Psalm 105–107

^1–6105Hallelujah!

Thank God! Pray to him by name!

Tell everyone you meet what he has done!

Sing him songs, belt out hymns,

translate his wonders into music!

Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,

you who seek God. Live a happy life!

Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;

be alert for signs of his presence.

Remember the world of wonders he has made,

his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—

O seed of Abraham, his servant,

O child of Jacob, his chosen.

^7–15He’s God, our God,

in charge of the whole earth.

And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—

for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.

It’s the Covenant he made with Abraham,

the same oath he swore to Isaac,

The very statute he established with Jacob,

the eternal Covenant with Israel,

Namely, “I give you the land.

Canaan is your hill-country inheritance.”

When they didn’t count for much,

a mere handful, and strangers at that,

Wandering from country to country,

drifting from pillar to post,

He permitted no one to abuse them.

He told kings to keep their hands off:

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,

don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”

^16–22Then he called down a famine on the country,

he broke every last blade of wheat.

But he sent a man on ahead:

Joseph, sold as a slave.

They put cruel chains on his ankles,

an iron collar around his neck,

Until God’s word came to the Pharaoh,

and God confirmed his promise.

God sent the king to release him.

The Pharaoh set Joseph free;

He appointed him master of his palace,

put him in charge of all his business

To personally instruct his princes

and train his advisors in wisdom.

^23–42Then Israel entered Egypt,

Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.

God gave his people lots of babies;

soon their numbers alarmed their foes.

He turned the Egyptians against his people;

they abused and cheated God’s servants.

Then he sent his servant Moses,

and Aaron, whom he also chose.

They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,

miracles in the Land of Ham.

He spoke, “Darkness!” and it turned dark—

they couldn’t see what they were doing.

He turned all their water to blood

so that all their fish died;

He made frogs swarm through the land,

even into the king’s bedroom;

He gave the word and flies swarmed,

gnats filled the air.

He substituted hail for rain,

he stabbed their land with lightning;

He wasted their vines and fig trees,

smashed their groves of trees to splinters;

With a word he brought in locusts,

millions of locusts, armies of locusts;

They consumed every blade of grass in the country

and picked the ground clean of produce;

He struck down every firstborn in the land,

the first fruits of their virile powers.

He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,

and not one among his tribes even stumbled.

Egypt was glad to have them go—

they were scared to death of them.

God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day

and a fire to light their way through the night;

They prayed and he brought quail,

filled them with the bread of heaven;

He opened the rock and water poured out;

it flowed like a river through that desert—

All because he remembered his Covenant,

his promise to Abraham, his servant.

^43–45Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;

his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!

He made them a gift of the country they entered,

helped them seize the wealth of the nations

So they could do everything he told them—

could follow his instructions to the letter.

Hallelujah!

^1–3106Hallelujah!

Thank God! And why?

Because he’s good, because his love lasts.

But who on earth can do it—

declaim God’s mighty acts, broadcast all his praises?

You’re one happy man when you do what’s right,

one happy woman when you form the habit of justice.

^4–5Remember me, God, when you enjoy your people;

include me when you save them;

I want to see your chosen succeed,

celebrate with your celebrating nation,

join the Hallelujahs of your pride and joy!

^6–12We’ve sinned a lot, both we and our parents;

We’ve fallen short, hurt a lot of people.

After our parents left Egypt,

they took your wonders for granted,

forgot your great and wonderful love.

They were barely beyond the Red Sea

when they defied the High God

—the very place he saved them!

—the place he revealed his amazing power!

He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot

—he paraded them right through!

—no one so much as got wet feet!

He saved them from a life of oppression,

pried them loose from the grip of the enemy.

Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors;

there wasn’t a single survivor.

Then they believed his words were true

and broke out in songs of praise.

^13–18But it wasn’t long before they forgot the whole thing,

wouldn’t wait to be told what to do.

They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert,

provoked God with their insistent demands.

He gave them exactly what they asked for—

but along with it they got an empty heart.

