A Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Psalm 105 — A Confession of the Manifold Sins and Ingratitudes of the Israelites
Psalm 105
A Confession of the Manifold Sins and Ingratitudes of the Israelites
Explanation Of The Psalm
1 The prophet speaks here in the person of a faithful people sorry for their sins, and returning thanks to God. He invites all to praise God, for his goodness, for his previous direction of man, for the many favors he confers on him and because his mercy in receiving the returning sinner remains ever unchanged; it even exceeds our misery, which we may attribute to our crimes, which even, through God’s mercy, speedily disappear, whereas “his justice continueth forever and ever.”
2 Having invited all to praise God, he now asks where will anyone be found fit to praise him. “Who shall declare?” who is equal to the task? “The power of the Lord;” the words of his power, or rather, of his omnipotence, which he repeats when he says, “Who shall set forth all his praises?” arising from a knowledge of the works of his power. Though the prophet speaks of all the attributes of God as worthy of praise, he speaks principally of his power, to which all his attributes may be reduced. For, of his wisdom it is written, “She reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly;” and, in fact, God’s wisdom is all powerful, and cannot be thwarted, and as such cannot be deceived. By a similar process of reasoning, the works of his mercy may be brought under the head of his power, because God alone is absolutely merciful, for he alone can remove all misery; and thus, he alone is, properly speaking, merciful, and that by reason of his omnipotence. He, then, that could speak of all God’s powers, could also cause all his praises to be heard. But where is the man capable of doing that? The just man, in this life, can do it to a certain extent, according to his abilities; but much more fully and satisfactorily will it be done by the blessed in the world to come; and, therefore, the prophet, in answer to his own query, says,
3 As much as to say, they alone are blessed, and, therefore, alone able to declare the power of the Lord, and to set forth his praises, “who keep judgments, and do justice at all times;” that is, they who always form a correct judgment on everything they do, by reason of their following the rule of the divine law in all their actions; and thus lead a life of sanctity, in declining from evil, and doing good. This may be applied to the blessed on their pilgrimage, as well as to the blessed in heaven; the former “keep judgment and do justice,” to the best of their abilities, as far as human frailty will allow them, and they ask pardon for their daily sins; the latter do it with that amount of perfection that leaves no room for any sin. Thus, both are required to praise God, but in a different way, according to the relative degree of their perfection and happiness.
4–5 Having said that to the just and the blessed belonged the duty of praising God, he wishes that he and his may share in that pleasing duty, and briefly touches on predestination, justification, and glory, the beginning, the means, and the end of human happiness. “Remember us, O Lord, in the favor of thy people.” Carry out those benevolent intentions of yours in regard of your people, that of your pure free will you selected before the beginning of the world to be your little flock, and to bestow your everlasting kingdom on them. “Visit us with thy salvation;” and, in order to carry that out, visit us through Christ our Savior, cleansing us, through his merits, from our sins, “that we may see the good of thy chosen.” That, having been predestined, and justified, we may come to see the good of thy chosen, which means that the very face of the Lord may be made conspicuous to us. “For we shall then be like to him when we shall see him as he is,” 1 Jn. 3. By the “good of thy elect” we are not to understand their own probity or goodness, but the supreme happiness that is their lot. “That we may rejoice in the joy of thy nation.” That we may partake in that unspeakable joy that arises from the beatific vision, which is the peculiar property of your nation; that is, of your chosen people, of which strangers cannot taste, of which the gospel says, “Enter into the joy of thy Lord,”—“that thou mayest be praised with thy inheritance;” that all your favors may have the effect of eternal praise being rendered to you and your inheritance; to you for having produced so noble a work, and to the inheritance, as being the work of your own hands; to you, as being a most powerful, wise, superior, and excelling artist, to whom no one can be compared; and to your inheritance, as a most perfect incomparable work, that cannot be equalled. By “inheritance” is meant that assembly of the just selected by God as his own possession; for inheritance and possession appear to be synonymous in the Scripture, and are used indiscriminately.
6–12 The prophet, speaking now in the person of those not quite perfect, but still penitent, begins to confess his sins and the sins of their fathers from the time of their departure out of Egypt to the present day, coupling it with praise of God’s mercy that never closes its bosom against the penitent. Those verses are easily understood from the book of Exodus and Psalm 77. “We have sinned with our fathers” means, we, too, have sinned by imitating them. “Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt” refers to the time when they saw Pharao’s army in pursuit of them, and got so dispirited that they began to murmur against Moses for having led them out of Egypt; for had they understood the previous miracles that had been performed by the Almighty they would have placed unbounded confidence in his hope and protection. “And they provoked to wrath” means, that when they saw the Red Sea before them, and Pharao’s army behind them, they provoked God by their diffidence and incredulity. “Going up to the sea, the Red Sea,” means, on their journey to the Red Sea. “He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up,” is a poetical expression, signifying that the Red Sea retired at God’s command, just as a slave would fly from his master’s presence on being severely rebuked. “And he led them through the depths;” that is, through the place that a moment before had been the depths of the sea; an expression similar to “the blind see, the deaf hear,” meaning, those who had been so afflicted.