God assures us He will keep his promise to make us fruitful. That promise is made to many different people throughout the Bible in different ways. God uses both blessings and testing to keep his promise. And the reason why God uses blessings and testings to keep His promise is so we will obey and praise Him. Knowing that may help you answer why you have been blessed or tested.
MAIN POINT: We are encouraged to praise because God uses wonderful deeds (blessings and testings) to keep His promise so we will obey and praise Him
Although I have spoken little about the structure of the Psalms as a whole, it is often commented about by scholars and preachers that Psalms is a highly structured and intricate book containing five books, and each one of those made up of introductions and endings. So it should be of no surprise to us that we see a relationship in Psalm 105 to the preceding Psalm 104. Since Psalms has just established that God is creator of and He gives breath and sustenance to His creation, we might ask ourselves, What is the purpose of God’s creation? And we have indeed in part answered that question by saying we are to praise God. But then Psalm 105 shows us God has a plan and that plan was to focus on a chosen people. Jesus is the God king reigning over the details of His creation. God reveals the big picture and then zooms in on a detail. In that account of His creation, we go from the whole of creation which was described as being good to the detail of man that is described as being very good. It is God’s intimacy with man and man’s relationships with each other that are very good. And in Psalm 105 the relationship of God and His people is based on the promise that God made to them. It should be no surprise to us that God starts the relationship with a promise and that the promise is fruitfulness. This follows the pattern in the Genesis account. And God wants us to see once again He is sovereignly ruling through His King and that includes taking full credit for many things we might wonder about. It is truly fascinating to understand the extent to which God wants us to understand He did it. These days I often hear Christians who have a hard time seeing God’s hand in their troubles, world events and so on. But it is only because they have not read the Bible or not read it well. God is explaining to us just the sort of things He’ll do to accomplish His purposes. So don’t assume you know how God works or what is attributable to God and what is not. Need I remind you that God’s central plan is the cross and to have His only son killed on a cross. If you can’t see how God works then you will not be able to accept how He works in your life. Are you better than your King Jesus? I think not. Thus you too must suffer, be rejected, and die. Jesus is the way and to follow Him is to go His way.
“Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.”
So you have been called on to sing about wonderful deeds, and we are going to look at some of those mentioned in Psalm 105.
Do you know any babies who were placed in an incubator? That seems like a plan B action and not a welcome one, only a last resort step. But not in God’s plan. He sent His people to the fruitful place of Egypt to grow before giving them the land He promised.
“He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply.”
This was meant as a blessing, one of the wonderful deeds we are to sing about.
And it wasn’t just a plan that indiscriminately herded masses or tribes around. No, God zoomed in on a saviour figure to help lead and prepare the people.
“17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them
—Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.
19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
the Lord tested Joseph’s character.”
The chapter continues in this vein and I’ll not note them all because you read the Psalm.
“And the LORD multiplied the people of Israel until they became too mighty for their enemies.
Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites, and they plotted against the LORD’s servants.”
And so goes the flip flop of blessings throughout the Psalm. What we might consider good, followed by what we might try to pray away.
But the Psalm ends with an explanation of why.
“All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions. Praise the LORD!”
All the blessings and testing are meant to teach them and us to follow and obey. Would you, would they have obeyed without those blessings and testing? We know that the answer to that question is NO.
You have been saved (at least I am assuming that if you are reading this, there is a good chance that you have declared your allegiance with King Jesus). And your sins have been removed and you are free. You understand the blessings of God and His great deeds, and you understand the way He has always worked. Just like He did with His son Jesus. But do you trust and obey?
Do you do what He says you must do? Are you loving holiness and living according to His righteous Word?
I invite you to join me and see that “All this happened so” (v45) is also there for us. Look back at your family and your church and all that God has done in blessing and testing. Why? Because your creator and King knows what is right and good for you, and He has a plan to keep His promise to you and to all mankind.
Conclusion:
We can rethink our perspective on blessings and testing so that we see the work of King Jesus throughout our life and all the lives of our family, church, and friends as a way to teach us obedience.
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| Handwritten Psalm 105 |
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