03 July

Bible In 365 Days                                                      

Psalm 103-105

Psalm 103

It seems almost a work of supererogation to write anything about this psalm. It is perhaps the most perfect song of pure praise to be found in the Bible. It has become the common inheritance of all who through suffering and deliverance have learned the goodness of Jehovah. Through centuries it has been sung by glad hearts, and today is as fresh and full of beauty as ever. It is praise intensive and extensive.

As to its intensity, notice how the entire personality of the singer is recognised. The spirit of the man speaks. He addresses his soul, or mind, and calls it to praise first for spiritual benefits, and then for physical. And again notice how in the sweep of the song, things so small as the frame of the physical and its constituent dust are recognised, while yet the immeasurable reaches of east and west are included.

The extensive mercy of Jehovah, as evident in the same system, is seen in other psalms, but perhaps never so majestically as here. It begins with individual consciousness (Psalms 103:1-5); proceeds in recognition of national blessings (Psalms 103:6-18); and ends with the inclusion of all the angels, and hosts, and works in the vast dominion of Jehovah. The "my" of personal experience merges into the "our" of social fellowship, thus culminates in the "all" of universal consciousness. Yet all ends with the person word, and the perfect music of the psalm is revealed in the fact that it opens and closes on the same not.

Psalm 104

Again we have a great song of praise commencing and closing with the same note of personal praise. While in the former the dominant note is that of the mercy of Jehovah, here it is that of His majesty. The former is the song of love to Love. This is the song of loyalty to Royalty.

The psalm opens with a declaration of the essential greatness of God, and then proceeds in poetic language to describe the manifestations of His greatness in creation. All through, beneficent purpose is recognised. The springs among the valleys are for quenching of the thirst of birds and beasts. Grass and herbs are for service, and son on throughout.

Then in a burst of praise the singer recognises the dependence of all upon Jehovah. The hiding of His face is trouble, and if He withdraw breath, death ensues. Finally, he cries out for the continuity of the realisation of Divine purpose everywhere, in order that Jehovah may rejoice in His works. To this end he declares he will make the contribution of his personal worship. The conception is full of beauty. The widespread revelation of the power and glory of God makes its appeal to the individual responsibility of the one man.

Psalm 105

This and the following psalm are companions. They reveal the two sides of the relation between God and His people during a long period. This one sings the song of His faithfulness and power; while the next tells the sad story of repeated failure and rebellion on the part of His people.

In singing His praise the psalmist opens with an appeal which recognises the responsibility of those who have been recipients of blessing. The words, "Make known His doings among the peoples" reveal this. The leaders and singers of these people repeated this message of responsibility with almost monotonous reiteration, and yet it was not obeyed. In order that the doings of God may be proclaimed, he calls upon men to "remember," and he proceeds to trace the Divine hand in their history. First, he goes back to the ancient covenant, and sings of how God cared for them while they were few in number in the land, rebuking kings for their sakes.

The follows a recognition of the government of God as overruling even what appeared so disastrous a matter as the famine. Through that, Joseph was given his opportunity, and the people were brought into Egypt, for the time being a place of quietness and increase.

The master word in the psalm is the pronoun "He." In constant repetition it shows the one thought uppermost in the mind of the singer. It is that of perpetual activity of God in all those experiences through which His people have passed. Psalms 105:23 commences with a statement which is almost startling - "He turned their heart to hate His people." Yet this is a recognition of the fact that circumstances which appeared to be most disastrous, were nevertheless all under His government. It was a baptism of suffering which toughened the fibre of the national life, and prepared for all that lay ahead.

Then the singer passes in review God's wonderful deliverance of them from Egypt, until a graphic sentence he writes, "Egypt was glad when they departed." Finally the song speaks of the bringing of them into possession of the land. It is a noble song of the might of God, and of His fidelity to His people. With unswerving loyalty to His covenant, in spite of all difficulties, and by means of suffering as well as joy, He moved in their history ever onward. Such a song is prophecy, in its function of interpreting history, and revealing the orderliness in the economy of God, of days and events which seem to be the most calamitous.