Psalms 105:23–38

Psalm 105 — The psalm next celebrates grace and election, which carry out the promise of giving the inheritance to Israel... In the psalm, the mind of God rests first on Jehovah's faithful care of the pilgrim of faith (vv. 8-15), then on the lifting up of the afflicted Man (vv. 16-22; cf. Acts 7:1-10). After this, Israel came to Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham (cf. Acts 7:11-16). There they met oppression and hatred, but He brought them out with power (vv. 23-38), and Egypt was glad when they left.

In the list of the nations in Gen. 10, Mizraim appears as the son of Ham; and in the Psalms, Egypt bears the name "the land of Ham" (Ps. 105:23, 27). Chem or Khem is surely the same word, and it is the name Egypt carries in the hieroglyphic inscriptions. Its meaning is "black," or "sun-burnt" — darkened by the light. And this is what we call the "natural state." It is not a darkness caused by the absence of light. It is the effect of the light itself on a man such as he is.

"Israel came to Egypt": the people of God, favoured by God's own purpose, were in the land of "double narrowness." It was the place where desert and river fight each other — where life struggles with death. Sadly, it was the land of Ham, the "sun-darkened"... The people of God are in a world opposed to God... But this people of God are also looked at from another side — as "Jacob." And Jacob, though only a stranger passing through the land of Ham, is in danger from more than opposition. He needs every part of the discipline God takes him through.

Abram went down into Egypt under natural pressure. In the same way, God let him know in a prophetic vision, with a smoking furnace and a flaming fire, that his offspring would live as strangers in a land not their own, and would be in bondage and affliction for four centuries... Israel came down under the prestige of Egypt's greatest governor and the warmest royal favour. They might have looked for nothing but ease and honour, settled as they were in the best of the land, in Goshen... But despite appearances, Egypt in Jehovah's eyes meant servitude and affliction. And so it turned out, once Joseph's protection was gone.

Their slavery was not accidental in any way. God had foreseen it, and had even told Abram about it while he still had no child (Gen. 15:13-16). God was training a people marked out for a very high position, and part of that training was to live as strangers in a foreign land and endure affliction there for four hundred years. God rules everything so completely that Satan had no power to hold the people one single day beyond the appointed time.

They grew into a nation in that hard Egyptian school. But why was this furnace promised to them in the covenant? Why did they need the Refiner's fire?

Here we see grace in its first actions. A nation had a small beginning: the seventy people who came into Egypt with Jacob. Set that against their marvellous and unstoppable increase. Even the bondage they came into had already been announced to them. What seemed most against them was really the working out of promise for them. The hand of power works in disguise, yet faith can see right through it. The story is essentially the same, whether told of the nation of Israel or of any of the Lord's redeemed.

Through the favour of God they increase greatly, and become stronger than their enemies. Pharaoh's own words declare it (Ex. 1:9). And here, no doubt, is how we are to understand the verse that follows: "He turned their hearts to hate his people." God had only to show His favour like this, and the tide of opposition ran at full force.

Egypt was the nursery God provided for the chosen race. There they grew from one great family — the sons and grandsons of one father — into a people ready for the inheritance destined for them. In mercy He sheltered them for a time, so they would grow all the more under hardship when it came. And it had to come, because people hate anyone who claims a link with the true God.

God, however, took them in hand and allowed them to feel the scorching heat of Egypt's furnace. "But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad" (Ex. 1:12). In that furnace of affliction they were welded together as a nation. They entered Egypt a feeble and disunited family; they left it a compact and powerful nation.

Egypt was the place where Jacob suddenly grew into a nation. Growing under affliction is the rule in every age there has ever been, for all God's people... "Jacob" is said on purpose. It was his natural, not his spiritual, name — Jacob, the "supplanter." Jacob needed humbling, but he grew by it.

The psalm then tells how God had cared for the fathers, and judged Egypt to deliver His people. Despite the bondage, there was not a weak person among their tribes... All their later failure is left untouched. For now again (v. 8) He had remembered His covenant with Abraham. He had delivered His people by judgments, for it is the carrying out of promise. And the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

In Psalm 105, God reviews His people — all that they were and all that they had done — before His eyes. Right through that psalm, whatever He may have to say, grace triumphs.

