"O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon His name: make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him: talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD."
Psalm 105:1-3
Part 2
Yesterday: Thank the Lord!
“O give thanks unto the LORD.”
“Call upon His name.”
“Make known His deeds among the people.”
Today: Sing to the Lord!
“Sing to Him; sing praises to Him. Tell about the amazing things He has done” (Psalm 105:2, HSB [1]).
“Sing unto Him.”
Our God loves music. He loves to hear His praise in music. So let’s sing to our God!
“Sing unto Him – Sing before Him; offer Him praise” [2] (Barnes).
“Sing to Him: As in many other places in the psalms, God’s people are told the importance of praising Him in song. The songs should be sung to Him, and not to an audience or merely for one’s own pleasure” [3] (EWC).
“Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding” (Psalm 47:6-7).
“O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day” (Psalm 96:1-2).
“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory” (Psalm 98:1).
“Sing unto the LORD; for He hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee” (Isaiah 12:5-6).
“Sing psalms unto Him.”
Our praise is directed to Him.
“The idea here is that He is to be approached, not merely with ‘singing,’ but with sentiments expressed in the form of regular composition – in musical numbers” [4] (Barnes).
“Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm” (Psalm 98:5).
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
“Talk ye of all His wondrous works.”
Think about His wondrous works and tell others what He has done.
“Talk Ye”
The ancient word “talk” that is used here means “to put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing” [5] (BDB).
Our words that we tell others concerning God’s working in our lives have been well thought through as we’ve mused upon them. We’ve meditated, rolled His deeds around in our minds so that we have seen them from every angle. And then we share His works with others to make our God famous among them.
“Talk ye – The word used here very commonly means to meditate, to muse…, but would here seem to be employed in the sense of ‘talking over,’… in singing. That is, in the psalms used, let there be a ‘narrative’ of what God has done. Let His works be the subject of the words used in the psalm” [6] (Barnes).
“Of All His Wondrous Works.”
God’s “wondrous works” are speaking “… of His miracles” [7] (Clarke). These are His miraculous deeds He has done for us that we are to be telling to others.
“tell of all his wonderful works Focuses on Yahweh’s excellence and moral goodness displayed in His actions” [8] (FSB).
“God’s people should talk of all His wondrous works!” [9] (EWC).
“I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalm 77:11-12).
“Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works” (Psalm 119:27).
Believers, never forget! We need always to remember our God and never forget to share with others what He has done for us! As Moses recounted the law with the Children of Israel, he reminded them never to forget these words and always tell others.
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
Here is a great hymn that we ought to sing to our God.
O Worship the King
By Robert Grant [10]
O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.
O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.
The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.
Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend.
O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.
Please join us tomorrow as we think about how we, His children, can glory in His Holy Name.
Quote: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Psalm 105:2. The emphasis is his.
[3] EWC is the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. The emphasis is theirs.
[4] Albert Barnes, ibid.
[5] BDB is Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[6] Albert Barnes, ibid. The emphasis is his.
[7] Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Psalm 105:2.
[8] FSB, Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 105:1–5). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] EWC, ibid.
[10] “O Worship the King,” text by William Kethe, pub.1561, recast by Robert Grant, published 1833. Tune LYONS. Music by Joseph M. Kraus, ca.1785, arr. by William Gardiner, pub.1815. Copyright status, Public Domain.