Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980322.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Five - Finding The Motivation To Obey God's Word
(Psalm 105:1-45)
  1. Introduction
    1. The Christian hymn, "Trust and Obey" promotes the thought that believing God and then heeding His Word are what it takes to please the Lord.
    2. That is a true statement, but sometimes finding the motivation to obey Scripture is at a premium. When circumstances push at us to tempt us that the price of such obedience will be too high in terms of finances or relationships with others, we find ourselves in need of motivation for obeying God.
    3. Psalm 105:1-45 supplies that motivation in an abundant way as follows:
  2. Finding The Motivation To Obey God's Word, Psalm 105:1-45.
    1. The Psalmist opened his psalm with an overflowing admonition to thank, petition, testify about, worship, rejoice and remember God and His bounty to the believer, Ps. 105:1-5a.
    2. Next, he took the bulk of his psalm to enumerate that bounty of God's lovingkindness, Ps. 105:5b-44:
      1. He called upon the nation Israel to recall the extraordinary things which God had done for them, 5b-7.
      2. Following this call, he listed that record of divine providence as follows (Ps. 105:8-44):
        1. He noted how God remembered His Abrahamic Covenant of Gen. 12:1-3 & 15:18-21, Ps. 105:8-11.
        2. He detailed how God protected the nation in its infancy during the vulnerable, developing days of the patriarchal sojourns, Ps. 105:12-15.
        3. He reported how God preserved Joseph who had been sold into slavery by his brothers so that Joseph's predictions that his family would be subject to him by way of the dreams God had given him had indeed come to pass, Ps. 105:16-19 in l ight of Gen. 37:5-11; Gen. 42:6-9 and Gen. 45:4-11.
        4. He described how God used Joseph's exaltation to enlarge the family into a nation, Ps. 105:20-24.
        5. He recounted how God mightily rescued the nation from Egyptian bondage through great miracles, and even loaded them down with material blessings en route, Ps. 105:25-36, 37-38.
        6. He narrated how God used the cloud over the tabernacle to cover them from the wilderness' burning sun by day, to guide them and to provide comforting light by night, Ps. 105:39.
        7. He rehearsed how God provided quail, an Egyptian delicacy for food, and then supplied the perfect health food of manna all during their wilderness wanderings, Ps. 105:40.
        8. He recounted how God gave the nation water out of the impregnable rock, water that gushed out as a river flowing in the desert, Ps. 105:41.
        9. He recited how God lifted up the nation's emotions during the Exodus, releasing them with great power from slavery to their shouts of joy, Ps. 105:43.
        10. He stated how God supplied the nation lands that had already been fully developed by the labor of other nations, an enormous gift of provisions, Ps. 105:44.
    3. Finally, in closing, the psalmist declared that all of these divine blessings were done for the purpose of getting Israel to keep His precepts and observe His laws, Ps. 105:45. In other words, ALL of the enormous acts of God's lovingkindness toward Israel were designed for the SINGLE purpose of equipping the nation to OBEY God's Word!
Lesson: When Israel's attention was directed to the ENORMOUS extents to which her God had gone to develope, build, nurture and provide for her to arise out of Abraham and dwell as a nation in Canaan, and that so she would simply OBEY His WO RD, she would see how IMPORTANT to GOD it was that she OBEY Him and find motivation in GOD'S motivation so as to obey Him.

Application: When we focus on the enormity of the work of God just to save us through the cross of Christ, let alone recall how many divine acts of guidance, protection, provision and nourishment have come from Him to us in the Christian life SINCE our salvation, and realize that all these have been showered upon us so that we would OBEY Him, it is obvious that our obedience to Scripture is EXTREMELY important to God! Knowing as much, we are motivated to obey Him as an act of appreciation for His lov ingkindness as we know it will mean so MUCH to HIM!