Psalms | Psalm 105

Well, good morning. My name is Steve Atkinson.

I serve as one of the elders here at New Life.

If you're visiting this morning, like to welcome you and pray

that you leave our service today encouraged, blessed, and

reminded that we serve a risen Savior.

Amen. Sitting over here this morning

as we were singing, I had a thought about something.

This is totally off script already.

Sondra gave it, sent me a forwarded me a text or a

Facebook post or something earlier this week that really

touched my heart. And if for some reason I feel

like I need to start this morning with this because it, it

describes me and maybe it describes you.

Every time I get up here, I tell you about how how God saved me

as a young man and then I drifted away and, and now he's

using me more than ever in my later life.

But what Saunder sent me was a note that said my past is a

point of reference, not a place of residence.

Amen. So that's where I'm at this

morning. I am I'm no longer in my past.

I'm resting in my my future with Lord Jesus Christ.

So we got a lot to cover this morning.

I sent the elders a text earlier this week and said bring you

popcorn boys. It's going to be a long it.

So I know everybody went, but we're going to go ahead and get

started this morning by my we're going to be in Psalm one O 5.

Psalm one O 5. The big, big idea for the sermon

is remembering God's faithfulness fuels our faith.

Remembering God's faithfulness fuels our faith.

Once you get to Psalm one O 5 with the first thing you'll

notice is it's a, it's a fairly long Psalm that 45 verses.

So for those of you that were excited when you saw that I was

preaching this morning thinking you were getting out early and

going to get in the line before the crowd at Chickadee or

Whataburger. I can't guarantee that if I

spend just a couple of minutes on each verse, that's like an

hour and a half or two hours. So not sure when we're going to

be there. We may have to take a break

halfway through and eat and come back.

I don't know, but so get comfortable, you know, I'm

kidding, right? It's I.

But just for the record, I want to tell you all that so far, you

know, we've, we've had this wonderful, this great preaching

on Sunday nights, the last Sunday night of the month.

We've heard from all these young guys preaching along with James

and I. And so far, I hold the record

for the shortest sermon. You're welcome.

And I think at least through next month, my record is secure

because Kyle and Dustin are preaching next month.

So I, I, I need not worry about. Anyway, let's pray as we get

started. Heavenly Father, as your people,

we come before You today with gratitude and wonder, eager to

hear of Your faithfulness throughout the generations.

As we look at this passage, remind us that You are the God

who keeps Your Word, who leads with power, and who never

forgets Your promises. Lord, give me the ability to

preach Your Word with clarity, with humility and boldness.

You are always so gracious during my preparation to show me

amazing things about You. Father, allow me now to share

those things with Your people. I pray this morning that you

transform the black letters on the white paper in front of me

to read letters the voice of our Savior Jesus Christ as He is

seen in this passage. Let every word I speak be guided

by Your Spirit and let every ear hear not my voice but Yours.

I pray earnestly that you be glorified in it all in Jesus

name, Amen. Jasper did a great job last week

helping us to see God's glory and providential care, how He is

revealed in creation, and how the glory of creation leads to

praise and worship of the Creator.

Just think how infinitely, infinitely complex God's task is

of managing the world in which we live as He supplies food and

water to his creatures. So last week he taught us about

how God's creation, how God is faithful through his creation.

The realization of the complexity of our world can only

result in great praise, worship, and all of God as the Creator

and Sustainer of this vast world.

As we look this week at Psalm One O 5, a historical Psalm that

recounts many of God's blessings on His people, Israel.

This psalmist placed where it is not because David numbered the

Psalms as he authored them, but because there is a divine order

to God's Word. Psalm One O 4 speaks of the

mighty works of God and the glory do Him in creation.

Then Psalm One O 5 continues this praise and worship by

remembering his deeds and mercy granted toward the people of

Israel. Before we read our text today,

I'd like to ask you to join me in a little visualization.

You heard the little bell earlier.

This was my grandmother's. I'm I'm guess I'm going to start

getting the the being thought of as the guy that always brings

little keepsakes or trinkets when I preach.

But this was my grandmother's. My grandmother was confined to a

wheelchair most of her life. She used this bell to summon my

grandfather and that's what she wanted.

Something you you can't see. Maybe y'all can, but but this

bell has been broken at least three times.

The handle has been broken and it's it's been fixed.

And I don't know whether that was because my grandfather was

deaf or because my grandmother may have thrown this at him.

