Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 105:30

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 105:0 God’s faithfulness to his covenant

God’s covenant people Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are reminded to worship their God continually and to tell others of the great things he has done (1-6). In particular they are to remember God’s faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham. This covenant was his work alone. He chose Abraham from all the people of the world, and promised to make through him a nation and to give the land of Canaan to that nation for a homeland (7-11).
In the early days, when the covenant family was small, enemies could easily have wiped it out, but God miraculously preserved it (12-15). When a famine hit the land, God preserved his people through Joseph. Although Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave, God exalted him to high office so that he could provide for his needy family (16-22).
Through Joseph, all the chosen family moved to Egypt, where they grew into a strong and unified people (23-24). Unfortunately, this brought envy and oppression from the Egyptians (25), but God worked terrible miracles to punish the Egyptians and free his people (26-36). Having freed them, God guided and preserved them according to the covenant promises given to Abraham (37-42). Finally, God led his people into the land he had promised them. This was not because of any virtue in the people, but solely because of God’s grace. In thanks for his covenant faithfulness, they should be faithful in obeying his law (43-45).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ISRAEL DELIVERED FROM EGYPT

"He sent Moses his servant, And Aaron whom he had chosen. They set among them his signs, And wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made it dark; And they rebelled not against his words. He turned their waters into blood, And slew their fish. Their land swarmed with frogs In the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came swarms of flies, And lice in all their borders. He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also, and their fig-trees, And brake the trees of their borders. He spake, and the locust came, And the grasshopper, and that without number, And did eat up every herb in the land, And did eat up the fruit of the ground. He smote also all the first-born in their land, The chief of all their strength."

First there is mentioned here the commission of Moses and Aaron for the purposes of the Exodus (Exodus 2-7).

Next, we find the account of the plagues which God visited upon Egypt as the time drew near for His deliverance of Israel from bondage. There were ten of these visitations, but only eight are mentioned in this psalm. "The sequence followed in the psalm is 9, 1, 2, 4, 3, -, -, 7, 8, and 10."H. C. Leupold, p. 740. Note that 9 (the darkness) is mentioned first, 5 and 6 are omitted; and 4 and 3 change places.

The Genesis sequence is as follows:

• Changing water into blood (Exodus 7:20)

• The plague of frogs (Exodus 8:6)

• The plague of lice (Exodus 8:17)

• The plague of flies (Exodus 8:24)

• The murrain of cattle (Exodus 9:6)

• Plague of boils and blains (Exodus 9:10)

• The plague of hail (Exodus 9:22)

• The plague of locusts ((Exodus 10:13)

• The plague of darkness (Exodus 10:22)

• The death of the first-born (Exodus 12:29

"And they rebelled not against his words" This is a very difficult verse. Certainly it cannot apply to the Egyptians; and the application of it to Moses and Aaron seems contraindicated; so what do we make of it? Frankly, we do not know. "If the `not' in this passage is to stand, it must apply to Moses and Aaron; Professor Cheyne, however, following the Septuagint (LXX) boldly cancels the `not'."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 416.

"He smote their vines and their fig-trees" "The skeptical objection that there were no vines in Egypt has long ago been given up."Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

See an account of these plagues in Exo. 6–11. Compare Psalms 78:43-51. This is mostly a mere enumeration of the plagues in the order in which they occurred, but without, of course, the details of the circumstances attending them. There are no circumstances mentioned here which require particular explanation.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 105:1-45 :

O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk of all of his wondrous works ( Psalms 105:1-2 ).

Now we are exhorted here to several things. First of all, we are exhorted to give thanks to the Lord. Secondly, we are exhorted to call upon His name. And thirdly, we're exhorted to share the work of God among people. In the first verse, three exhortations: to give thanks, to call upon Him, and to share His truth among people. Then in the second verse, further exhortation: sing unto Him, sing psalms to Him, and talk of all of His wondrous works.

God loves you to just talk about Him. In fact, there's a scripture that indicates that God eavesdrops whenever you talk about Him. "And they that love the Lord did speak of Him one to another and God kept a record of it. And they shall be accounted as His jewels in that day when He makes up His treasure" ( Malachi 3:16-17 ). People just talking about the Lord, talk about His wondrous works.

And then further exhortations:

Glory in his holy name ( Psalms 105:3 ):

And then rejoice,

let the heart of them that seek the LORD rejoice ( Psalms 105:3 ).

