Psalm 104 — 105
around them and a testimony to the power and glory of the Lord. An obedient Israel was to be God's "exhibit A" to the nations so that they would want to know the true and living God of the Jewish people.
is glorifying the Lord (vv. 31–32). Beginning with our own bodies and minds, our abilities and possessions, we must gratefully accept all He has graciously given us and use it to glorify Him, not to please ourselves (Rom. 12:1–2; 1 Cor. 4:7). Second, we must praise the Lord, the Creator. What a marvelous gift is His creation! We need to get back to singing the great hymns and paraphrases of the psalms that exalt God the Creator. The more we thank God, the less we will exploit His gifts. Third, we should think about His creation and rejoice in it (v. 34). The study of natural science is but "thinking God's thoughts after Him." If earth and sky are declaring the glory of God (19:1), we who have been saved by His grace ought to be glorifying Him even more! Finally, we must pray for Christ's return (v. 35), for only then will the curse of sin be lifted from creation (Rom. 8:18–25). We must share the gospel with sinners so that they might be able to sing with us, "This is my Father's world."
In His sovereign grace, the Lord chose Abraham (vv. 6, 9, 42) and made His covenant with him (Gen. 12:1–5; 15:9–21; Acts 7:1–8), a covenant that would apply to all of Abraham's physical descendants as well as to believers today as Abraham's spiritual children (Luke 1:68–79; Gal. 3:1–9, 29). One of the covenant promises was the gift of the land of Canaan to the people of Israel (vv. 11, 42–44), and this promise was repeated to Abraham's son Isaac (Gen. 26:1–6) and to his grandson Jacob (Gen. 28:13–17). We see here the electing grace of God, for He chose Isaac, not Ishmael, and Jacob, not Esau (Rom. 9:6–18). This covenant will endure forever (vv. 8–11; Deut. 7:9). Again, this was an act of grace on the part of the Lord, for none of the patriarchs had any claim upon God nor did He owe them anything. They were homeless nomads—pilgrims and strangers (Heb. 11:8–16)—who depended on the Lord to protect and guide them (Gen. 34:30; Deut. 7:6–11; 26:5). Even when they erred, the Lord protected them and even reproved kings on their behalf (Gen. 12:10ff.; 20; 26; 32–33). God is sovereign, and though He does not turn men and women into robots, He does rule and overrule when they disobey. His will shall be done, and His plans shall be fulfilled (vv. 8–11; 19; 42; 33:11).