#836.75 Drawn Out Of Water

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

3 Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

4 Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,

children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

7 He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as your portion for an inheritance.”

12 When they were few in number,

of little account, and sojourners in it,

13 wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

14 he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,

15 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

16 When he summoned a famine on the land

and broke all supply of bread,

17 he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18 His feet were hurt with fetters;

his neck was put in a collar of iron;

19 until what he had said came to pass,

the word of the Lord tested him.

20 The king sent and released him;

the ruler of the peoples set him free;

21 he made him lord of his house

and ruler of all his possessions,

22 to bind his princes at his pleasure

and to teach his elders wisdom.

23 Then Israel came to Egypt;

Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful

and made them stronger than their foes.

25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,

to deal craftily with his servants.

26 He sent Moses, his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27 They performed his signs among them

and miracles in the land of Ham.

28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark;

they did not rebel against his words.

29 He turned their waters into blood

and caused their fish to die.

30 Their land swarmed with frogs,

even in the chambers of their kings.

31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

and gnats throughout their country.

32 He gave them hail for rain,

and fiery lightning bolts through their land.

33 He struck down their vines and fig trees,

and shattered the trees of their country.

34 He spoke, and the locusts came,

young locusts without number,

35 which devoured all the vegetation in their land

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the first fruits of all their strength.

37 Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,

and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

38 Egypt was glad when they departed,

for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering,

and fire to give light by night.

40 They asked, and he brought quail,

and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed through the desert like a river.

42 For he remembered his holy promise,

and Abraham, his servant.

43 So he brought his people out with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

44 And he gave them the lands of the nations,

and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,

45 that they might keep his statutes

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord! Psalm 105 ESV

A Psalm recounting God's sovereign acts.

He turned their hearts to hate His people - Israel has grown in the womb of a country that no longer sees them as a blessing. God has sustained them in a foreign land where their race was deemed less than, but now He will work through unlikely means, he will choose a man.

Exodus

He sent Moses, His servant - Moses was born to a time of persecution, he was hidden from the mandate that all males born among the Jews were to be slaughtered. The Pharaoh at the time had no regard for the history of Joseph. He could not see that the only reason they survived was by the intervention of this God of the Hebrews. Pharaoh held not only to the idea of his personal autonomy, but that he was as a god in this land, he saw himself as sovereign. Moses was saved alive in a tiny ark made of bull rushes. He was raised by the daughter of Pharaoh, trained as a prince of Egypt. He became a vigilante, a social justice warrior, but this all came to not, the people did not want him and this was not his time, so he fled.

They performed His signs among them - This was not by trade or craft, the signs were from God to show that this is His work, these are His servants, messengers to His people. The Psalmist is recounting the acts of God as we should all meditate upon. Scripture has made clear that these things are written for out instruction, and that this is God's story of redemption, not reaction. No matter the human instrument, this is God's revelation, His word, and His word is truth.

…20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever brought about through human initiative, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1: 20-21

…16 So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.… Romans 9: 16- 18

He sent darkness, and made the land dark -

- i. “In order to understand these plagues we need to understand that they were directed against the gods and goddesses of Egypt and were intended to show the superiority of the God of Israel to the Egyptian gods.” (Boice)

· When God sent darkness, He showed Himself greater than Ra (the sun God) and Nut (the sky goddess).

· When God turned their waters into blood, He showed Himself greater than Osiris (god of the Nile) and Khnum (the guardian of the Nile).

· When God made their land abound with frogs, He showed Himself greater than the goddess Hekt (the frog-goddess of fertility).

· When God sent swarms of flies and lice, He showed Himself greater than the fly-god Uatchit.

· When God sent hail for rain, He showed Himself greater than Geb, the god of the earth; Nepri, the goddess of grain; and Anuibis, the guardian of the fields.

· When God sent locusts without number, He showed Himself greater than Shu, the god of the atmosphere, and Min, the deity of the harvest. - Cited from Enduring Word

They did not rebel against His words - None of these gods rose up, none could come to the aid of those who had fashioned them. These were worthless idols and the sorcerers could only imitate some of the signs, but they could not take them away. When there were frogs, they could only add to the problem. "Look, you have cancer, let me give you some more." False signs and wonders only contribute to the darkness men are already under, only give a sedative to their unbelief, consolation to their delusion, hardness to their already hardened hearts.

He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their strength - This is the Passover, every door marked with blood, the angel of death passed over. Life belongs to God, and He is holy not only in his love and mercy, but also in justice. It was of no goodness or holiness on the part of Israel, which they will prove out time and again, but every day, every breath is the mercy of God at the price of His love. In this was the love of God manifested, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is the unilateral nature of His covenant to Abraham. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, unable to resurrect our spirits unto life, to be saved would require an act of God.

Passover

For He remembered His holy promise - God is the keeper of the covenant, He keeps His word, knowing from the vantage of eternity the frailty of His people, their lost and fallen natures, yet He loves them and provides a Way.

That they might keep His statutes - In a very positive recollection of God's work among the nation of Israel, nothing is here said of their utter failure and lack of conviction. Yet in this last line we have an opening to the next chapter. God did not just save them because He drew their names in a lottery. He did not bring them out of Egypt to be like Egypt or the nations He would drive out before them. He sets no one apart to remain in bondage to sin, but will reveal some of Himself, that He is holy and we are not. They were not chosen by merit, for this they lacked, or gratitude, for they had none. He will reveal His ways to be so much different than our own, the law will show them to be outside of the camp, but grace will bring them in.

“The final verse shows why grace abounded; not that sin might also abound, but (to quote a New Testament equivalent of verse 45), ‘that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:4).” (Kidner)