And then we are commanded,

Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore ( Psalms 105:4 ).

And then,

Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth ( Psalms 105:5 );

So all of these exhortations in five verses. Things that we are to do. So whenever you're just sitting around thinking, "What shall I do?" Turn to Psalms 105:1-45 , and you'll have a lot of things that you can do. Things that you'll find will be a very great blessing to you, benefit to you, as you follow these exhortations.

O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is Jehovah our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac; And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance ( Psalms 105:6-11 ):

Now notice the covenant of God has been established with Abraham; He declared it by an oath to Isaac; He confirmed the same to Jacob. So that you wonder about the right of the land of Israel, who it belongs to. By an everlasting covenant God said, swearing to Abraham and to Isaac and confirming it to Jacob, "Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan and the lot of your inheritance." God swore this to them when they were but few in number, very few. In fact, they were strangers in the land when God said, "Look around. As far as you can see to the north, east, south, and west, I've given it to you." And from the top of Bethel God said to Jacob, "Look, Jacob, all around. For I have given you this land." He said the same to Abraham at the same place.

When they were just few in number; they were strangers in the land. When they went from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people ( Psalms 105:12-13 );

They were just sojourners roaming around in the land as nomads, as Bedouins. Taking their tent and pitching it and grazing out an area and then moving on. And yet, the land was all theirs. It had been promised to them by God.

And God would allow no man to do them wrong: in fact, he even reproved kings for their sakes ( Psalms 105:14 );

Going back to the history of Abraham. How Abimelech the king and the Pharaoh were reproved by God for the sake of Abraham.

As God said, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm ( Psalms 105:15 ).

God protects His anointed and His prophets.

Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold as a servant: his feet were hurt with the fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: and the word of the LORD tried him. And the king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him the lord of his house, and the ruler over all of his substance ( Psalms 105:16-21 ):

And so now the psalmist does what the Israelis always love to do, the rehearsal of their history. Steven in the book of Acts rehearsed the history for the people. Now the psalmist here is rehearsing a part of their glorious history, how that God preserved them when the famine came into the land by sending Joseph ahead of them down into Egypt to prepare the food for them so that they'd have food during the time of the famine. And God made Joseph the lord over the house of the Pharaoh and the ruler of all of his substance.

To bind his princes at his pleasure; and to teach his senators wisdom ( Psalms 105:22 ).

So Joseph was second in command; he could bind the princes of Egypt and he taught the senators wisdom.

Israel also came to Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilely with his servants. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent the darkness, and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and he killed their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings ( Psalms 105:23-30 ).

Frogs in the king's bed and in the kneading troughs of their dough.

He spake, and there came forth divers sorts of flies [all kinds of different flies], and lice in all of their coasts. And he gave them hail for rain, flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also, their fig trees; he broke the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came, and the caterpillars, and that without number, and they did eat up all the vegetables in their land, and devoured the fruit of the ground. He smote also the firstborn in their land, the chief of their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold ( Psalms 105:31-37 ):

That is, now He brought His people forth with silver and gold,

and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed ( Psalms 105:37-38 ):

I can imagine... tired of the flies and the lice and the frogs and the caterpillars and the locusts.

He spread a cloud for a covering ( Psalms 105:39 );

Now that cloud by which they were led was more than just something to lead them. It was a covering. They were going through this hot wilderness area. And so what did God do? He put the cloud above them to give them shade, a covering. Not only when the cloud moved was it God's indication for them to move, they followed under the shadow of the cloud. God used it as a covering over them. And when necessary, God brought it down and made it fog behind them to keep the Egyptians from knowing what was going on as they escaped through the Red Sea. The cloud that led them went behind them and settled down and was a thick fog to the Egyptians. So God used the cloud for many purposes. A covering.

the fire to give them light in the evening ( Psalms 105:39 ).

So they could go out at night with the light of the fire of God above them.

And the people asked, and he brought quails, and he satisfied them with the bread from heaven ( Psalms 105:40 ).

The manna that He had given.

He opened the rock, and waters gushed out; and they ran in the dry places like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: And he gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people ( Psalms 105:41-44 );

He brought them into this land and actually they took over the vineyards and the orchards and all of the people that were there. They inherited all of the rock walls and everything that the people had made.

That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD ( Psalms 105:45 ).

In the Hebrew that is, "Hallelujah. Praise ye Jehovah." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 105

This psalm praises God for His faithful dealings with Israel. It reviews Israel’s history from Abraham to the wilderness wanderings (cf. 1 Chronicles 16:9-36), and the Abrahamic Covenant is its centerpiece.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The record of God’s faithfulness to Israel 105:7-41

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 105:12-15 describe God’s care of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Genesis 12-36). Psalms 105:16-23 summarize God’s preservation of the chosen family through Joseph’s protection (Genesis 37-50). Psalms 105:24 refers to God’s increase of the Israelites during their Egyptian sojourn (Exodus 1). Psalms 105:25-36 review how the Lord prepared His people to depart from Egypt with emphasis on the plagues He sent (Exodus 2-12; cf. Psalms 78:44-51). Psalms 105:37-38 describe the Exodus itself (Exodus 13). The order of the plagues is somewhat different from the order in Exodus, as is also true in Psalms 78, another instance of poetic license. Psalms 105:39-41 recount His faithful care of His chosen people in the wilderness (Exodus 14 -Deuteronomy 34).

"Given the prominent position of the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the Torah and the significant names that occur there, it is rather surprising that only one person from these chapters, Ham, is mentioned by name in the Psalter, and that one only incidentally [Psalms 105:25; Psalms 105:29]." [Note: Bullock, p. 100.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,.... The land of Egypt, the moist, marshy, and watery places of it, the banks of the river Nile, out of the slime and mud of which these sprung; or, as Kimchi observes, wherever there were waters in the land there were frogs, for these came out of the streams, rivers, and ponds; this is the second plague, Exodus 8:3.

In the chambers of their kings; that is, they came into the chambers of their kings; not that they were produced there; they entered not only into the kneadingtroughs, and ovens, and bedchambers of the common people, but into the chambers of the king, and his sons, and his nobles, and princes of the land, who may be called in the plural number kings; see Isaiah 10:8, with these compare the three unclean spirits, like frogs, under the pouring out of the sixth vial, that will go forth to the kings of the earth, and gather them to the battle of the Lord God Almighty; by whom are meant the emissaries of Rome, priests and Jesuits; so called for their impurity and impudence, for their noise and loquaciousness, and for he ways and means they use to get into the cabinet councils of princes, and prevail upon them to do things which will issue in their ruin; see Revelation 16:13.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.   26 He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.   27 They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.   28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.   29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.   30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.   31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.   32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.   33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.   34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number,   35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.   36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.   37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.   38 Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell 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 quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.   41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.   42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.   43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:   44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;   45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.

      After the history of the patriarchs follows here the history of the people of Israel, when they grew into a nation.

      I. Their affliction in Egypt (Psalms 105:25; Psalms 105:25): He turned the heart of the Egyptians, who had protected them, to hate them and deal subtilely with them. God's goodness to his people exasperated the Egyptians against them; and, though their old antipathy to the Hebrews (which we read of Genesis 43:32; Genesis 46:34) was laid asleep for a while, yet now it revived with more violence than ever: formerly they hated them because they despised them, now because they feared them. They dealt subtilely with them, set all their politics on work to find out ways and means to weaken them, and waste them, and prevent their growth; they made their burdens heavy and their lives bitter, and slew their male children as soon as they were born. Malice is crafty to destroy: Satan has the serpent's subtlety, with his venom. It was God that turned the hearts of the Egyptians against them; for every creature is that to us that he makes it to be, a friend or an enemy. Though God is not the author of the sins of men, yet he serves his own purposes by them.

      II. Their deliverance out of Egypt, that work of wonder, which, that it might never be forgotten, is put into the preface to the ten commandments. Observe,

      1. The instruments employed in that deliverance (Psalms 105:26; Psalms 105:26): He sent Moses his servant on this errand and joined Aaron in commission with him. Moses was designed to be their lawgiver and chief magistrate, Aaron to be their chief priest; and therefore, that they might respect them the more and submit to them the more cheerfully, God made use of them as their deliverers.

