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Psalm 105

Psalm 105 recounts how God remembers his covenant through generations, bringing his people into the promised land to obey him.

The unnamed psalmist calls Abraham’s descendants to thank YHWH and tell the nations what he has done. The song traces God’s covenant promise through the ancestors’ wanderings, Joseph’s slavery and rise to power, and Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. God sends famine and plagues, frees his people, and provides food and water in the wilderness. The account ends with Israel receiving the land promised to Abraham, with a stated purpose: keeping God’s statutes and laws.

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1Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.
2Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.
3Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4Seek the LORD and his strength. Seek his face forever more.
5Remember his marvelous works that he has done: his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6you offspring of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7He is the LORD, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.
8He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,
10and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,”
12when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.
13They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.
14He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15“Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”
16He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
17He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.
18They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,
19until the time that his word happened, and the LORD’s word proved him true.
21He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions,
22to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
23Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
24He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.
25He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn’t rebel against his words.
29He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.
30Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings.
31He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.
32He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.
33He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
34He spoke, and the locusts came with the grasshoppers, without number.
36He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.
37He brought them out with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
38Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them.
39He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.
40They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
41He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
42For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.
43He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing.
44He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
45that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!
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Key verses
Psalm 105:1The opening command joins thanksgiving to public witness, setting the purpose for the long account of God’s deeds.
Psalm 105:3Joy rests in YHWH’s holy name, directing Abraham’s descendants toward the God whose faithfulness the song recounts.
Psalm 105:41Water flowing through dry places brings the wilderness account to its close, showing God sustaining the people he has freed.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis shares the covenant promise to Abraham’s family and the account of Joseph’s slavery and rise to power, while Exodus shares the plagues and deliverance from Egypt. Numbers shares the wilderness provision, and Deuteronomy links possession of the promised land with obedience to God’s commands.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do Joseph’s shackles add to the psalm’s account of God remembering his covenant?

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How does the final verse shape your understanding of everything God has done in this psalm?

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Questions people ask about Psalm 105

What is Psalm 105 about?

Psalm 105 is a song of thanksgiving that recounts God’s faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham. It follows the family’s growth into a people, their deliverance from Egypt, and their reception of the promised land. Its closing verse states the purpose of these gifts: obedience to God’s laws.

Who are the anointed ones in Psalm 105:15?

In context, the anointed ones are Abraham and his family, described as few in number and living as foreigners among other nations. God protects them and rebukes kings for their sake. The verse concerns God’s protection of these covenant ancestors; it gives no blanket immunity from correction to religious leaders.

Why does Psalm 105:25 say God turned their hearts to hate his people?

The verse places Egypt’s hostility within the psalm’s account of God’s rule over Israel’s history. It says God turned their hearts, while also describing the Egyptians as conspiring against his servants. The psalm does not explain how God’s rule relates to their choices. It moves next to God sending Moses and Aaron.

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Psalms · 150 chapters
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What the Bible says about gratitude →What the Bible says about worship →What the Bible says about patience →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).