Read
The Lord Can Be Trusted
1 Praise the Lord
and pray in his name!
Tell everyone
what he has done.
2Sing praises to the Lord!
Tell about his miracles.
3Celebrate and worship
his holy name
with all your heart.
4Trust the Lord
and his mighty power.
5Remember his miracles
and all his wonders
and his fair decisions.
6You belong to the family
of Abraham, his servant;
you are his chosen ones,
the descendants of Jacob.
7The Lord is our God,
bringing justice
everywhere on earth.
8He will never forget
his agreement or his promises,
not in thousands of years.
* 9 God made an eternal promise
10 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
11when he said, “I'll give you
the land of Canaan.”
12At the time there were
only a few of us,
and we were homeless.
13We wandered from nation
to nation, from one country
to another.
14 God did not let anyone
mistreat our people.
Instead he protected us
by punishing rulers
15and telling them,
“Don't touch my chosen leaders
or harm my prophets!”
16 God kept crops from growing
until food was scarce
everywhere in the land.
17 But he had already sent Joseph,
sold as a slave into Egypt,
18 with chains of iron
around his legs and neck.
19Joseph remained a slave
until his own words
had come true,
and the Lord had finished
testing him.
20 Then the king of Egypt
set Joseph free
21 and put him in charge
of everything he owned.
22Joseph was in command
of the officials,
and he taught the leaders
how to use wisdom.
23 Jacob and his family
came and settled in Egypt
as foreigners.
24 They were the Lord's people,
so he let them grow stronger
than their enemies.
25They served the Lord,
and he made the Egyptians plan
hateful things against them.
26 God sent his servant Moses.
He also chose and sent Aaron
27to his people in Egypt,
and they worked miracles
and wonders there.
28 Moses and Aaron obeyed God,
and he sent darkness
to cover Egypt.
29 God turned their rivers
into streams of blood,
and the fish all died.
30 Frogs were everywhere,
even in the royal palace.
31 When God gave the command,
flies and gnats
swarmed all around.
32 In place of rain,
God sent hailstones
and flashes of lightning.
33He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees,
and he made splinters
of all the other trees.
34 God gave the command,
and more grasshoppers came
than could be counted.
35They ate every green plant
and all the crops that grew
in the land of Egypt.
36 Then God took the life
of every first-born son.
37 When God led Israel from Egypt,
they took silver and gold,
and no one was left behind.
38The Egyptians were afraid
and gladly let them go.
39 God hid them under a cloud
and guided them by fire
during the night.
40 When they asked for food,
he sent more birds
than they could eat.
41 God even split open a rock,
and streams of water
gushed into the desert.
42God never forgot
his sacred promise
to his servant Abraham.
43When the Lord rescued
his chosen people from Egypt,
they celebrated with songs.
44 The Lord gave them the land
and everything else
the nations had worked for.
45He did this so that his people
would obey all his laws.
Shout praises to the Lord!
Reflect
God is there for us and we can trust him. Even when our circumstances seem to take an unwelcomed turn, God is still at work. He has a way of moving us forward and keep his promises.
Psalm 105 is a beautiful snapshot of God’s faithfulness in the past history of Israel. The Psalmist invites us to continue to lean on him and to tell the story of his faithfulness to everyone. “Praise the Lord and pray in his name! Tell everyone what he has done.”
We may think at times that our difficulties indicate that the Lord has forgotten his word to us or even that our circumstances prevent him from fulfilling his word. Not so, says the Psalmist. We can rest in the assurance that God is working no matter what we go through. Paul in Romans 8:28 insists on this as well. “We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.”
Psalm 105 must have spoken straight to the heart of the Israelites. It was their story. It needed to be remembered along with the miracles God had done, proving that he would never let go of his promise to them. “He will never forget his agreement or his promises, not in thousands of years. God made an eternal promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when he said, “I’ll give you the land of Canaan” (vv 8-11). As the years and generations went by, he protected them in foreign lands; he caused them to be fruitful while waiting for the promise; he led them carefully through the wilderness and took care of them every day.
So it is for you and me. No matter where the day takes us, God is with us, true to his promises, and working to fulfill his word.
Respond
Dear faithful Father; you who continually work to fulfill your word, I trust you to fulfill your word in my life. I will be faithful and wait on you. Through Jesus my Lord. Amen.
Jacqueline Dugas
Jacqueline Dugas is Vice President and Director of Ministries at Every Home for Christ International/Canada (EHC), where she has served on the executive leadership team for more than two decades. Her ministry work involves speaking and writing for a trans-denominational and international audience on the broad topic of knowing God and making Jesus known everywhere. Jacqueline has authored 7 Days with Jesus, written as a follow up resource for Finding the Hope, EHC’s evangelism outreach in Canada and abroad. She has co-authored the widely used evangelism booklet, Finding the Hope, and the Finding the Hope Personal Kit, both published in multiple languages. She is co-producer of EHC’s monthly publication, Harvest Partner.