Psalms 138

Psalms 138:1

Joseph

Then we read that God called for a famine upon the land where Jacob and His sons lived (Psalms 105:16). He was fully involved in their protection, but also in their tribulation. He “broke the whole staff of bread”. That is, there was not one morsel of food that would give them strength to live. The supply of bread was taken away from them (Isaiah 3:1).

Why God did that is not mentioned here. We read about that in Genesis 41-44. There we read that God wanted to bring Joseph’s brothers to repentance. That is also what He wants to do with the remnant in the future: bring them into tribulation to purify them (Malachi 3:2-3). The point here is that God had already provided someone who could supply His people with food. God sends tribulation into the believer’s life because He wants to work out plans of blessing in his life (Romans 8:28).

He had sent Joseph before them (Psalms 105:17), as Joseph himself later testifies (Genesis 45:7-8; Genesis 50:20). The psalmist describes the way in which God did this. It is a way of deep humiliation. It began with his sale as a slave. We know from the account in Genesis 37 that his brothers sold him (Genesis 37:28). That is not mentioned here. It is about the way God had determined for the man who would provide His people with bread.

After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he ended up in Egypt and in prison. Here we are told what that meant: “They afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself was laid in irons” (Psalms 105:18). We don’t read that in Genesis 39. There we read about his faithfulness to God that brought him in prison (Genesis 39:7-20). They afflicted his feet with fetters as if he were a great criminal, so that he could not walk. That he himself came in the irons means that he suffered inwardly because of what was done to him.

God had set a limit to this severe trial. When His word came true – where we can think of the fulfillment of Pharaoh’s dreams whose meaning God revealed to Joseph (Genesis 41:14-44) – Joseph’s captivity was over (Psalms 105:19). And how did Joseph endure this torment? God has been with him all this time with His word of promise. Through that promise, Joseph was “tested”, or “refined” (cf. Job 23:10). Every trial in our lives God wants to use to purify us. To purify is to make us, or our faith, pure and clean, so that more and more we have only Him in mind and not ourselves or our interests (cf. 1 Peter 1:7).

When God’s work on Joseph was finished, “the king sent and released him” (Psalms 105:20). This act of release is given added emphasis by saying the same thing again in other words: “The ruler of peoples … set him free.” We know that it was God’s work in the king and that God is in fact the Ruler of the peoples. He made Pharaoh dream a dream that none of all the king’s wise men could explain. Only Joseph could do that because of the insight God had given him. Therefore, the king called Joseph to him (Genesis 41:8; 14-16).

After explaining it and the advice Joseph gave unsolicited, Pharaoh – who in the book of Genesis is a picture of God in his position as ruler of the world – appointed Joseph “lord of his house and ruler over all his possessions” (Psalms 105:21; Genesis 41:38-40; Acts 7:10). Joseph became the most powerful man in the land after Pharaoh. He was given authority to “imprison” Pharaoh’s princes “at will, that he might teach his [i.e. Pharaoh’s] elders wisdom” (Psalms 105:22). In Joseph we see the rare combination of power and wisdom. We see this in perfection only in the Lord Jesus, of Whom Joseph is a beautiful picture.

In God’s dealings with Joseph to fulfill His promise lies an encouraging lesson for us. We can trust that God knows all our difficulties and that He has already prepared a solution for them in advance. He oversees everything and directs everything for the good of His own. The way in which He does this, we can often only see afterwards. At the moment itself we wonder how things will turn out.

We see this also with Joseph. Who could imagine that God sent Joseph to Egypt in this way, to be a blessing to his father and his brothers in their time of need? For Jacob and his sons, that blessing is first and foremost spiritual: they are restored to their relationship with Joseph. The blessing is also material: they receive food and are even allowed to come and live with Joseph in Egypt.

