Day 12 of Lent: March 18, 2024

The 105th Psalm you will read below tells the story of God’s unwavering faithfulness to God’s people. It is a journey of a people from despair to deliverance, from ashes to alleluia. It recounts the story moral of God’s movement among the Hebrew Nation. It tells of God’s great love and saving grace while tracing Israel’s path from a small scattered, wandering people to a nation that has been released from the bonds of slavery and given the land promised to Abraham.

This psalm is a reminder that the trials and hardships of life do not define our destiny—God’s promises do. Israel was small and insignificant, enslaved and oppressed, yet God walked with them through every hardship, raising up leaders, performing mighty acts, and leading them into a future of hope. From Joseph’s who suffered because of his brother's jealousy which led him to be in chains in the monarch’s prison to the and eventually to the exodus led by Moses, God’s guiding hand was always at work, even in the darkest moments.

As we remember these stories as we journey from the somberness of Ash Wednesday to the joy of Easter, we are invited to trust in this same ever faithful God. Our struggles may be hard, our wildernesses long, but just as God walked with Israel, God walks with us.

And just as their story ended in joyful song, so too will ours. Even in the ashes, we can look ahead with hope, knowing that alleluias are coming.

Psalm 105

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

1 O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;    

make known his deeds among the peoples.

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;    

tell of all his wonderful works.

3 Glory in his holy name;    

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4 Seek the Lord and his strength;    

seek his presence continually.

5 Remember the wonderful works he has done,   

his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,

6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,[a]    

children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

7 He is the Lord our God;    

his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He is mindful of his covenant forever,    

of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,

9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,    

his sworn promise to Isaac,

10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,    

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan    

as your portion for an inheritance.”

12 When they were few in number,    

of little account and strangers in it,

13 wandering from nation to nation,    

from one kingdom to another people,

14 he allowed no one to oppress them;    

he rebuked kings on their account,

15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;    

do my prophets no harm.”

16 When he summoned famine against the land   

and cut off every supply of bread,[b]

17 he had sent a man ahead of them,    

Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.

18 His feet were hurt with fetters;    

his neck was put in a collar of iron;

19 until what he had said came to pass,    

the word of the Lord kept testing him.

20 The king sent and released him;    

the ruler of the peoples set him free.

21 He made him lord of his house    

and ruler of all his possessions,

22 to instruct[c] his officials at his pleasure    

and to teach his elders wisdom.

23 Then Israel came to Egypt;    

Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful    

and made them stronger than their foes,

25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,    

to deal craftily with his servants.

26 He sent his servant Moses    

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27 They performed his signs among them    

and miracles in the land of Ham.

28 He sent darkness and made the land dark;    

they rebelled[d] against his words.

29 He turned their waters into blood    

and caused their fish to die.

30 Their land swarmed with frogs,    

even in the chambers of their kings.

31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies    

and gnats throughout their country.

32 He gave them hail for rain    

and lightning that flashed through their land.

33 He struck their vines and fig trees    

and shattered the trees of their country.

34 He spoke, and the locusts came,    

and young locusts without number;

35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land    

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,    

the first issue of all their strength.

37 Then he brought Israel[e] out with silver and gold,    and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.

38 Egypt was glad when they departed,    

for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering    

and fire to give light by night.

40 They asked, and he brought quails    

and gave them food from heaven in abundance.

41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;    

it flowed through the desert like a river.

42 For he remembered his holy promise    

and Abraham, his servant.

43 So he brought his people out with joy,    

his chosen ones with singing.

44 He gave them the lands of the nations,    

and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,

45 that they might keep his statutes    

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord!