Pastor Fredo Ramos: Psalm one zero five. Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him. Yes.
Sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exalt in his holy name. Rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for his strength.
Continually seek him. What a word for us today. Search for the Lord and for his strength. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given. Your children of his servant Abraham I'm sorry.
You children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones. For he is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout all the land. He always stands by his covenant. In other words, God always stands by his word.
What a reliable God we have today. Down to verse 12, he said this when they were few in number, a tiny group of strangers in Canaan. He's recounting their history and the original promise God was given or giving to them to to trust him and to follow him. Says they wandered there in verse 13 from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another, yet he did not let anyone oppress them. Verse 16, he called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supplies.
Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with feathers and placed his neck in an iron collar. In other words, he became a slave. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph's character. Down in verse, 25, then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites.
They plotted against the Lord's servant. Verse 26, but the Lord sent his servant Moses along with Aaron whom he had chosen. They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians and wonders in the land of Ham. Verse 37, the Lord brought his people out of Egypt loaded with silver and gold, and not one of them among the tribe of the tribes of Israel even stumbled. Egypt was glad they were gone for they feared them greatly.
The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering and gave them a great fire to light the darkness as they asked for meat and he sent them quail. He satisfied their hunger with manna bread from heaven. He split open a rock and water gushed out for he remembered his sacred promise to his servant Abraham. He gave his people the lands of pagan nations. They harvested crops that others had planted.
Listen to verse 45 carefully. All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions. Psalm one zero five is 45 verses primarily made up of history. It's a prayer and a song that invites us to sing praises to God, to remember his wonderful deeds, specifically the way that he made a promise to Jacob, fulfilled it through Joseph's suffering, led his people through Egypt, and delivered them through Moses. Right?
It's a recounting of their history. It's a way for them to to realize that oftentimes the way to go forward is to go backwards first. In other words, to really discern how God is leading you forward, you must go back and remember what he's brought you through. And verse 45 is an invitation for us to consider that they were set free in order to follow God, in order to obey. All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions.
In other words, today, your freedom and my freedom is for the purpose of obedience, joyful obedience. And so when you think about how God has worked in your life, all that God has brought you to, all that God has, promised to you, all the ways that God has specifically rescued you through situations, through your bad decisions, through confusing times, through people in relationships. He has brought you to this very moment today so that you would joyfully obey him in your freedom. So what do you do with your freedom today? What do you do with it?
Jesus, we hear you now inviting us to respond with joyful obedience. You set us free. Israel's history is a reminder that God, you keep your promises by always sending someone to deliver them. You first sent Jacob. You then gave them Joseph.
You gave them the deliverer and Moses. And now ultimately, you have given us Jesus, the true and final deliverer from all sin and from all death. And so today, as we feel our freedom, may it lead us to joyful obedience and following you. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.