Psalm
105:4–5 (NKJV)
4Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
5Remember His marvelous works which He
has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
Today we
will finish our study in Psalm 105. We
have been looking at the Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving which were first
penned by David for Asaph at the dedication of the tabernacle in I Chronicles
16:7-14.
The ninth
command we are told in verse four is to, “Seek His Face.” This seek is to search for, look for with the
intention of learning more information about God. It implies a diligence or hard work in gaining
that information. [1] Yet
here it is not just God that we are seeking but his face. God’s people should be
aware that his face can be turned away from them in grief and displeasure or
turned towards them to smile upon them in favour and approval.[2]
One can do a study of the passages in scripture that talk about
“pleasing God” or doing His will. But
does that idea of pleasing God even concern us? Do we train our kids to
seek God’s guidance and try to please him as they make decisions regarding their
life plans? Do we make decisions based
on what is pleasing to God? So that his
face is shining on us?
The final
commandment for us in this passage is, “Remember His Marvelous works.” Vs. 5
When we remember we recall
the information or events that God has done.
His Marvelous works can be wonderful,
marvelous, or amazing; but part of what makes them wonderful is the attitude of
great surprise and awe over what God has done or is doing. [3]
The passage goes on and says to
remember his wonders. These wonders
are miracles or prophetic signs that show God’s power or causes a response of
awe. [4]
And then he finishes the statement
encouraging us to remember his judgment. It is God who will decide our legal standing
in regards to his law.
This choice
to remember has to be a purposeful thing.
Those who do not can quickly turn from God. In Joshua 24 Joshua had challenged the people
to “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”
They agreed to do so and to serve God all their days. Yet as we turn just a couple of pages to
Judges
2:10–13 (ESV) we read, 10”And all that generation also
were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them
who did not know the Lord or the
work that he had done for Israel. 11And the people of Israel did
what was evil in the sight of the Lord
and served the Baals. 12And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had
brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among
the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they
provoked the Lord to anger. 13They
abandoned the Lord and served the
Baals and the Ashtaroth.” One generation
of not remembering and the nation quit serving the LORD!
What are we doing for our children and
grandchildren? Are we sharing with them
God’s wonders?
The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton FW #25
[1] Ibid.
[2] Roger Ellsworth, Opening Up Psalms (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2006), 152.
[3] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old
Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.,
1997).
[4] ibid
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