God is at the bottom of everything. He works, and the fruit of His labour is the blessing of His own. If the truthful record of their ways must mention evil, it is still He who is around, and above, and beneath it all. He saves by power the people whom He has created for Himself in grace. Egypt is only a vessel and tool fitted for His purposes towards His own name, as the portion of His chosen people.

Through the favour of God they increase greatly and become stronger than their enemies, as Pharaoh's own words declare (Ex. 1:9). And this, surely, is how we are to read the verse that follows: "He turned their hearts to hate His people." Nothing more is needed. Let God's favour appear in this way, and the tide of opposition runs in full force.

It is always like this. There is always war between God and the enemy. Nowhere does it rage so hotly as where His people are concerned, and when a clear display of divine mercy is close at hand. God's approaching favour to Israel drew out the enmity of Satan. Satan stirred up a fitting instrument for his malice in the prince of the world of that day — "another king who did not know Joseph."

God may put power into the hand of the Gentile. He may grant success to his armies, even against the nation of His choice, and even to the overthrow of the Zion that He loved. Still He does not overlook the pride of heart, the lust of power, the self-will and violence of the rod that He uses to correct His erring people. Again and again the nations invaded His land and destroyed life and property without restraint. They were His instruments to correct His obstinate and stubborn people. But doing the will of God was far from the mind of any one of them.

His slaves made Egypt magnificent; their misery built his temples. But, though Pharaoh did not know it, he did more — he made these Hebrew slaves long for liberty, and cry to their God for rest. This is how the enemy always defeats himself by his success.

In Psalm 105, God reviews His people — all that they were and all that they had done lay before His eyes. And right through that Psalm, whatever He may have to say, grace triumphs.

Then the Lord sent Moses, who had been born in Egypt, back to that country to deliver His people from their bondage. Aaron, his older brother, was chosen to support Moses.

In Egypt, the burdens of the Israelites had grown to their highest, just when the Lord was preparing Moses's deliverance for them… As has been said, the hour of preparation for a better order of things is not a time when things look promising. It is the opposite.

Alone with God in the distant desert of Horeb, Moses received his commission of deliverance. He was sent to break the iron yoke of those whose groan of helpless misery had come into the ears of Israel's God.

This is how one of the very greatest of God's servants grieved God. He was angry at the unbelief. But in mercy He stooped to the weakness of His servant. He joined Aaron with him to carry out the deliverance He had planned for Israel.

Aaron was not the people's choice, just as the need for priesthood was not something the people discovered for themselves. Nor did he elect himself. His fitness for the office came from the God who called him, and who laid down the pattern of his consecration and the order of his ministry.

Moses is sent, and Aaron too. Signs and wonders clearly show the broad seal of their commission.

The separate ministries of Moses and Aaron come together, in the fullness of divine perfection, in the Person of the Son of God… The heavenly Deliverer was sent in the same way. He had come from the secret of the Father's bosom to do His bidding as the Saviour of His people. They lay without any strength, in hopeless bondage under sin and death.

In relation to Egypt, God's dealings were plagues. Each one displayed the wrath and power of God. Through them God made His name known throughout all the earth, and He overthrew Pharaoh, whose stubborn resistance was useless. Yet Pharaoh's spirit remained unchanged. But to the people of God these "great judgments" were signs and wonders. By them God would bring His people out of the enemy's power, out of the house of slavery.

The whole land of Egypt trembled under the repeated strokes of the rod of God. God made everyone feel the terrible weight of that rod, from the king on his throne to the servant at the mill.

The family record of the nations in Genesis 10 lists Mizraim as the son of Ham. In the Psalms, Egypt bears the name "the land of Ham" (Ps. 105:23, 27). Chem or Khem is surely the same word. It is the name for Egypt in the hieroglyphic inscriptions. Its meaning is "black," or "sun-burnt" — darkened by the light. And this is what the "natural state," as we call it, really is. It is not a darkness that comes from the absence of light. It is the effect of the light itself on someone like man.

The plagues were signs as well as judgments. God sent them to prove who Jehovah was. Egypt once knew enough of God to stay clear of idolatry, but it did not want to hold on to that knowledge of God, and so it sank into the worst idolatry. Above all, God sent them to teach Israel that Jehovah alone is God.

