Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b (NRSV)
1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful 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 wonderful works he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
16 When he summoned famine against the land,
and broke every staff 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 kept testing 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 instruct his officials at his pleasure,
and to teach his elders wisdom.
45 Praise the Lord!
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45a is part of a much larger Psalm.
Psalm 105-Psalm 106 is an historical hymn. I Chronicles 16:8-22 quotes 105:1-15 at a festival. Psalm 78 is like this psalm in its focus upon the mighty deeds and miracles of the Lord. Strangely, it has no mention of anything associated with Sinai. Psalm 105 was originally the first half of a longer psalm, of which Psalm 106 is the continuation. It invokes selected authoritative Torah tradition alone with exegetical comments on them in praise of the Lord. The primary theme is the covenant with Abraham to him the Promised Land. This theme is popular in post-exilic times. This covenant was eternal and unconditional. It was still in effect despite the exile and the fact that Jews within and outside the land lived under Persian rule. It provides encouragement and assurance to the post-exilic audience that they are entitled to the land of Israel by divine right. While both psalms present a theological interpretation of the history of Israel, that interpretation includes a confession of the sins of Israel that led to judgment and punishment. This view of Israel's history - that faithfulness leads to blessing and prosperity, while unfaithfulness leads to punishment and suffering - is the dominant theological view of the OT. Only rarely does anyone question it. Most famously, this questioning occurs in the Book of Job. However, even an acknowledgment of Israel’s sins cannot squelch the spirit of thankfulness that characterizes Psalm 105. The psalm must have been part of the covenant festival. The focus of the festival was to help people today remember what God had done among the people of God in the past. This psalm offers a good word, a eulogy, for the Lord.
Psalm 105: 1-6 are an introduction to the hymn. I would point first to the call to give thanks and to call upon the Lord. The focus of worship is to re-direct our attention from our natural inclination to focus upon ourselves and to direct our attention to the Lord. Such re-centering, recognizing the center of our lives is outside us, is vital to our spiritual growth. 1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Such deeds are those recorded in the Torah, which the psalm goes on to recite and reinterpret. The poet knew some form of the Torah traditions, which had already become authoritative. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Yet, a second point centers on the “Magalia Dei” that constitutes large sections of the Old Testament, especially the Torah. The deeds, wonderful works, miracles of the Lord are a summary way of referring to the history of the dealings of the Lord with creation, the Patriarchs, the formation of the Hebrew people or Israel under Moses and the judges, and the continuation of the nation under the kings. Classical rabbinic Judaism never placed much emphasis upon this aspect of the exhortations we find in the Old Testament. All of this is to bring the minds and hearts of the people to a focus upon the Lord. 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 4 Seek the Lord in the temple and his strength; seek his presence continually in the temple. 5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, recalling the deliverance from Egypt, and the judgments he has uttered in the giving of the Law at Sinai, 6 O offspring (seed) of his servant Abraham, thereby making them the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord to give Abraham many offspring in Genesis 15:3-6, children of Jacob, his chosen ones, emphasizing the continuity between the patriarchs and the present generation, choosing this people gathered for worship is among the judgments of the Lord. The psalm affirms that the promises of the Lord had small beginnings in that they begin with blessing a family. At the same time, those now gathered for worship are just has chosen as are the patriarchs. The people in the sanctuary assemble as the inheritors of the promises to Abraham and the patriarchs.[1] Even the Patriarchs received the benefit of election or choice of a people.[2] Theological and biblical remembering involves being reconnected and re-placed in the event in a way that its original power is once again re-created. When we do all the things the psalmist asks us to do, we are enabled to better step into the salvific events he described and, thus, better able to appreciate and to praise what God has done for us.
Verses 16-22 tell the story of Joseph. The psalm offers a recounting Genesis 37, 38-50, one of the mighty acts of the Lord. It ends with Joseph as a wisdom teacher. 16 When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread, a phrase used in connection with the famine that results from enemy sieges, as in Leviticus 26:26, Ezekiel 4:16, 5:16, 14:13, linking the forefathers experience with that of exiles, 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; such treatment is that of a prisoner of war, like the deportees, but not recorded in Genesis, 19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord kept testing him. Joseph's message was vindicated by the word of the Lord, and as a result, the Pharaoh elevated him, and we know the rest. Of course, Joseph while in prison could not have known when or how this vindication would take place, and there are times when he no doubt wondered when it would happen. Joseph's life is a lesson about doing and saying the right thing when there is no hope of vindication in sight. 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 instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
45b Praise the Lord!
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