I don't know. But but I never asked my mom,

but the bell was passed down from her to my mother, to me in

a box of keepsakes. I think this bill probably

brought back good memories for my mom, probably not so much for

my grandfather. But what I want to talk about

this morning, and I wanted to relate this passage to is a box

of keepsakes that David is going through.

So I'd like for you to if you would.

I know this is dangerous for a preacher to say, but I'd like

for you to close your eyes. Just relax now I already saw

that some of y'all already had your eyes closed, so y'all do

have to open your eyes back up after this is over.

But picture in your mind. Picture in your mind.

David, King of Israel. He is.

He's in his palace. He's in all of his royal robes.

He's got a golden crown with jewels on his head.

He's got golden rings. He's got golden chains.

He is, he is dressed in all of his royalty.

He's in the palace living room and he's getting ready for the

Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant to be brought back to

Jerusalem. Today he he's got a tent set up

for the ark and he's planned a celebration.

That'll be the biggest church service Jerusalem has ever seen.

Every detail has been taken care of.

The priests know all their duties.

The burnt offerings and peace offerings have been prepared.

The musicians are ready to play, the dancers are ready, the food

is ready. First Chronicles 16 four tells

us that David appointed Levites as ministers to invoke, to thank

and to praise the Lord the God of Israel.

Others were there to play harps and liars, sound symbols, blow

trumpets and others to sing. It was truly going to be a

celebration, nephew. Keep that visualization in your

mind. You can open your eyes before

you start nodding. Second Samuel 6 and First

1 Chronicles 13 · chapter mention

Chronicles chapters 13 through 16 tell us of the moving of the

ark from Ovid, Edom's house, to Jerusalem.

The Levites carried the ark into the into Jerusalem with great

celebration, and David and all Israel danced and rejoiced

before God. The ark was placed in the tent

that David had prepared, marking its permanent residence in the

city. Later, in First Chronicles 22,

David realizes the inequity of him living in a cedar house.

But God only has a tent. So he tells Nathan, the prophet,

of his plan to build a magnificent temple to God where

the ark will be permanently housed and all Israel will

worship God. But David will learn from Nathan

that God will not allow him to build a temple.

But Solomon, his son, will have that honor.

But David doesn't know that he's not going to get to build a

temple. Right now.

He has this image in his mind of the temple that he wants to

build for God. But as he's thinking about all

these things, he's sitting on the royal sofa, and suddenly he

remembers that there's a box in the drawer of the sofa table.

So he reaches down and he opens that drawer and he takes out

that box. He knows that whatever's in this

box is important because maybe he saw his dad, Jesse, looking

at the things in the box many years before.

But before we look into this imaginary box with David, please

stand with me as we read Psalm One O 5.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known

his deeds among the peoples, sing to Him, sing praises to

Him, tell of all His wondrous works.

Glory in His holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek

the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and His strength.

Seek His presence continually. Remember the wondrous works that

He has done, His miracles and the judgments He uttered.

Oh, offspring of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, is

chosen once. He is the Lord our God.

His judgments were in all the earth.

He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He

commanded for 1000 generations, the covenant that He made with

Abraham, His sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to

Jacob as a statue to Israel, as an everlasting covenant.

Saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan at your portion

for an inheritance. When they were few in number of

little account and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to

nation, from one king to another people, he allowed no one to

oppress them. He rebuked kings on their

account, saying, Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no

harm. When he summoned a famine on the

land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead

of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of

iron, until what he had said came to pass.

The word of the Lord tested him, the king sent and released him,

and the rulers of the people set him free.

He made him Lord of his house and rulers, and ruler of all his

possessions, to bind his Princess at his pleasure and to

teach his elders wisdom. Then Israel came to Egypt.

Jacob summoned in the land of Ham, and the Lord made his

people very fruitful and made them stronger than his foes.

He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily

with his servants. He sent Moses his servant, and

Aaron whom he had chosen. They performed his signs among

them and miracles in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness and made the land dark.

They did not rebel against his words.

He turned their waters into blood and caused their fish to

die. Their land swarmed with frogs,

even in the chambers of the kings.

He spoke, and there came swarms of flies and gnats throughout

their country. He gave me.

He gave them hail for rain and fiery lightning bolts through

their land. He struck down their vines and

fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number,

which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate

up the fruit of their ground. He struck down all the first

born in their land, the first fruits of all their strength.

Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was

none among his tribe who stumbled.

Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had

fallen upon it. He spread a cloud for a

covering, and fire to give light by night.

They asked Him. They asked, and he brought

quail. He gave them bread from heaven

in abundance. He opened the rock, and water

gushed out. It flowed through the desert

like a river. For he remembered His holy

promise, and Abraham his servant.

So he brought out his people. So he brought his people out

with joy. His chosen ones was singing.

And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took

possession of the fruit of the people's toil, that they may

keep His statues and observe His laws.

Praise the Lord, this is the word of the Lord.

You can be seated. Now.

I want you to remember the picture of David that you

visualized a moment ago. Visualize the anticipation that

he has before he even opens this little box, and his anticipation

is leading to to joy and excitement and that culminates

into spontaneous worship. This joy and excitement that we

see in David shows how God's faithfulness fuels our worship,

which is my first point today. God's faithfulness fuels our

worship. The comment in the ESB Study

Bible regarding this Psalm says that this is a hymn urging God's

people to trust and worship the Lord alone by reminding them

that He is, that He alone is worthy of their deepest loyalty.

Look at the phrases that David uses in this these first 7

verses. Look at verse one.

Give thanks to the Lord. Call upon His name.

Make known his deeds in verse 2. Tell of all His right wondrous

works and glory in His holy name.

Verse 3, rejoice. Verse 4 seek the Lord and His

strength, seek His presence continually.

And then in verse 5, also remember the wondrous works He

has done, His miracles, all that.

Sound familiar? We've all heard those phrases

before, haven't we? So what attitude then should we

bring into worship of the great God Jehovah Yahweh, King of

Kings? Are we together in somber

silence? Sometimes.

But when we gather on the Lord's Day to worship our Creator, we

are to come with joyful thankfulness.

Now, does that always happen? I don't know about you, but

there are times that I come with a heavy heart and to be brutally

honest, I may not even feel like being here.

Oh, an elder admitted being human.

But you know what? There's no other place on earth

that I need to be during those times.

Then in the House of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen. Thanksgiving and gratefulness or

spiritual habits that we have to intentionally develop through

continual practice. We could practice by taking time

each day to talk with God and to thank Him for all He has done.

We can choose each day to believe His promises and in His

faithfulness. Once again, I'm going to get off

track here. I have a habit of getting

getting up early most every morning, but on mornings that I

preach, I get up really early. And the time that I get to spend

with Jesus early in the morning on the Sunday morning before I

preach is absolutely amazing. He showed me something else

about my little bell this morning.

Our prayer life can be like this bell.

When everything is going well, when life is good, finances are

great. Our little bells, our prayer

life sits on the desk. But then think about when when

the economy starts. Going down, we start worrying

about finances. Jesus, I need you.

But then when he works all that out for us, our little bell goes

back on the desk and it's quiet the next time we need something.

Jesus, I need you. Help me Then our bill is quiet

and goes back on the desk. How's your prayer life?

We're going to move on. We can all agree that God is

faithful, right? Then as His children, we should

also be faithful. We should strive to utilize the

power of the Holy Spirit to fight our broken, sinful

humanness, to submit to this holy power, to help us remember

God's faithfulness, Lamb and faith.

Lamentations 322 through 23 tells us the steadfast love of

the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an

end. They are new every morning.

Great is your faithfulness, Deuteronomy 79 says.

Know therefore, that the Lord your God is God.

He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to 1000

generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

So, because He is faithful, the appropriate and natural response

from His people should be Thanksgiving, joy, and gratitude

expressed in our worship of Him. True and proper worship does not

flow merely from beauty. Rather, it should gush from our

hearts like a stream in the spring that is fed by the

snowmelt from a heart overwhelmed by God's goodness

and dependability. We don't worship to earn God's

favor. That can't happen.

Our worship is a response to the already given grace and mercy

that comes from God. It is a call to remember that

worship is rooted in the nature and actions of God, not in our

worthiness or emotion. His unchanging faithfulness is

the anchor and motivation for a life of praise, Thanksgiving,

and devotion. Now to get back to our

visualization. We're finally now get to see

David opening this box and finding out what's inside.

So now he has the opportunity of remembering God's faithfulness.

It's my next point, remembering God's faithfulness.

As David opens the box, what's he find in there?

He finds memories. Memories of God's faithfulness

to His covenant people, Israel, from God's promise to Abraham to

the entrance into the Promised Land.

In verse 8, we see confirmation of God that remembers that God

remembers his covenant forever. So does that mean that God

forgets? Of course not.

