Psalm 105
Alleluia!
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, the judgments he spoke.
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O children of the Jacob he chose,
he, the Lord, is our God;
his judgments prevail in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it for Jacob as a law,
for Israel as a covenant for ever.
He said: “I am giving you a land,
Canaan, your appointed heritage.”
When they were few in number,
a handful of strangers in the land,
when they wandered from country to country,
from one kingdom and nation to another,
he allowed no one to oppress them;
he admonished kings on their account:
‘Do not touch those I have anointed;
do no harm to any of my prophets.”
But he called down a famine on the land;
he broke the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
His feet were put in chains,
his neck was bound with iron,
until what he said came to pass
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Then the king sent and released him
the ruler of the people set him free,
making him master of his house
and ruler of all he possessed,
to instruct his princes as he pleased
and to teach his elders wisdom.
So Israel came into Egypt;
Jacob lived in the country of Ham.
He gave his people increase;
he made them stronger than their foes,
whose hearts he turned to hate his people
and to deal deceitfully with his servants.
Then he sent Moses his servant
and Aaron the man he had chosen.
Through them he showed his marvels
and his wonders in the country of Ham.
He sent darkness, and dark was made
but Egypt resisted his words.
He turned the waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.
Their land was alive with frogs,
even to the halls of their kings.
He spoke; the dog-fly came
and gnats covered the land.
He sent hailstones in place of the rain
and flashing fire in their land.
He struck their vines and fig trees;
he shattered the trees through their land.
He spoke; the locusts came,
young locusts, too many to be counted.
They ate up every land in the land;
they ate up all the fruit of their fields.
He struck all the first-born in their land,
the finest flower of their sons.
He led out Israel with silver and gold.
In his tribes were none who fell behind.
Egypt rejoiced when they left
for dread had fallen upon them.
He spread a cloud as a screen
and fire to give light in the darkness.
When they asked for food he sent quails;
he filled them with bread from heaven.
He pierced the rock to give them water;
it gushed forth in the desert like a river.
For he remembered his holy word,
which he gave to Abraham his servant.
So he brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing.
And he gave them the land of the nations.
They took the fruit of other’s toil,
that thus they might keep his precepts,
that thus they might observe his laws.
Alleluia
Reflection
Reading Psalm 105 we get a potted history, a perhaps selective history, but still a retelling of Israel’s story. From the time Abraham was called, and God made a covenant with him, through the lives of Isaac and Jacob. A time in Egypt, a period of famine, where Joseph saved the day but then slavery when Pharoah tried to bring an end to the Jewish people. But then came Moses and Aaron, plagues and finally the exodus of the Jews through the Red Sea.
All this happened because God remembered his promise to Abraham and so the people rejoiced at all God had done for them.
I say this is a selective history because there is no mention of what the people did, nothing about them questioning Moses and wishing they were back in Egypt because at least they had food there!
I wonder if we too are selective when we look back at our lives and what we have done. Oh yes, we offer our prayers of confession, but how often are these generic – we are sorry for the things we have said and done or indeed not said and done. But do we actually name them?
Do we think of the time we ignored the Big Issue seller because we didn’t have two minutes to stop and chat and buy a copy? Can we name a time when we know someone would have appreciated a phone call, a listening ear, but again it just felt too much like hard work?
We can all be selective in our lives; we remember the good things we’ve done and try not to focus on the things we could have done better or wish we’d never done at all. I guess that is a human trait.
But still like the psalmist we can rejoice in what God has done for us and try to be more honest in future.
Prayer
Loving God, we offer you our thanks and praise for all you have done for us.
Help us always to ‘keep your statutes and observe your laws’ as we continue to praise you. Amen