The character of the plagues shows the wisdom of God. They were suited to humble Egypt and its king. It was not only a blow on the land, with all the pain and anguish it brought the people. It was a solemn contest between Jehovah, the true God, and the false gods of Egypt. God aimed His judgment at the false gods the Egyptians worshipped. He stained the glory they boasted in and made them something to loathe.

Egypt was both the chief centre of civilization and the country with the most animal gods. There God showed Himself in judgments that humbled their king and their many gods at the same time.

Psalm 105 shows only God's goodness to Israel, along with His judgments on their enemies, and it ends in Hallelujah. Psalm 106 begins and ends with Hallelujah too. But there we have only Israel's evil ways confessed, and divine mercy in answer to their cry.

God also led them in performing signs and wonders that proved God had sent them. The psalm mentions darkness first (v. 28). That was not the first of the plagues but the ninth. Yet from the very beginning the darkness in the hearts of the Egyptians was clear... We may be sure that God has good reason for changing the order of these plagues here, even if we understand little of it.

Psalm 105 offers thanksgiving to Jehovah, and calls on the descendants of Abraham and Jacob to remember Him and glory in His name. Verses 7, 8 give the occasion. He is Jehovah, their God. His judgments are in all the earth. And He has remembered His covenant for ever... The psalm then tells how God had cared for the fathers, and judged Egypt to deliver His people. And despite their slavery, there was not one weak person among their tribes.

And first, the supernatural darkness. Without any warning to Pharaoh it spread over the land; a mysterious, dense darkness, which people on earth had never known. We cannot say what caused it. "He sent darkness," we read, "and made the land dark" (Ps. 105:28). That continued for three days. The morning light did not spread over the land. The noonday sun did not scatter the thick covering of darkness. Nothing could pierce it... He who long before divided the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:4) sent darkness on Egypt, while light shone in Goshen... How it subdued the people! They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days (Exodus 10:23).

Egypt worshipped the sun as the source of light... Suddenly a darkness you could feel came over Egypt. Pharaoh and all Egypt learned now that their idols were helpless. Darkness is the withdrawal of light. It stands for the solemn truth of being forsaken by God... God was about to abandon Egypt; the darkness was the herald of it. The severest judgment of all was about to fall on Egypt: the death of the firstborn. This darkness was God's final appeal to repentance. For three days it shut them in, and all business stopped. Rich and poor, king and beggar, the learned and the ignorant — that dreadful darkness covered every class... God waited, and in that silence and darkness appealed to their conscience.

The psalm gives the miracles in a different order from the history. There must, of course, be a reason for this. It seems they fall into two groups. First come the signs proper, whose force lay mostly in their testimony to the conscience. The second group holds those that flattened the land — miracles of destruction that left Egypt desolate. Among the signs proper, darkness stands at the head, the light of heaven withdrawn... In fact, they did not move from their seats during the three days it lasted. That is what the psalmist refers to here when he says, "they did not rebel against His words."

Most interpreters apply this to the Israelite leaders, contrasting it with how they behaved at the waters of Meribah. That seems quite against the flow of the passage. It cannot refer to the Egyptians' final surrender either. Here terror held them perfectly still — only for the moment, no doubt. But that made their later attitude all the more solemn.

The psalm mentions the ninth plague first. It stands out because no warning came beforehand, so that "they did not rebel against His words," as before. (v. 28.)

A terrible infliction this must have been. Blood in every vessel, and the river literally running blood! Who was working? The magicians did the same, though no doubt in a very limited sphere. But divine power was at work. At Cana He turned the water into wine to cheer His creatures. The same One turned the water of the Nile into blood in His judgment on the Egyptians. All the fish dead. Men and animals who depended on water found it turned into blood. Who had known such a thing before?

We now consider the first plague, the turning of the Nile and its branches into blood. The river was the very life of Egypt. The food, the wealth, and the beauty of the land all came from it. The first judgment of God fell upon Hapi, or Nilus. All Egypt owes its existence to this generous river. But the Egyptians did not own the fruitful Nile as made by God. They took it as the product of the Sun's impulse and of Creative Power, a stream produced, as it were, by nature out of nature. Now it was to be a river of death in the middle of the land.

