Chapter One Hundred Five

Having concluded a detailed account of the history of the Hebrew people with their exodus from Egypt, the writer continues to describe the especially prominent events of their further history, their wandering and settlement in Palestine.

Praise the Lord for all his mercies, which are countless (1–3). Remember me, O Lord, and let me see the prosperity of your chosen ones, saved from the nations (4–5). We have constantly sinned against you. The people rebelled at the Red Sea, but you dried it up, led your people through on dry ground, and drowned the enemies (6–12). But this blessing was soon forgotten. In the wilderness, during murmuring, God miraculously sent food, but at the same time punished the grumblers (“graves of craving”). Those who rose up against Moses and Aaron were swallowed by the earth. The people angered God by worshipping an idol calf at Horeb, but at the intercession of Moses the Lord took pity on them (13–23). They sinned through unbelief when the spies returned, for which the Lord pronounced punishment on them (24–27). Having reached the eastern side of the Jordan valley they gave themselves over to idolatry, for which they were punished, and Phinehas the zealot for the Lord was rewarded. At the waters of Meribah they once more angered the Lord and even Moses, who erred with his mouth, was punished (he was not allowed to enter Palestine) (28–33). Many times after taking possession of Palestine they angered God by turning to idolatry, for which the Lord sent enemies against them, and at repentance—saved them (33–46). Save us even now, O God, from scattering among the nations, so that we may praise your name (47).

Psalm 105:1. Praise the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. The first verse probably represents a customary liturgical addition, as in Psalm 104.

Psalm 105:2. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise? Psalm 105:3. Blessed are those who always act justly, who do what is right. The question in the second verse is rhetorical. The answer to it flows from the entire account in the previous psalm of the history of God’s guidance of the Hebrew people and the numerous miracles which he performed for them: all of God’s great deeds cannot be recounted, and therefore there is no measure to the praise which should be offered to him. “Those who keep justice and do righteousness”—always following the prescriptions of his law.

Psalm 105:4. Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you show your people; come to my aid with your salvation, Psalm 105:5. so that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and glory with your inheritance. The writer calls upon the Lord to save his people and grant him together with it to rejoice at the manifestation of his favor. The people are presented here as being in a difficult situation and needing salvation. In comparison with verse 47 it becomes clear that the prayer is for “salvation,” which is the gathering from scattering among the pagan nations, that is, the return from Babylonian captivity.

Psalm 105:7. Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand your wonders; they did not remember your many kindnesses, but they rebelled at the sea, the Red Sea. The Hebrews “did not understand your wonders”—not in the sense that they did not see in all that God did toward the Egyptians the direct help of him, but that they, crushed earlier by the Egyptian bondage, helpless before the advancing armies of Pharaoh, considered their position hopeless and thereby showed a lack of faith in Jehovah, a lack of confidence in the constancy of his protection over them and his almighty power.

Psalm 105:12. And they believed his promise and sang his praise. The Hebrews were like children in their faith in God: at every help given to them by God, they came into rapturous ecstasy, as was the case after the drowning of the Egyptians, but when things went poorly and in difficult circumstances—they fell into despair and showed distrust of Jehovah.

Psalm 105:20. They exchanged their glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass. During Moses’ time on Sinai the Hebrews cast for themselves a golden calf, to which they bowed down. This calf reminded them of the god of the Egyptians, Apis, whose worship they were well acquainted with during their long stay in Egypt. When on high Sinai were being composed the commandments of the Ten Words, among which was the one that there could be no likeness of God either in heaven, on earth, or in general in any objects of the visible world, the Hebrews worshipped the works of their own hands as the true God. The true God, who made the name of the Hebrews glorious, was replaced by a bull. Here is indicated a characteristic trait of the Hebrews, as of peoples in general of Semitic origin, their inclination toward the material and tangible even in the realm of religious belief.

Psalm 105:23. And he would have destroyed them, if Moses, his chosen one, had not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he might not destroy them. “Moses... stood before him in the breach”—an image of God’s wrath, which wanted to destroy his people, like a hunter from behind rocks killing an animal he is hunting. Moses entreated the Lord, and the punishment earned by the Hebrews passed over them (Exod 32:11).

Psalm 105:24. Yet they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise; “They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.” Reference is made to the fact that upon the return of the spies, who together with accounts of the fertility of Palestine spoke of the awesome giants inhabiting it, the Hebrews became frightened of the battle that awaited them and, in their opinion, was too difficult for them, and Palestine lost its value as the pleasant land. In this fact is expressed the disbelief in the promise which God gave them regarding the conquest of Palestine.

Psalm 105:28. They joined themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless idols, “They joined themselves to the Baal of Peor”—god of the Ammonites. This was after the victory over the Midianites, when the Hebrews provoked the displeasure of Moses because they did not kill the women of Midian, since the latter, on the advice of Balaam, became the means by which the sons of Israel were led astray from the Lord. “They ate sacrifices offered to lifeless idols”—they ate the sacrificial meat offered to idols.

Psalm 105:30. And Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked. The zeal of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, served as the source of the cessation of God’s wrath upon the Hebrews for their attraction to Baal-Peor (Num 25:1-14).

Psalm 105:31. And it was reckoned to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever. The line of Eleazar, to which Phinehas belonged, retained the high priesthood until Eli, and from Solomon until the Maccabees, which was the reward for the zeal he demonstrated.

Psalm 105:41. and gave them into the hands of the heathen, and those who hated them ruled over them. “Gave them into the hands of the heathen”—probably here is meant the captivity by the Babylonians.

Psalm 105:45. and remembered his covenant with them and relented according to the abundance of his mercy; The Lord “relented” not in the sense of the awareness of error in his actions, for the Lord cannot make mistakes, but in the sense that—he showed compassion to the Hebrews and revoked the manifestation of his righteous anger upon them.

Psalm 105:48. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah! A liturgical addition.