      2. The means of accomplishing that deliverance; these were the plagues of Egypt. Moses and Aaron observed their orders, in summoning them just as God appointed them, and they rebelled not against his word (Psalms 105:28; Psalms 105:28) as Jonah did, who, when he was sent to denounce God's judgments against Nineveh, went to Tarshish. Moses and Aaron were not moved, either with a foolish fear of Pharaoh's wrath or a foolish pity of Egypt's misery, to relax or retard any of the plagues which God ordered them to inflict on the Egyptians, but stretched forth their hand to inflict them as God appointed. Those that are instructed to execute judgment will find their remissness construed as a rebellion against God's word. The plagues of Egypt are here called God's signs, and his wonders (Psalms 105:27; Psalms 105:27); they were not only proofs of his power, but tokens of his wrath, and to be looked upon with admiration and holy awe. They showed the words of his signs (so it is in the original), for every plague had an exposition going along with it; they were not, as the common works of creation and providence, silent signs, but speaking ones, and they spoke aloud. They are all or most of them here specified, though not in the order in which they were inflicted. (1.) The plague of darkness, Psalms 105:28; Psalms 105:28. This was one of the last, though here mentioned first. God sent darkness, and, coming with commission, it came with efficacy; his command made it dark. And then they (that is, the people of Israel) rebelled not against God's word, namely, a command which some think was given them to circumcise all among them that had not been circumcised, in doing which the three days' darkness would be a protection to them. The old translation follows the LXX., and reads it, They were not obedient to his word, which may be applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who, notwithstanding the terror of this plague, would not let the people go; but there is no ground for it in the Hebrew. (2.) The turning of the river Nilus (which they idolized) into blood, and all their other waters, which slew their fish (Psalms 105:29; Psalms 105:29), and so they were deprived, not only of their drink, but of the daintiest of their meat, Numbers 11:5. (3.) The frogs, shoals of which their land brought forth, which poured in upon them, not only in such numbers, but with such fury, that they could not keep them out of the chambers of their kings and great men, whose hearts had been full of vermin, more nauseous and more noxious-contempt of, and enmity to, both God and his Israel. (4.) Flies of divers sorts swarmed in their air, and lice in their clothes, Psalms 105:31; Psalms 105:31; Exodus 8:17; Exodus 8:24. Note, God can make use of the meanest, and weakest, and most despicable animals, for the punishing and humbling of proud oppressors, to whom the impotency of the instrument cannot but be a great mortification, as well as an undeniable conviction of the divine omnipotence. (5.) Hail-stones shattered their trees, even the strongest timber-trees in their coasts, and killed their vines, and their other fruit-trees, Psalms 105:32; Psalms 105:33. Instead of rain to cherish their trees, he gave them hail to crush them, and with it thunder and lightning, to such a degree that the fire ran along upon the ground, as if it had been a stream of kindled brimstone, Exodus 9:23. (6.) Locusts and caterpillars destroyed all the herbs which were made for the service of man and ate the bread out of their mouths, Psalms 105:34; Psalms 105:35. See what variety of judgments God has, wherewith to plague proud oppressors, that will not let his people go. God did not bring the same plague twice, but, when there was occasion for another, it was still a new one; for he has many arrows in his quiver. Locusts and caterpillars are God's armies; and, how weak soever they are singly, he can raise such numbers of them as to make them formidable, Joel 1:4; Joel 1:6. (7.) Having mentioned all the plagues but those of the murrain and boils, he concludes with that which gave the conquering stroke, and that was the death of the first-born,Psalms 105:36; Psalms 105:36. In the dead of the night the joys and hopes of their families, the chief of their strength and flower of their land, were all struck dead by the destroying angel. They would not release God's first-born, and therefore God seized theirs by way of reprisal, and thereby forced them to dismiss his too, when it was too late to retrieve their own; for when God judges he will overcome, and those will certainly sit down losers at last that contend with him.

