Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison. We know he was in prison more than two years (Gen. 40:23-41:1).

We’re given details the Genesis account does not give us. When Joseph was in prison his feet were put in fetters and a collar of iron around his neck.

Joseph was released because he gave a prophecy to the Pharaoh that proved to be true. There would be seven years of famine and seven years of prosperity. Impressed by the accuracies of the prophecies Joseph was elevated to send in command over Egypt (Genesis 41).

Joseph’s job was to store food during the days of abundance and disperse it during days of lack. Notice that God sent the famine (16). The Lord was in control of all of this. He was in control of Joseph being sold into slavery. It was God’s way of getting Joseph to Egypt so he could exalt a Jewish man in this pagan land. When the famine came Jospeh was in a position to give food to his Jewish brothers. His brothers came to Egypt in search of food and Jospeh saved their lives (Genesis 42).

The life of Joseph reminds us that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose.

5. 400 years in Egypt (23-25).

The land of Ham is Egypt. Jacob is Joseph’s father. He took the entire family to Egypt to live (Genesis 45:25-46:7). An evil Pharaoh arose that hated the Jewish people. They were enslaved and treated badly. God blessed the Jewish people and they prospered. Notice the sovereignty of God in verse 25. It says the Lord turned the hearts of the Egyptians against Israel. God is in control. This is His way of getting His people out of Egypt. The Jewish people spent over 400 years in Egypt. Much of this time they were treated shamefully.

6. The plagues (26-36).

God raised up a man named Moses. Along with his brother Aaron they led the Israelites out of Egypt. The signs and miracles of God are mentioned. This refers to the plagues.

All the plagues are not listed nor are they listed in order. We have preached so much on this recently I won’t spend much time on it.

It is worth reminding you that these plagues were an attack on the Egyptian gods. On my recent visit to Rome I was reminded of this. In the Vatican Museum I saw many statues to the gods of the Egyptians that have been recovered. Of particular interest was a statue of the god Hapi. He was responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile River. We see in verse 29 the Lord turned the Nile to blood. Tis was an attack on this god. The Lord proved Himself stronger than all the Egyptian gods by attacking the areas which these gods were supposed to have control over. These plagues eventually broke the back of Egypt and the Pharaoh let the Jewish people go free.

7. The exodus (37-42).

Israel left Egypt with full hands. The Egyptian people gave them silver and gold as they left. None of the Jewish people stayed behind. Notice it says Egypt was glad when they left. They sent them out. They were afraid of the God of the Jews.

God protected the people from the heat of the desert sun with a cloud. He gave them light at night through his fiery presence. He fed them quail. He gave them water to drink from a rock. All of this was connected to the promise He gave Abraham. That promise was to create a great nation of people and to send a Savior through that nation.

8. The possession of the Promised Land (43-45).

We remember when Israel crossed the Red Sea they sag a song. They worshipped the Lord (Exodus 15). After 40 years in the desert, he brought them into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. They began with Jerisch and conquered more territory as they went along. God blessed them.

What was the purpose of God blessing them in this way? Look at verse 43:

That they might keep His statutes and observe His laws.

God saves us to make us holy. That is an important thing to understand. God doesn’t just save us so we can go to heaven. He saves us so that we will have the power to live for Him. When we consider how faithful God has been to us we should be inspired to be faithful to Him.

Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” Our story of deliverance is greater than Israel’s. God has delivered us from a greater enemy, from a greater bondage, by a greater Mediator and to a greater place. Our love and obedience to him should then be greater.