One day in camp some grew jealous of Moses,

also of Aaron, holy priest of God.

The ground opened and swallowed Dathan,

then buried Abiram’s gang.

Fire flared against that rebel crew

and torched them to a cinder.

^19–22They cast in metal a bull calf at Horeb

and worshiped the statue they’d made.

They traded the Glory

for a cheap piece of sculpture—a grass-chewing bull!

They forgot God, their very own Savior,

who turned things around in Egypt,

Who created a world of wonders in the Land of Ham,

who gave that stunning performance at the Red Sea.

^23–27Fed up, God decided to get rid of them—

and except for Moses, his chosen, he would have.

But Moses stood in the gap and deflected God’s anger,

prevented it from destroying them utterly.

They went on to reject the Blessed Land,

didn’t believe a word of what God promised.

They found fault with the life they had

and turned a deaf ear to God’s voice.

Exasperated, God swore

that he’d lay them low in the desert,

Scattering their children hither and yon,

strewing them all over the earth.

^28–31Then they linked up with Baal Peor,

attending funeral banquets and eating idol food.

That made God so angry

that a plague spread through their ranks;

Phinehas stood up and pled their case

and the plague was stopped.

This was counted to his credit;

his descendants will never forget it.

^32–33They angered God again at Meribah Springs;

this time Moses got mixed up in their evil;

Because they defied God yet again,

Moses exploded and lost his temper.

^34–39They didn’t wipe out those godless cultures

as ordered by God;

Instead they intermarried with the heathen,

and in time became just like them.

They worshiped their idols,

were caught in the trap of idols.

They sacrificed their sons and daughters

at the altars of demon gods.

They slit the throats of their babies,

murdered their infant girls and boys.

They offered their babies to Canaan’s gods;

the blood of their babies stained the land.

Their way of life stank to high heaven;

they lived like whores.

^40–43And God was furious—a wildfire anger;

he couldn’t stand even to look at his people.

He turned them over to the heathen

so that the people who hated them ruled them.

Their enemies made life hard for them;

they were tyrannized under that rule.

Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned—

until finally their sins destroyed them.

^44–46Still, when God saw the trouble they were in

and heard their cries for help,

He remembered his Covenant with them,

and, immense with love, took them by the hand.

He poured out his mercy on them

while their captors looked on, amazed.

⁴⁷Save us, God, our God!

Gather us back out of exile

So we can give thanks to your holy name

and join in the glory when you are praised!

Blessed be God, Israel’s God!

Bless now, bless always!

Oh! Let everyone say Amen!

Hallelujah!

^1–3107Oh, thank God—he’s so good!

His love never runs out.

All of you set free by God, tell the world!

Tell how he freed you from oppression,

Then rounded you up from all over the place,

from the four winds, from the seven seas.

^4–9Some of you wandered for years in the desert,

looking but not finding a good place to live,

Half-starved and parched with thirst,

staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.

Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.

He got you out in the nick of time;

He put your feet on a wonderful road

that took you straight to a good place to live.

So thank God for his marvelous love,

for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.

He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;

the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

^10–16Some of you were locked in a dark cell,

cruelly confined behind bars,

Punished for defying God’s Word,

for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—

A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,

and not a soul in sight to help.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;

he got you out in the nick of time.

He led you out of your dark, dark cell,

broke open the jail and led you out.

So thank God for his marvelous love,

for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;

He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,

he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

^17–22Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,

your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;

You couldn’t stand the sight of food,

so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;

he got you out in the nick of time.

He spoke the word that healed you,

that pulled you back from the brink of death.

So thank God for his marvelous love,

for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;

Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,

tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

^23–32Some of you set sail in big ships;

you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.

Out at sea you saw God in action,

saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:

With a word he called up the wind—

an ocean storm, towering waves!

You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;

your hearts were stuck in your throats.

You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,

you didn’t know which end was up.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;

he got you out in the nick of time.

He quieted the wind down to a whisper,

put a muzzle on all the big waves.

And you were so glad when the storm died down,

and he led you…