The water of the Nile and of the canals and pools was turned into blood. The water stank, and the fish died. This was a real punishment, for it was the water they all drank, and they prized it. The fish too was plentiful: the Israelites in the wilderness could not forget the fish they had eaten freely, or "for nothing."

Darkness is mentioned first (v. 28), though it was not the first of the plagues but the ninth. Yet from the very first, the darkness in the hearts of the Egyptians showed itself. The turning of the waters into blood was the first plague, followed by the infestation of frogs (vv. 29-30). Flies are then mentioned here, and lice afterward (v. 31), though Exodus 8:16-20 has the reverse order.

The psalm mentions two plagues first: the darkness and the water turned to blood. They touched the two main sources of Egypt's existence and prosperity. The sun went dark and the water of the river turned into blood. This, if continued, would have brought the country to speedy ruin.

Next comes the history of Israel in Egypt. It shows not only God's care for His people, but His judgment on all who oppose and oppress them. The psalm names eight of the plagues that fell on Egypt. They are grouped together, not in historical order. The grouping brings out the devastating character of these judgments.

It was all very well to escape out of Egypt when the terrible judgments of God were falling on it one after another. At such a moment the meat pots, the leeks, the onions and the garlic held little attraction. They were bound up with the heavy plagues sent from the hand of an offended God. But now they have forgotten the plagues, and they remember only the meat pots.

The psalm now brings the history of Israel in Egypt before us. It shows not only God's care for His people, but also His judgment on all who oppose and oppress them. It refers to eight of the plagues that fell on Egypt. It groups them together, not in historical order, but in a way that brings out the devastating character of these judgments.

The next three plagues — the frogs, the flies and the lice (or 'gnats') — touched the persons of the Egyptians, humbling their pride and making life unbearable.

Here the order differs from the order in Exodus, and two miracles stand together to make the lesson clear. Two of the lowliest instruments bring down the pride of Egypt: the "swarms" (no doubt, of insects) and the "croakers of the marsh." That is what the word for frogs seems to mean in Hebrew.

At the word of the Lord the frogs swarmed over the country in huge numbers, against the ordinary instinct of the creature. They afflicted all things — houses, bedrooms, beds, ovens or dough. They afflicted all persons, whether the king or the people. Nothing and nobody was exempt from their slimy presence, their loud croaking and yelling.

The Egyptians counted frogs among their sacred animals. How humbling this second judgment must have been to them — to see these objects of disgust crowd their houses, and beds, and ovens, and kneading bowls! These animals never trouble the Egyptians at the beginning of the year. Still less do they come and go at the command of a man like Moses.

Egyptologists tell us the Egyptians believed a special goddess presided over the frogs and protected the land from them. Her name was Heki, and the monuments sometimes show her with the head of a frog. The Egyptians had to learn that Heki was nothing before the Lord. It illustrates the word, "on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments" (Exodus 12:12).

When had anyone known such a plague before? The Lord, the God of Israel, brought the frogs. The gods of the Egyptians could not guard their worshippers against them. The magicians brought up frogs too. But could they take them away? … Pharaoh knew then that the God of the Hebrews was more powerful than all the gods of Egypt. So he turned to Moses to plead with the Lord for him. Frogs crawled over the proud king's body, and he had to ask Moses to intercede for their removal. He did not appeal to the magicians, nor to those frog-shaped idols. He knew they could not help him.

The first plague taught the serious lesson of death. The second signifies uncleanness (Rev. 16:13-14). It pictures a far more revolting pollution — the moral and spiritual kind that infects every level of society when people refuse the Word of God. … God had done this to discipline Egypt. He wanted to expose to them the real state of moral uncleanness that spread through their nation.

"For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" — these mighty and stable powers came into existence by His mere command. He who brought them into being clearly still has them under His control.

arob, the dog-fly. In Psalm 78:45 and Psalm 105:31 the King James Version translates this word as "divers sorts of flies," referring to one of the plagues in Egypt. In Exodus 8:21-31 it translates the same word as "swarms [of flies]." So more than one kind may have been meant.

There was no warning. The rod was lifted, the dust struck, and at once Egypt was filled with lice, or mosquitoes — the exact meaning of the word translated "lice" is not at present known.

