Psalm 105

We’re reading through, and with intentionality, praying through the Psalms during this school year. There are 150 Psalms, divided into 180 different readings. See this post for more info.

Here is today’s prayer, preceded by the text from the Contemporary English Version, copyright 1995, by the America Bible Society:

Praise the Lord and pray in his name! Tell everyone what he has done. Sing praises to the Lord! Tell about his miracles. Celebrate and worship his holy name with all your heart.

Trust the Lord and his mighty power. Remember his miracles and all his wonders and his fair decisions.
You belong to the family of Abraham, his servant; you are his chosen ones, the descendants of Jacob.

The Lord is our God, bringing justice everywhere on earth. He will never forget his agreement or his promises, not in thousands of years. God made an eternal promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when he said, “I’ll give you the land of Canaan.”

At the time there were only a few of us, and we were homeless. We wandered from nation to nation, from one country to another. God did not let anyone mistreat our people. Instead he protected us by punishing rulers and telling them, “Don’t touch my chosen leaders or harm my prophets!”

God kept crops from growing until food was scarce everywhere in the land. But he had already sent Joseph, sold as a slave into Egypt, with chains of iron around his legs and neck.

 Joseph remained a slave until his own words had come true, and the Lord had finished testing him. Then the king of Egypt set Joseph free and put him in charge of everything he owned. Joseph was in command of the officials, and he taught the leaders how to use wisdom.

Jacob and his family came and settled in Egypt as foreigners. They were the Lord’s people, so he let them grow stronger than their enemies. They served the Lord, and he made the Egyptians plan hateful things against them.  God sent his servant Moses. He also chose and sent Aaron to his people in Egypt, and they worked miracles and wonders there.  Moses and Aaron obeyed God, and he sent darkness to cover Egypt. God turned their rivers into streams of blood, and the fish all died. Frogs were everywhere, even in the royal palace. When God gave the command, flies and gnats swarmed all around.

In place of rain, God sent hailstones and flashes of lightning. He destroyed their grapevines and their fig trees, and he made splinters of all the other trees. God gave the command, and more grasshoppers came than could be counted. They ate every green plant and all the crops that grew in the land of Egypt. Then God took the life of every first-born son.

When God led Israel from Egypt, they took silver and gold, and no one was left behind. The Egyptians were afraid and gladly let them go. God hid them under a cloud and guided them by fire during the night.

When they asked for food, he sent more birds than they could eat.  God even split open a rock, and streams of water gushed into the desert. God never forgot his sacred promise to his servant Abraham.

When the Lord rescued his chosen people from Egypt, they celebrated with songs. The Lord gave them the land and everything else the nations had worked for. He did this so that his people would obey all of his laws.
Shout praises to the Lord!

We turn our eyes to heaven. Lead us. One step at a time.

Psalm 105

Here is today’s prayer from Psalm 105.

God. Abba. Father.

We praise you for a new day! We sing and celebrate all you have done. We shout “Hallelujah!” as we see your glory day after day. Help us to look for you in the small simple things as well as the major surprises in our lives today.

We trust you and love to remember the ancient stories of your faithfulness, assured of the hope we have that you will continue to be faithful to our generation as well. For you are the God who keeps His promises to His children.

As we page through history, we see your ever-present hand. You have always been in charge, bringing justice and hope. You guided Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses through dark and stormy times. Your favor rested on Esther and Ruth. You were faithful to David, Solomon, Nehemiah.

You also gave your Holy Spirit to those who met your son Jesus face to face. You inspired and encouraged generations as the Church began to multiply throughout the centuries and spread the Good News around the globe.

We trust you are with us today, even as the world collectively faces, perhaps, its greatest challenge. You specialize in rescuing your people. Please, do it again. Bring us out of this great plague with shouts of joy. Bring peace to our lands. We turn our eyes to heaven. Leads us through this desert season, one step at a time.

We sing Hallelujah! We sing Hallelujah!

In the name of our great King, Jesus.

Amen.

(c) 2021. Rich Ronald.