Psalms 105:12

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. - HE HATH REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT FOREVER, THE WORD WHICH HE COMMANDED - or 'ordained' as an unalterable "law" (): cf. ). His "covenant" is (as the parallel word explains) His "word" of promise that Israel should be His chosen people, and should possess Canaan (; ). TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS - a verbal allusion to : cf. . Connect this clause, not with "which He commanded," b...

12._When they were but very few in number _The prophet here recounts the benefits which God had conferred upon the holy fathers from the commencement, to manifest that even long before the deliverance from Egypt, the covenant was not ineffectual. The great object aimed at in this recital, is to show that ever since God took Abraham under his protection, he cherished him in a wonderful manner, and also that his fatherly love and care were displayed in maintaining and defending the other two patriarchs. When it is said, that _they were but very few in number, _the power of God by this circumstance is not only magnified, but the cause why he was so beneficent towards them is also pointed out. We must then, in the first place, attend to this, that the prophet, lest the Jews should arrogate anything to themselves, expressly declares, that their fathers had experienced the divine favor, even w...

8-23 Let us remember the Redeemer's marvellous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. Though true Christians are few number, strangers and pilgrims upon earth, yet a far better inheritance than Canaan is made sure to them by the covenant of God; and if we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, none can do us any harm. Afflictions are among our mercies. They prove our faith and love, they humble our pride, they wean us from the world, and quicken our prayers. Bread is the staff which supports life; when that staff is broken, the body fails and sinks to the earth. The word of God is the staff of spiritual life, the food and support of the soul: the sorest judgment is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Such a famine was sore in all lands when Christ appeared in the flesh; whose coming, and the blessed effect of it, are shadowed forth in the history of Joseph. At the app...

Verse Psalms 105:12. BUT _A FEW MEN_] When all appearances were against them, and nothing but the arm of God could have brought them through their difficulties, and given them a settlement in the promised land....

WHEN THEY WERE BUT A FEW MEN IN NUMBER - literally, “In their being people of number, very little.” That is, They could then be easily numbered, and they were so few that they could not take possession of it themselves. This is in contrast with the promise then made to them that they should be in number as the stars, and as the sand on the sea shore. AND STRANGERS IN IT - Foreigners. They were mere sojourners. They did not become incorporated with the people of the land. They did not acquire property there. They were regarded and treated as belonging to a foreign people. See the notes at Hebrews 11:9....

EXPOSITION This is sometimes called a "Hallelujah psalm," since it ends with that phrase. It is a song of praise to God for his dealings with his people, resembling in its general character Psalms 78:1. The opening passage is nearly identical with 1 Chronicles 16:8, and is thought to have been the original from which that passage was taken (Hengstenberg, Cheyne). The first six verse are an exhortation to praise, and constitute the "introduction." The remainder is an account of God's mercies to Israel as a nation, traced historically from the time of the covenant with Abraham to the occupation of the land of Canaan. The "introduction" forms a strophe by itself. It is usual to divide the historical portion into strophes; but this can only be done arbitrarily, there being no r

WHEN THEY WERE BUT A FEW MEN IN NUMBER,.... Or "men of number" d, that might easily be numbered; see Genesis 34:30, when this covenant, promise, and oath, were first made to Abraham, he was alone, and had no child; and when his posterity were increased in Jacob's time, and sojourned in Egypt, they were but few, though greatly enlarged when they came out of it: in comparison of other nations, they were the fewest of all people, and therefore had this grant of Canaan, not for their numbers any more than their goodness. And this circumstance is mentioned to show the unmerited goodness of God unto them; see Deuteronomy 7:6. And so the Lord's people, to whom he gives the kingdom of heaven, are a little flock; they are only a few that find the way to eternal life,...

Psalms 105 AND 106 The Memories of the Past The last two Psalms of this fourth section review the entire history of Israel up to the time of the judges. It is the story of God's faithfulness and mercy, and the story of their shameful failure and apostasy. He is ever mindful of His covenant, and that covenant is mentioned first, as the foundation of all. Then how He watched over them. The story of Joseph is mentioned, followed by the rehearsal of the deliverance out of Egypt. Psalms 106:1 is couched in words of confession, showing their failure all the way, sinning, forgetting, lusting, unbelieving and disobedient. Only infinite mercy and grace could save such a people. Prophetically these Psalms express the repentance and national confession of Israel, when the Lord has saved them. Then with a new

CV. HEBREW HISTORY FROM ABRAHAM TO JOSHUA. Psalms 105:1. Introductory. An invitation to praise God. Psalms 105:7. The covenant and promise of Canaan. Psalms 105:12. Yahweh's kindness to the Patriarchs. PSALMS 105:12. NUMBER: read perhaps, Canaan. Psalms 105:14. kings: notably Pharaoh and Abimelech of Gerar. Psalms 105:15. mine anointed ones, _i.e._ the Patriarchs who were gr

THEY. Some codices, with Aram, and Syriac, read "ye": i.e. not the three Patriarchs, but the descendants of each one respectively. FEW MEN IN NUMBER. men (Hebrew. _methim._ App-14. V) of number: i.e. soon numbered (see note on "almost", Proverbs 5:14). Compare Genesis 34:30; Deuteronomy 4:27; Deuteronomy 26:5.Jeremiah 44:28. (The opposite is "without number", Psalms 40:12.) This could not be said of the Patriarchs....