The deeper meaning of this section about Joseph is that he is a type of the Lord Jesus, Who as the Savior had to undergo a path of rejection and suffering before He could actually be the Savior. The Lord Jesus Himself expressed it this way: “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26). The grace of God is expressed in this psalm because God Himself sent His Son into the world to save us.

Psalms 138:2

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.

Psalms 138:3

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.

Psalms 138:4

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.

Psalms 138:5

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.

Psalms 138:6

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.

Psalms 138:7

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.

Psalms 138:8

God’s People in Egypt

Joseph had his father and brothers come to Egypt. The psalmist speaks that “Israel also came into Egypt” (Psalms 105:23). ‘Israel’ means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. It is the name that points to the privileges of the people. The name ‘Jacob’ is also mentioned and it is in connection with the sojourning “in the land of Ham”, which is Egypt. Jacob is the name that points to the weakness of the people.

God also takes care of the objects of His promise in Egypt. “He caused His people to be very fruitful” (Psalms 105:24; Exodus 1:7). Thus He made the people “stronger than their adversaries” (Exodus 1:9; 12). God’s people always grow against the tribulation. A people who suffer for Christ is a growing people.

Then we read that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants” (Psalms 105:25; Exodus 1:13). Up to that point, the Egyptians had been benevolent to God’s people. When they began to pose a threat, their kindness turned to hatred. God had previously prevented people and kings from doing anything to His anointed ones (Psalms 105:15). The Egyptians began to oppress God’s people and impose hard slave labor on them. We see the LORD directing the history of the people in such a way that the people needed redemption. Here we are taught the truth that God’s people are a people in need of redemption.

For this, God provided a deliverer. As He sent out Joseph before them, so now He sent out Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26; Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14-16). Moses is the servant of God (Exodus 14:31; Psalms 105:6; 42), who represented God to the people; he spoke God’s words to them. Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest; he represented the people to God. In Moses and Aaron together we see a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 3:1). As the “servant” of God, Moses is a reference to Christ, the Servant of the LORD. He is also a type of the remnant of Israel in the future, the servants of the LORD.

Like Joseph in Psalms 105:17a, Moses and his brother Aaron were sent by the LORD to redeem Israel. They were sent by God to Egypt to perform “wondrous acts” there “which He had commanded” (cf. Exodus 10:2), as well as the “miracles in the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:27; Jeremiah 32:2; Micah 7:15). Egypt, in Hebrew Mitsraim, was one of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6). The signs and wonders that Moses and Aaron did were signs and wonders that came directly from God. He commanded them. Moses and Aaron did nothing but carry out God’s commands. These signs are wonders that were to make it clear to Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron had been sent by the LORD, the God of Israel.

The psalmist selects eight of the ten wonder plagues that were performed. He lists them in a different order than in which they are described in Exodus 7-11. These signs begin and end with the most important signs, the ninth and tenth signs: darkness and death. This is done to indicate that the moral condition of the world is darkness, without light, and that the end is death, separated from the living God.

A sign means something, it is a clue, it refers to something; a wonder is something supernatural, its origin is not man, but God. It is a sign of authenticity. Just as a director puts his signature under a letter written by his secretary, so through these wonders God puts a signature under the message of Moses.

Both signs and wonders are a testimony to God’s people of His faithfulness, that He stands up for them. What were signs and wonders for God’s people were plagues for the Egyptians. Each time the psalmist, in mentioning the signs and wonders or the plagues, speaks of two things: 1. God causes the plagues. They come from Him. We always read in these verses about what “He” does. They describe His deeds and His wonders. The psalmist has called for singing about these in Psalms 105:1-2. 2. The plagues are about everything that belonged to the Egyptians. We can see this by the recurring “their”, such as “their waters”, “their fish”. It concerned “their land”, “all their territory”.

The first plague the psalmist mentions is the ninth, that of darkness (Psalms 105:28; Exodus 10:21-23). God “sent” this plague – as He had previously sent Joseph and then Moses – ”and made [it] dark” (cf. Isaiah 45:6-7). During this plague, all light is absent from Egypt and darkness prevails. This is the result of rejecting God, the source of light. “But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23b).

