8 He hath remembered to the age His covenant, The word He commanded to a thousand generations, 9 That He hath made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, 10 And doth establish it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel—a covenant age-during, 11 Saying, 'To thee I give the land of Canaan, The portion of your inheritance,' 12 In their being few in number, But a few, and sojourners in it. 13 And they go up and down, from nation unto nation, From a kingdom unto another people. 14 He hath not suffered any to oppress them And He reproveth for their sakes kings. 15 'Strike not against Mine anointed, And to My prophets do not evil.' 16 And He calleth a famine on the land, The whole staff of bread He hath broken. 17 He hath sent before them a man, For a servant hath Joseph been sold. 18 They have afflicted with fetters his feet, Iron hath entered his soul, 19 Till the time of the coming of His word The saying of Jehovah hath tried him. 20 The king hath sent, and looseth him, The ruler of the peoples, and draweth him out. 21 He hath made him lord of his house, And ruler over all his possessions. 22 To bind his chiefs at his pleasure, And his elders he maketh wise. 23 And Israel cometh in to Egypt, And Jacob hath sojourned in the land of Ham.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 105:8-23
Commentary on Psalm 105:8-23
(Read Psalm 105:8-23)
Let us remember the Redeemer's marvellous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. Though true Christians are few number, strangers and pilgrims upon earth, yet a far better inheritance than Canaan is made sure to them by the covenant of God; and if we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, none can do us any harm. Afflictions are among our mercies. They prove our faith and love, they humble our pride, they wean us from the world, and quicken our prayers. Bread is the staff which supports life; when that staff is broken, the body fails and sinks to the earth. The word of God is the staff of spiritual life, the food and support of the soul: the sorest judgment is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Such a famine was sore in all lands when Christ appeared in the flesh; whose coming, and the blessed effect of it, are shadowed forth in the history of Joseph. At the appointed time Christ was exalted as Mediator; all the treasures of grace and salvation are at his disposal, perishing sinners come to him, and are relieved by him.