“For He remembered His holy word
With Abraham His servant;
And He brought forth His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
He gave them also the lands of the nations,
That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
So that they might keep His statutes
And observe His laws,
Praise the Lord!”
Psalm 105:42-45
Tucked away at the end of Psalm 105 are five aspects of God’s character that offer the Christian hope in a wild world.
- God keeps His promises.
- God delights in His people.
- God provides for His people’s needs.
- God gives guidance for maintaining His fellowship.
- God’s people offer Him praise.
God keeps His promises.
“For He remembered His holy word with Abraham His servant…”
Back in Genesis 12, God asked Abram to leave his native country and relocate to the Land of Canaan. Not an easy or safe thing to do, practically speaking. At the same time, God also made some promises to Abram, which He later expanded in Genesis 15 and 17, benefiting Abram and his family. And so, by Genesis 22, when God asks Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice, he had had plenty of time to see God’s covenant-keeping character. In fact, we later read in Hebrews 11:17-19, regarding Isaac’s sacrifice, that Abraham trusted God so much that He would even raise Isaac from the dead.
The only way resurrection is even a possibility is because Christ was raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15)!
God keeps His promises!
God delights in His people.
“…And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout….”
God delights in His people. They are His possession. He is jealous for them, not in a sinful odd way, but in a loving righteous way. He brought His people forth and continues to bring new people unto Himself. He sings over His people with delight as Zephaniah 3:17 tells us.
The only way eternal delight from God for His people is possible is if God crushed His Son on their behalf, paying for their sin and rose from the grave, promising them eternal life as part of His new creation. God’s delight in His people is directly tied to Christ’s sacrifice and our union with Him.
God delights in His people!
God provides for His people’s needs.
“…He gave them also the lands of the nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor…”
We learn in Deuteronomy 6 and other passages that Israel was given homes they did not build, vineyards they did not plant, and cisterns they did not dig. God provided this for His people as part of His fulfilling promises to Abraham, but also to provide for their physical needs as they flourished like vibrant trees. He let them know that He was their Provider, and that He had removed the previous occupants of the land because of their sin (Leviticus 18).
The only hope of enduring provision is from Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. In fact, we learn in John 15 that Jesus Christ is the true vine, and the only source of life available for His disciples.
God provides for His people’s needs!
God gives guidance for maintaining His fellowship.
“…So that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws…”
In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-29, we observe the clarity of God’s expectations for His people. If they obeyed His Law and Statutes, they would be physically and spiritually blessed and remain in fellowship with Him. If they disobeyed, they would be physically cursed and would suffer the consequences of military defeat, droughts, famines, and more.
Only Jesus fully obeyed God’s commands (Matt. 5:17-18) and then became cursed for His people so that they would receive His blessing and ultimate fellowship with God (Gal. 3:10-14). Christ’s blessings of salvation are not earned, but accepted by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).
God gives guidance for coming into and maintaining fellowship with Him!
God’s people offer Him praise.
“…Praise the Lord!”
The ancient Israelites were to ascribe praise to God as part of their everyday lives (Psalm 95). The only right and proper responses to God’s goodness, grace, and more are praise. Only God deserves our praise, and the people of God offer songs and shouts of praise to Him as they respond to His character, His intervening grace, and so much more.
We see in Matthew 11:25 and John 17:4 that even Christ praises God, the maker of heaven and earth. It was Christ’s praise demonstrated by His obedience to Father, even unto death, that offers us not only a model of praise (dying to live), but a promise that our praise reaches the Father (1 Pet. 1:3).
God’s people offer God praise!
Conclusion
God is a covenant-keeping God who delights in His people, provides for their needs, and offers fellowship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. The response of God’s people to this God? Praise!
God help us to praise you with our lives! Amen.
— October 16, 2025