The next three plagues were the frogs, the flies and the lice (or "gnats"). They touched the persons of the Egyptians, humbling their pride and making life unbearable.

The very dust, the soil that yields rich crops, produces lice — the disgusting corruptions that flourish alongside the world's prosperity (Exodus 8:16). The plague of flies is similar (Exodus 8:20). It shows how all that the world values, if separated from God, will turn into plagues in the end.

Was there no limit to this plague? There was. The limit was territorial: not one of these insects found its way to the land of Goshen. God kept the Israelites free from them, while the insects tormented the Egyptians. The Lord plagued the Egyptians; the Lord sheltered His people… Here His power was on display. His directing hand could be seen keeping the insects within the set limits, and His mercy would be seen in removing them from the Egyptians.

Flies are mentioned here, and lice afterward (v. 31), though Exodus 8:16-20 has them in reverse order… We may be sure that God has good reason for changing the order of these plagues in this report. We may understand little of it.

It would seem that we have a classification of them in two divisions. First come the signs proper: those whose force lay for the most part in their testimony to the conscience. The second division consists more of those that really laid the land low — miracles of destruction that made Egypt desolate.

Those in the millennium were not present when God freed Israel from Egypt by His marvellous works. Yet they are still told to "remember His marvellous works." They can do this just as we can remember the whole history of the Lord Jesus… We can remember because we have God's Word for all this.

In all these dealings with His people — in the days of the patriarchs, in the days of Israel's slavery, or on their journey through the wilderness — there is no mention of their sins, their complaining and their rebellions. The psalm recounts it all to remind us of Jehovah's wonderful works, and of His faithfulness to His covenant.

Psalm 105 reviews the special dealings with Israel in past times. The psalm also has a present deliverance by judgment in view, but it looks at that deliverance as His faithfulness to His promise and grace. Here a present display of goodness awakens the memory of all God's past ways. That is what He is, what He always was.

The psalm next sets Israel's history in Egypt before us. It shows not only God's care for His people, but His judgment on all who oppose and oppress them. It mentions eight of the plagues that fell on Egypt. The plagues are grouped together, not in historical order, but in a way that highlights how devastating these judgments were.

Hail and flaming fire come next (v. 32), though two other plagues came in between before God sent these. Then come locusts beyond counting (v. 34), which ate up the plants of the land. We may be sure that God has good reason for changing the order of these plagues in this report, however little we understand it.

If the earth, away from God, is turned into a scene of corruption and ruin, heaven will frown on it as well. In the plague of hail we see the result of this contempt for God. Hail is rain chilled into ice. The very mercies of heaven, when despised, become pitiless judgment.

The storm was terrifying. It thundered; it hailed; and the lightning fire ran along the ground. There was hail, and fire mixed with hail, such as no one had ever seen. He who had power over the waters, the dust, and even over people's bodies, had power over the air as well. The God of the Hebrews was almighty.

The next two plagues — the hail and the locusts — destroyed their possessions and left them with nothing.

These judgments reveal Jehovah's holiness, His almighty power and His justice, as well as His patience and longsuffering. They point forward to all the judgments still to come on this earth. The advice God gave through Moses was loving and gracious (verse 19). No doubt there were many Egyptians who believed and escaped. The unbelieving suffered. Divine mercy still lingered.

Fire (lightning) came with the fearful hail and ran along the ground, and there was thunder too. The Hebrew calls these "the voices of God." The storm is a picture of God's wrath in judgment. Revelation mentions hail again and again, and there it is called "the plague of hail" (Rev. 8:7, 11:19, 16:21). The plagues of Egypt will come on this earth again during the great tribulation. Notice Pharaoh's confession. It shows what a deep impression this plague made on him (verse 27)... What a desperately wicked thing the human heart is. He sinned more after this than before.

It thundered; it hailed; and the lightning fire ran along the ground. There was hail, and fire mixed with hail, such as no one had ever seen. He who had power over the waters, the dust, and even over men's bodies, had power over the atmosphere as well. The God of the Hebrews was almighty. Man and beast must bow under His hand. "The hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field." Never before had such a storm struck the land. Never since has one matched it. Yet mercy appeared. The hail struck the flax and the barley, and those crops, we conclude, spoiled for that year. But the wheat and the rye escaped, because they had not yet sprung up. So there would be food for the year from these crops.