Here the phrase he remembers is more of a relational term,

meaning that it's a signal or a sign that God's loyalty and

faithfulness to his people. God remembering means His

promises are never broken, regardless of our failures.

In verses 9 through 11, we see that God's covenant with Abraham

to possess the land of Canaan continues with his sworn promise

to Isaac and then confirmed to Jacob.

David also recalls how God protected his people before they

became a nation when they were few in number, vulnerable.

And we're wondering, God protected them by demonstrating

His faithfulness through His covenant.

These verses reinforce the value of God's people, not because of

their strength in battle or their number, but because of His

promise. In verses 16 through 25, David

looks into the box again and sees how God orchestrated the

events to fulfill His covenant promises even through hardship.

Verse 16 tells of the great famine that was summoned by God

in order to get Joseph to Egypt sold as a slave.

This is amazing. God summoned the famine.

The ESB is the only version that I found that I looked at that

used the word summoned. All the other ones that I looked

at used the words called for. There's something we don't need

to miss here. Whether it's summoned or called

for the famine, The Hebrew word is KAWRAWI have no Hebrew

training so I'm not going to try to roll that R and and tell you

what it's supposed to sound like, but it means basically

called for. These verses don't say that God

caused the famine, rather he called for it.

The famine was already planned and created by God for his use

at this time to preserve the nation of Israel.

Genesis 4154 says that there was a famine in all the lands, but

in the land of Egypt there was bread.

Those of you that have played baseball, there's an example

here. God is standing at the at the

dugout door and he says, hey famine, you're up, but don't hit

the ball to left field. That's what God did with the

famine. He could have had that famine

include the entire world, but that famine was stopped at the

borders of Egypt. This shows that God is sovereign

even over natural disasters. The famine didn't happen by

accident, it was called for or summoned by God for a greater

purpose. Nothing, absolutely nothing,

happens in creation without being part of His plan.

What immense, immeasurable, faithful power of Yahweh, the

God of our salvation, to put limits even on a famine.

Verse 18 speaks of the suffering Joseph endured before his rise

to power. Spurgeon says of this burst that

the iron fetters were preparing Joseph to wear chains of gold

and making his feet ready to stand on high places.

This verse emphasizes real pain and injustice.

Joseph, though he was faithful, was wrongly imprisoned.

Yet this was all part of God's larger plan.

It shows us that God's promises often involve seasons of waiting

and pain. Joseph's suffering shaped his

character and positioned him to save nations.

When Pharaoh finally releases him, Matthew Henry says the

verse 21, Pharaoh made Joseph Prime Minister of state, Lord

president of his council to command his Princess at his

pleasure and teach them wisdom. Here we are reminded that when

we remain faithful, God not only lifts us up, he equips us to

bless others with wisdom and compassion.

Again, David looks into his imaginary box in verses 26

through 42. He sees a memory of Moses and

Aaron, as well as God's mighty acts in delivering Israel from

Egypt and his faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham.

We see God's sovereignty in these verses and how He controls

nature and nations, acting with purpose through miracles and

judgment. Verses 28 through 4028 through

34, God shows us his control over darkness.

He turns water into blood. He calls for swarms of frogs and

flies and gnats. He changed their rein into hail.

He killed their crops with hail and with locusts.

And these plagues culminated with what will forever more be

known as Passover, when we see God powerfully delivering His

people from bondage. As they leave Egypt, He makes

provisions for them in the wilderness in the form of food,

water, and protection from animals and armies, Verse 42

says, For he remembered his holy promise and Abraham his servant.

This short verse carries profound meaning.

It serves as the climax and motivation behind all of God's

mighty acts listed in the previous verses.

If we break this verse down, look at the first part He

remembered. This doesn't imply that God had

forgotten and suddenly recalled. I mentioned this earlier, but

it's important enough to say again.

In Scripture, remembering often means acting on a promise.

God remained mindful and faithful of what He had said to

the generations before. The next part of this verse, His

holy promise. This refers to the covenant with

Abraham to make his descendants a great nation, give them a

land, and bless all the nations through them.

It is called holy because it is set apart, divine and

unbreakable. Then at the end of the verse it

says and Abraham his servant. Even long after Abraham's death,

probably 1000 years after his death, God still honors his

servant. This shows God's faithfulness

across generations, not just in the moment.

My final point this morning is that God's faithfulness calls

believers to trust in His promises.

