Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-060 Sunday 24 Mar 2002

Reading: PSALM 105 – THE GOD OF HISTORY

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

Every family and individual has a story. Think for a while about your own life history before launching into this psalm.

Looking back can be a most useful exercise, as long as you don’t either live in the past or try to relive it. God’s ‘today’ is always different and unique. But the longer you live, the more memory you have accumulated and this can be the source of considerable spiritual enrichment. The people of Israel frequently looked back, reminding themselves of God’s covenant promises, being warned by the false trails they followed and allowing themselves to be amazed at the gracious consistency of the Lord. Their earliest creed was in story form (Exodus 20:2; Deut 26:5-10) and they never tired of rehearsing their past, though making more of God’s achievements than their own.

So today’s psalm tells Israel’s story as part of a hymn of praise to God, which is the only sure way to avoid the temptation to be boastful. At every turn, it was God who caused things to happen, whether miracles of deliverance or acts of judgment (v 5). Even the Joseph saga, which could so easily have been read as a tragedy- turned-triumph, is introduced as a divine appointment (v 17, echoing Joseph’s own testimony).(Gen 45:8)

The golden thread that runs through Israel’s history is God’s promise, enshrined in the covenant made with Abraham (v 9), guaranteeing a thriving population and a secure land (v 11). Whether this promise still applies to Israel or has been superseded by the inauguration of the new covenant (Heb 8:13) is a matter for debate. But in his own day the psalmist was quite clear that whatever the political realities on the ground, the future was assured. God’s intervention in the past left no grounds for doubting his continuing faithfulness in the days to come.

‘How good is the God we adore Our faithful, unchangeable Friend His love is as great as his power And knows neither measure nor end’ (Joseph Hart, 1712-68).

– Bishop John B Taylor

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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