The next two plagues — the hail and the locusts — were destructive to their possessions, reducing them to destitution.

The plague of the locusts, together with that of the hail, destroyed the sacred trees of the land. These were especially prayed to at harvest time, and to the sycamore, people of every rank gave homage and offerings from the fruits of the earth.

If the earth away from God becomes a scene of corruption and desolation, heaven will frown on it too. In the plague of hail we see the result of this despising of God. Hail is rain chilled into ice. The very mercies of heaven despised are changed into pitiless judgment.

Hail and flaming fire are next noted (v. 32), though two other plagues actually came before these were sent. The locusts without number are mentioned (v. 34), which ate up the vegetation of the land. We may be sure that God has good reason for changing the order of these plagues in this report, little as we may understand it.

In Psalm 105 only divine goodness appears to Israel, and His judgments on their enemies, ending in Hallelujah. In Psalm 106, which begins and ends with Hallelujah, we have only Israel's evil ways confessed, but divine mercy on their cry.

Though hail is usually formed by natural causes not yet perhaps well understood, it is often referred to in Scripture as one of the judgments of God. It formed one of the plagues in Egypt. Ex. 9:18-34; Ps. 78:47-48; Ps. 105:32… It will also form a notable part of the judgments of God in His future dealings with this guilty world. Rev. 8:7; Rev. 11:19; Rev. 16:21.

Psalm 105 offers thanksgiving to Jehovah. It calls on the descendants of Abraham and Jacob to remember Him and glory in His name. Verses 7, 8 give the occasion. He is Jehovah, their God. His judgments are in all the earth. And He has remembered His covenant for ever... The psalm then recites how God had cared for the fathers, and judged Egypt for the deliverance of His people.

The hundred and fifth psalm is not the story of God's governmental ways with Israel as a whole, but simply of that which has to do with His action on their behalf, mainly in the deliverance in Egypt, and ending with their possession of the land.

Notice the stress laid on the word of God here. The natural system must bend to His will. Even His enemies set up fixed laws to shut Him out of sight and hearing. Again and again those laws have bowed to His word — not only in a small sphere, but on the largest scale... But His word He exalts above all His name. It is the expression of His mind, purpose and love, as well as His majesty in judgment.

Man may have turned away from God and become hostile to Him. But nature, in its whole framework, is obedient and serves Him still. So the sinner finds himself in a stream of hostile forces — the hosts of the Lord. The army of locusts gives us a vivid picture of them. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank" (Prov. 30:27)... They keep this discipline by instinct, with an invisible king. It shows whose hosts they are, and who marshals them: "His army," the Lord calls them (Joel 2:11).

So nature, with its laws, serves the Law-giver, and woe to those who contend against their God. They are hopelessly in the grasp of destructive forces which fully own the One they do not.

Horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and sheep had died of the disease. The hail had killed cattle too. It struck every plant of the field and broke every tree, and the flax and the barley with them. The desolation was indeed widespread. Now the locusts would complete it. Every green thing would be eaten.

Even in those days locusts were well known as a serious plague. This one was announced as worse still: it would destroy all that was left in the land... Only one way of escape was pointed out: Pharaoh humbling himself before the Lord, and letting Israel go.

The psalm notes hail and flaming fire next (v. 32), though two other plagues came before them. Then it mentions the locusts without number (v. 34), which ate up the plants of the land. We may be sure that God has good reason for changing the order of these plagues in this report, little as we may understand it.

Locusts covered the face of the whole earth and destroyed every green thing. On the ravages of the locusts we find a vivid description in the book of Joel. Locusts are typical of God's punitive judgments. The locust plague was aimed at showing the powerlessness of the Egyptian god Serapis. The Egyptians trusted him as their protector against locusts. Locusts are likewise mentioned in a symbolic way in Revelation 9:1-12.

These things are pictures for us, and the God of Israel is as full of power today as ever He was: these very locusts may remind us of that.

Psalm 105 takes up the simple purpose of promise, and that God has remembered His covenant. His judgments are now in all the earth, and He is Jehovah their God. The Lord has acted in their favour, according to His promise, to give them the land of promise. So their story is traced out: judgment on Egypt, and pure faithfulness of grace towards them... for the praise and blessing rest on Abraham, not on Sinai, and end in hallelujah.

