1 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name:
make known his deeds among the people.
2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him:
talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord, and his strength:
seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
ye children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God:
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which covenant he made with Abraham,
and his oath unto Isaac;
10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
the lot of your inheritance:
12 When they were but a few men in number;
yea, very few, and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another people;
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong:
yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm.
16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land:
he brake the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man before them,
even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters:
he was laid in iron:
19 Until the time that his word came:
the word of the Lord tried him.
20 The king sent and loosed him;
even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house,
and ruler of all his substance:
22 To bind his princes at his pleasure;
and teach his senators wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt;
and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And he increased his people greatly;
and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to deal subtilly with his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant;
and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They shewed his signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
and they rebelled not against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
and slew their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies,
and lice in all their coasts.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees;
and brake the trees of their coasts.
34 He spake, and the locusts came,
and caterpillers, and that without number,
35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land,
and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
the chief of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold:
and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed:
for the fear of them fell upon them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering;
and fire to give light in the night.
40 The people asked, and he brought quails,
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;
they ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
and his chosen with gladness:
44 And gave them the lands of the heathen:
and they inherited the labour of the people;
45 That they might observe his statutes,
and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.
Comments by Joan Boney
In the first verse of this Psalm, there is so much important instruction:
1 O give thanks unto the Lord;
call upon His name:
make known His deeds among the people.
One of the most powerful weapons of spiritual warfare is the giving thanks to God for all HE has done, past and present. When we thank God for our salvation ... then look around us and thank God for where HE has put us ... then thank God for those things we do not have that we lusted after (usually we can see how bad it would have been for us had God given us our desires) ... and we thank God for the things we know HE has given us ... and we thank God for the many examples in the Bible where HE delivered HIS people... we rejoice ... and devils who would bring destructive thoughts to us to pull us down flee at the thanks to God.
The heathens never think of God, except to curse God's name. But we who are of God call on God continually. We are sure we do not know of ourselves what we should do. We know God knows. The heathen think they know all things. We know we don't know. So we call on God.
My greatest delight is to make God's works known, to talk about that which God has done. make known HIS deeds among the people.
talk ye of all his wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord, and his strength:
seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
If we who are of God do these things, how can we fail? How could we be depressed and oppressed?
And focus on today, not tomorrow. Most of those things that concern us are things imagined about tomorrow, think that "might" happen... not even real things ...
I Tim. 6 ... 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil:which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
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God is in control. Doesn't the sun come on us in day? Isn't God faithful daily?
Even when evil doers seem in charge, are they really?
24 And he increased his people greatly;
and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to deal subtilly with his servants.
God even caused the enemy to turn against HIS own people ... God is in control of the enemy.
In the above case, God was going to show HIS power to HIS people by dealing with the enemy in HIS time.
There are many cases in Bible where God's people forgot HIM and worshiped idols and God raised up strange nations to overcome HIS people ... but over and over we see when the people of God were in captivity and cried out to God, God delivered them.
We exhort ourselves in the examples of the Bible and remind ourselves that God is in control even now in our day. Isn't the sun out there doing God's assignment? Isn't God faithful to HIS word, to what HE promises.
Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
How could we see this year after year and day and night and not see the faithfulness of God?
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And the great power of God to accomplish HIS own purpose is shown many times in scripture and in our lives ...
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
and they rebelled not against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
and slew their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies,
and lice in all their coasts.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees;
and brake the trees of their coasts.
34 He spake, and the locusts came,
and caterpillers, and that without number,
35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land,
and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
the chief of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold:
and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed:
I laugh when I read this! I greatly rejoice in these scriptures. I'm encouraged and overcome through these scriptures when I think of them. They help me to see those things that seem big to me are nothing to God.
We must learn to encourage ourselves in God by going back and reading the things God has done! For these examples in the Bible greatly help us when we think on them.
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And didn't God provide for HIS people as long as HE left them on this earth?
David said ... Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
When there was no way to get food God sent manna.
When there was no water, God brought water out of a rock (impossible to do this but God did).
There were 600,000 men plus women and children walking out there through that wilderness. It was no problem for God to provide for them. And God did provide for them.
And the faithfulness of God never failed just as the sun never failed.
We should encourage ourselves daily by the things of God both in the scriptures and in our lives.
The truth of God is all around us. We just need to look and focus and keep our minds on HIS truth to overcome.