God's faithfulness calls believers to trust in His

promises. Verses 42 through 45 bring the

Psalm to an end and allow David to tell us about God's

faithfulness, His blessings, and His purpose for His people.

The whole of Israel's deliverance and blessing is

grounded in God's faithful memory of His covenant with

Abraham. David tells us of the joy and

singing that emphasizes God's desire for his people to live in

freedom and celebration. Verse 44 tells us of God's

generous grace. 45 tells us that God's blessings were not just

for comfort, they had a purpose so that his people would live

according to his ways and be a lot to all the nations.

We have been this morning. We've been with David this

morning as he looked back at the faithfulness of God.

So is this Psalm just a history lesson?

Is it included in the Bible just as a reminder of all the things

God did for the Israelites? No, no, no, my friend is much

more, so much more. And there's another aspect to

this Psalm that David didn't understand but we know about and

that is the gospel of Jesus Christ here shown in Psalm one O

5. Y'all really didn't think when I

said that was my final point a minute ago.

That was like I was ending, did you?

No, I'm, I'm getting this preaching thing.

Let's look and see how Jesus shows up in this text.

First, God's covenant faithfulness culminates in

Jesus, the full fulfillment of the promise of the covenant.

The Psalm centers on God remembering his covenant with

Abraham, a promise to bless his descendants and bring salvation

to all nations. Listen to what the Lord told

Abram in Genesis 12. Three.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I

will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be

blessed. Jesus is also the fulfillment of

God's promise. Galatians 316 says Now the

promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.

It does not say and to offsprings referring to many,

but referring to 1 until your offspring, who is Christ.

Martin Luther says of this verse that the praises the promises

that were made in view of Christ in one seed, not in many seeds.

God's commitment is personified in Jesus.

This commitment is the central theme of Christian faith.

It means that Jesus is the living, breathing, human

expression of God's unwavering faithfulness, love, and promise

to humanity. Through Jesus life, death, and

resurrection, God will make a new covenant with his people,

one of grace, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Verses 23 through 38 that we looked at earlier tell the story

of deliverance from bondage, exemplifying how Jesus rescues

us from sin. The Gospel tells us that Jesus

delivers us from the slavery of sin and death.

In Romans 6, Paul is talking about the believer under grace

and the problem of habitual sin. Beginning in verse 6, he says we

know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that

the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no

longer be enslaved to sin, for one who has died has been set

free from sin. Paul also tells us in Colossians

Colossians 1:13

1 verses 13 and 14 that he has delivered us from the domain of

darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The exodus of David that had been, that he had been taught

about was a foreshadowing of the salvation of Christ.

Freedom by grace, not by effort. We also see here God's provision

in the wilderness is also a foreshadowing of Jesus, the

bread of life. God provided food and water, and

Jesus said in John 635, I am the bread of life.

God's provision in the wilderness points us to Jesus as

our spiritual sustenance, the one who satisfies completely.

And finally, this Psalm is a call to remember and respond.

We are to seek the Lord. We are to embrace His guidance.

We are to trust in His covenant. We are to proclaim Him.

We are to praise Him for His faithfulness.

We are to proclaim His holy name.

We are to rejoice in Him. We are to rejoice in God's

provision through Christ. We are to rejoice in the new

covenant of Christ. I want to leave you with this

this morning. Psalm One O 5 is both a song of

praise and a spiritual anchor. It reminds us that God's work in

history it is not just for the past.

It is the foundation of our trust, worship, and obedience

today. It is the fuel for our faith.

The proper response to God's grace through His faithfulness

is worship, witness, and obedience.

Not to earn salvation, but because it's freely given.

If you don't have a personal relationship with my Jesus,

please come and talk with me or any of the elders after the

service this morning. We'd be thrilled to talk to you

about what life in Christ is all about.

Pray with me, please. Gracious and faithful Father,

thank you for meeting us through Your Word today.

As we saw, you are a God who keeps His promises, who leads

with power, and who provides with mercy.

Lord, help us remember what you have said through this passage.

I pray our worship is pleasing to you, that our faithfulness is

always anchored in Jesus, and that we are obedient to You not

out of duty, but out of love for you.

Teach us to remember with both our minds and with our lives,

declaring Your goodness and how we live, how we serve, and how

we trust You. Now, as we come to a brief time

of reflection, fill our hearts with the joy of Your salvation.

May the truth of Your Word guide our steps and may the power of

Your Spirit keep us faithful. In Jesus name we pray.