The psalm next brings the history of Israel in Egypt before us. It shows God's care for His people, and also His judgment on all who oppose and oppress them. The psalm mentions eight of the plagues that fell on Egypt. It groups them not in historical order, but in a way that brings out how devastating these judgments were.

The next two plagues — the hail and the locusts — destroyed their possessions and left them with nothing.

Several species of locusts visit Palestine; the wind brings them, and the wind carries them away... Huge numbers swarm over a district all at once, and in a very short time they strip its plants bare. As the prophet says, the land in front of them may be like the Garden of Eden. Behind them it is a desolate wilderness. Nothing escapes them.

Man may have left God and turned hostile to Him. But the whole framework of nature still obeys Him and serves Him. So the sinner stands in a stream of hostile forces, the hosts of the Lord, and the army of locusts pictures them for us. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank." One observer says nothing in their habits is more striking than the way they all keep the same line of march, like a disciplined army. This built-in discipline, under a king no one can see, shows whose hosts they are and who is marshalling them. The Lord calls them "His army." ... To fight them is hopeless, and the destruction they cause is total.

Locusts covered the face of the whole earth and destroyed every green thing... Locusts are typical of God's punitive judgments. This plague aimed to show how powerless Serapis was. The Egyptians trusted that god to protect them from locusts.

The people of Egypt suffered the destruction of their land. But God delivers His people, and despite the oppression they had endured, He brings them out with gold and silver. Not one feeble person is found among their tribes.

Every juicy green plant fell before them. They took all that the hail had left. As far as the eye could reach, the land of Egypt was a wilderness, as barren as the yellow deserts on its borders. Goshen — the garden of Egypt — also fell under the plague, because its fruits and its crops were no longer needed for Israel.

The psalmist then recalls His ways as the Deliverer of His people in Egypt, and right on into the land. The striking of the firstborn was the blow that broke their chains off them. Yet it was only part of a long series of signs and wonders in which He had shown Himself for their deliverance.

The last plague fell on their children. If it had gone on, it would have wiped out the whole people.

The firstborn was the chief of their strength, all that man would glory in, the fulfilment of his hopes and desires. He struck down what stood for the "excellency of dignity" and the "excellency of strength" by human standards... Egypt pictures the world in its opposition to God. Pharaoh is its god and prince, and his spirit drives those he rules — not by right, but by seizure. So it is of the greatest importance for the children of God to realise that everything man glories in lies under the judgment of God. Death is on everything here, and all is shut up under death.

The firstborn are pictures of human excellence. They were the sons with a natural claim to the birthright — the place of honour and rule. "Reuben," says Jacob on his deathbed, "you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power." Yet he had to add, "Unstable as water, you shall not excel." So the firstborn sons in the book of Genesis lose the place of blessing. Cain — what is he? Ishmael gives place to Isaac; Esau to Jacob; Reuben to Joseph. "That which is first is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual."

At the start of Moses' mission the LORD said to Pharaoh: "Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, 'Let my son go that he may serve me.' If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son" (Ex. 4:22-23)... There was no respect of persons. Every country shields its royal palace as far as it can from the disasters that fall on the poor. That night the palace was no safer than the prison cell or the stable. Anguish tore the king's heart just as it tore the heart of the poorest of his subjects.

It is the Lord alone who can "put a difference" between those who are His and those who are not... in the case before us, we see it to be a simple question of life or death. This is God's great "difference." He draws a line. On one side of it is "life," on the other "death." Many of Egypt's firstborn may have been as fine and attractive as those of Israel, and much more so. But Israel had life and light, founded on God's purposes of redeeming love and established by the blood of the lamb.

Psalm 105 offers thanksgiving to the LORD, and calls on the offspring of Abraham and Jacob to remember Him and glory in His name... He is the LORD, their God. His judgments are in all the earth. And He has remembered His covenant for ever... The psalm then recounts how God had cared for the fathers, and judged Egypt for the deliverance of His people... All their later failure is not touched on.

Psalm 103 reviews God's moral dealings with the people. Psalm 104 reviews His dealings with creation, celebrating Jehovah, God of Israel, in connection with creation. Psalm 105 shows God's positive, special favour to them as His people, and Psalm 106 their failure under it.