Moses and Aaron “did not rebel against His words”, but announced all the plagues in obedience to God’s command. They were not deterred by the threats of the mighty and proud Pharaoh. As faithful messengers of God they fearlessly presented him with the revenge of heaven each time he refused to let God’s people go.

The second plague mentioned by the psalmist is the first in Egypt. It is the sign of the change of water into blood (Psalms 105:29; Exodus 7:15-25). What is supposed to mean life, water, turns into blood, signifying the death of all life in the water. The fish are particularly mentioned as the life that is killed because fish are a food source (Numbers 11:5a).

The frogs, the second plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:1-7), are mentioned by the psalmist as the third (Psalms 105:30). He says that “their land swarmed with frogs”. Frogs are considered sacred and treated with reverence by the Egyptians. Therefore, they are not to be killed. These idols, under the judging hand of God, now take the form of a plague.

The frogs are a picture of unclean spirits, especially sexual uncleanness (Revelation 16:13-15). The love between husband and wife in marriage is a natural blessing that God has given to man. But that blessing has become a curse. We see this in society. Think, for example, of same-sex relationships, extra-marital or premarital sexual relationships, pornography in magazines and through television and the Internet, sex shops, sex clubs. The frogs are everywhere, in all homes, even in the often well-protected “chambers of their kings”, where we should also think of the princes of the various cities.

Then come the “flies” (Psalms 105:31), the fourth plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:24). The flies come through the speaking of God. “He spoke” and they came. The flies, possibly a mixture of all kinds of vermin, carry all kinds of diseases. As a result, people’s lives are defiled and corrupted.

As an application for our time, we can think of all kinds of irritations, jealousy, bullying, frustrating each other in every possible way. These things destroy the atmosphere between people and make life unbearable. Loud music at the neighbors’ houses, misbehavior in traffic, bullying behavior in the store, and so many other things that annoys you very much.

The psalmist continues with the plague of the “gnats”, the third plague in Egypt (Exodus 8:16-19). They come through the same speaking of God. Gnats or mosquitoes are little animals that suck the blood, the life, out of man. Our complicated society is full of gnats. Countless people are anxious, confused, nervous, suspicious. The mental institutions are often full. Mental tensions are increasing hand over fist. Many are driven to suicide. Life has no meaning for them anymore, it offers no prospects. The gnats do their deadly work.

The next plague the psalmist mentions is that God “gave them hail for rain” or, “made their rain hail” (Psalms 105:32). The hail was accompanied by flashing fire in the midst of the hail. This is the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26). The judgments strike the entire land of Egypt in all their ferocity. “He”, that is God, struck down with His hail “their vines also and their fig trees” (Psalms 105:33). “He”, that is God, shattered with His hail “the trees of their territory”.

God lets down from “the storehouses of the hail” the hail that He has kept therein “for the day of war and battle” (Job 38:22-23), the day that had come for Egypt. It is an example of the great hail by which the world will soon be ravaged when the church has been caught up (Revelation 16:21).

God had to continue to show His will toward His people because Pharaoh would not let His people go. “He spoke, and locusts came, and young locusts, even without number, and ate up all vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground” (Psalms 105:34-35). This is the eighth plague God brought on Egypt (Exodus 10:12-15). A single grasshopper is insignificant, it represents nothing and can be trampled to death just like that. The Israelites in their unbelief felt this way in the face of the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). In great numbers they are overwhelming and destructive (cf. Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12).

Finally, there is the last plague, the tenth in Egypt, which is also mentioned here last (Psalms 105:36; Exodus 11:5; Exodus 12:29-30). The hour of judgment has come. It may take a long time, God is patient, but then there is no more delay. God also struck down “all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their vigor”. This plague breaks all resistance. There is not a house in all of Egypt in which there is not a dead one. It is the final blow.