      3. The mercies that accompanied this deliverance. In their bondage, (1.) They had been impoverished, and yet they came out rich and wealthy. God not only brought them forth, but he brought them forth with silver and gold,Psalms 105:37; Psalms 105:37. God empowered them to ask and collect the contributions of their neighbours (which were indeed but part of payment for the service they had done them) and inclined the Egyptians to furnish them with what they asked. Their wealth was his, and therefore he might, their hearts were in his hand, and therefore he could, give it to the Israelites. (2.) Their lives had been made bitter to them, and their bodies and spirits broken by their bondage; and yet, when God brought them forth, there was not one feeble person, none sick, none so much as sickly, among their tribes. They went out that very night that the plague swept away all the first-born of Egypt, and yet they went out all in good health, and brought not with them any of the diseases of Egypt. Surely never was the like, that among so many thousands there was not one sick! So false was the representation which the enemies of the Jews, in after-ages, gave of this matter, that they were all sick of a leprosy, or some loathsome disease, and that therefore the Egyptians thrust them out of their land. (3.) They had been trampled upon and insulted over; and yet they were brought out with honour (Psalms 105:38; Psalms 105:38): Egypt was glad when they departed; for God had so wonderfully owned them, and pleaded their cause, that the fear of Israel fell upon them, and they owned themselves baffled and overcome. God can and will make his church a burdensome stone to all that heave at it and seek to displace it, so that those shall think themselves happy that get out of its way, Zechariah 12:3. When God judges, he will overcome. (4.) They had spent their days in sorrow and in sighing, by reason of their bondage; but now he brought them forth with joy and gladness,Psalms 105:43; Psalms 105:43. When Egypt's cry for grief was loud, their first-born being all slain, Israel's shouts for joy were as loud, both when they looked back upon the land of slavery out of which they were rescued and when they looked forward to the pleasant land to which they were hastening. God now put a new song into their mouth.

      4. The special care God took of them in the wilderness. (1.) For their shelter. Besides the canopy of heaven, he provided them another heavenly canopy: He spread a cloud for a covering (Psalms 105:39; Psalms 105:39), which was to them not only a screen and umbrella, but a cloth of state. A cloud was often God's pavilion (Psalms 18:11) and now it was Israel's; for they also were his hidden ones. (2.) For their guidance and refreshment in the dark. He appointed a pillar of fire to give light in the night, that they might never be at a loss. Note, God graciously provides against all the grievances of his people, and furnishes them with convenient succours for every condition, for day and night, till they come to heaven, where it will be all day to eternity. (3.) He fed them both with necessaries and dainties. Sometimes he furnished their tables with wild fowl (Psalms 105:40; Psalms 105:40): The people asked, and he brought quails; and, when they were not thus feasted, yet they were abundantly satisfied with the bread of heaven. Those are curious and covetous indeed who will not be so satisfied. Man did eat angels' food, and that constantly and on free-cost. And, as every bit they ate had miracle in it, so had every drop they drank: He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out,Psalms 105:41; Psalms 105:41. Common providence fetches waters from heaven, and bread out of the earth; but for Israel the divine power brings bread from the clouds and water from the rocks: so far is the God of nature from being tied to the laws and courses of nature. The water did not only gush out once, but it ran like a river, plentifully and constantly, and attended their camp in all their removes; hence they are said to have the rock follow them (1 Corinthians 10:4), and, which increased the miracle, this river of God (so it might be truly called) ran in dry places, and yet was not drunk in and lost, as one would have expected it to be, by the sands of the desert of Arabia. To this that promise alludes, I will give rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen,Isaiah 43:19; Isaiah 43:20.

      5. Their entrance, at length, into Canaan (Psalms 105:44; Psalms 105:44): He gave them the lands of the heathen, put them in possession of that which they had long been put in hopes of; and what the Canaanites had taken pains for God's Israel had the enjoyment of: They inherited the labour of the people; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. The Egyptians had long inherited their labours, and now they inherited the labours of the Canaanites. Thus sometimes one enemy of the church is made to pay another's scores.

      6. The reasons why God did all this for them. (1.) Because he would himself perform the promises of the word, Psalms 105:42; Psalms 105:42. They were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did those great things in their favour because he remembered the word of his holiness (that is, his covenant) with Abraham his servant, and he would not suffer one iota or tittle of that to fall to the ground. See Deuteronomy 7:8. (2.) Because he would have them to perform the precepts of the word, to bind them to which was the greatest kindness he could put upon them. He put them in possession of Canaan, not that they might live in plenty and pleasure, in ease and honour, and might make a figure among the nations, but that they might observe his statutes and keep his laws,--that, being formed into a people, they might be under God's immediate government, and revealed religion might be the basis of their national constitution,--that, having a good land given them, they might out of the profits of it bring sacrifices to God's altar,--and that, God having thus done them good, they might the more cheerfully receive his law, concluding that also designed for their good, and might be sensible of their obligations in gratitude to live in obedience to him. We are therefore made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the psalm concludes may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God's favours and as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them. Has God done so much for us, and yet does he expect so little from us? Praise you the Lord.