The people of Egypt suffered the destruction of their land. But God delivers His own people. Despite the oppression they had endured, He brings them out with gold and silver. There is not one feeble person among their tribes.

In truth their wages were long overdue. No one had ever paid them. It is plain folly to think there was even the smallest breach of what was right and proper... They were to plunder their oppressors by God's authority. There was no question at all of deceit or dishonesty. Older translations give the impression of "borrowing," but that word is not needed here, and the passage does not support it.

God set apart the wealth that Israel took out of Egypt for His service in the tabernacle. It had a proper use, and God's claim rested on the wealth that came out of the land with them. Later the abuse of it comes out clearly, when the golden calf came before the dancing.

There were 600,000 men, so with the women and children the Israelites numbered at least two million... It must have been a wonderful sight to see such a crowd moving away from the scene of their slavery. It is often called the work of the mighty God.

When God does His work, He does it in a way worthy of Himself. When Israel came out of Egypt, they did not come out ashamed of themselves. They came out full-handed and equipped. They came out as the host of God should. Not a dog dared to move his tongue against them, nor was there one feeble person among their tribes. And so with us sinners going out from under the power of darkness with our Redeemer. We are not to go out with fear and suspicion, as though we could hardly trust the arm that was saving us.

"Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you" (Deut. 25:17-18). Does this not show some decline? When God brought them out of Egypt in all the triumph of the salvation He had worked, the Psalmist tells us that "there was not one feeble among their tribes." ... God's provision for the wilderness meets every need. But only as we take in that rich provision as food for our souls do we stay strong and fresh in spirit. Otherwise we grow weak, and then Amalek attacks us.

None of those returning will be weary or slumber or sleep. That reminds one of the time when the Israelites came up out of Egypt, when "there was not one feeble person among their tribes." Something like this will happen again.

The Egyptians were at first so eager to keep them. At last, after their punishment, they were just as anxious to get rid of them. "He will drive you away completely." "They were driven out of Egypt and could not wait" (Ex. 11:1; Ex. 12:39).

In fact, "Egypt was glad when they departed" (v. 38), for God put His fear into their hearts. The psalm does not mention that Pharaoh changed his mind after they left and tried to recapture them. But that foolish attempt ended in humiliating failure. He and his army drowned in the Red Sea.

To add to the dismay, the hand of Jehovah was heavy also upon "all the gods of Egypt." (Ex. 12:12.) In this act He judged their gods — probably the living creatures that represented them. It must have caused terror in every temple. God's vengeance fell on the gods of the land. It proved Jehovah's supremacy over all the powers men worshipped… Besides, Jehovah's hand struck only the firstborn, whether of people or of cattle. It showed His power so clearly that all Egypt dreaded death. They begged Israel to be gone, so that they would not all die as the firstborn had died.

Israel left Egypt in such haste that they took no supplies for immediate use. All they carried was the dough and the kneading troughs, bound on their shoulders with their clothes. In this way they depended wholly on Jehovah's care. The haste of their departure did more than satisfy the urgency of the Egyptians, who were God's agents in the matter. It also made sure they left at the time Jehovah had appointed.

There is a wonderful little sidelight here. It was not leavened because they were driven out of Egypt… I think what God gives us here is this. If they had not been in such a hurry, the leaven might have got in. I will help them to start right, says God. And so they were hurried out so quickly that they had no time to fail in obedience. I will at least help them to keep My word once in their history, says God.

A remarkable Scripture in Isaiah struck me recently. It speaks of Israel in a day to come, when God will deliver them again. "For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (Isa. 52:12). That is what they did in Exodus 12. They were like a lot of timid, frightened creatures fleeing from an angry enemy. They were "driven out of Egypt" (Ex. 12:39), so they went out in haste, and word reached the king of Egypt that "the people had fled" (Ex. 14:5)… One day it will not be in haste. By then they will have learned that the question is not between themselves and Pharaoh. It is between God and Pharaoh, as to whom they belong.

Psalm 105 takes up the simple purpose of promise, and how God has remembered His covenant… So their history is traced from of old. It shows judgment on Egypt, and pure faithfulness of grace towards them… and the gift of the land, which was pure grace according to promise also.