Psalms Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)Sample

Dwelling in the God who keeps his covenant

In the first devotion, we saw how Psalms 90 and 106 bookend this chiastic sequence of 17 Psalms with two different horrifying descriptions of human sin in the face of God's everlasting, eternal holiness. Both paint dark descriptions of humanity’s sin and pitiful state.

But something very different happens in the next psalm and its partner opposite!

I wrote that Psalm 90 is ‘truly one of the most astonishing passages in all scripture.’ It is. But so is the following psalm, Psalm 91, describing the Lord’s protection of the person who ‘dwells in the shelter of the Most High’. After the horror of Psalm 90, this psalm immediately re-asserts that it is still possible to ‘abide in the shadow of the Almighty.’

‘Because he cleaves to me in love, I will rescue him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.’

As with the opening and closing psalms, Psalm 91 and its partner opposite, Psalm 105, address the same issue and make the same points but from differing perspectives. This is how chiastic structures work. Each psalm sheds light and helps us understand its partner-opposite.

Psalm 105 is a long recital and celebration of the Lord’s faithfulness in keeping his covenant promise to Abraham, his covenant partner. When God made a covenant with Abraham, the Lord promised that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him. Psalm 105 describes how the Lord has kept and is keeping this promise. He looked after Abraham’s family, protected them, led them, delivered them from slavery, provided for their needs, and gave them land.

‘For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.’ V42

Even in the context of the horror of sin and our pitiful existence before the everlasting, eternal, holy God, it is still possible to abide in him because when the Lord makes a promise, he keeps it! And he has made a promise – he promised Abraham that through him all the nations of the world would be blessed – and he is keeping it.

One of the clearest examples of this in all scripture is the book of Esther, the last of the twelve history books. In the first history book, we read how Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into their inheritance, but twelve books later, we find God’s people in exile hundreds of miles away in a foreign land facing complete annihilation. But even though God is never mentioned in Esther, his faithfulness to his covenant promise stands, and his people are saved from annihilation.

Even in the face of humanity’s appalling sinfulness and pitiful existence before the everlasting, eternal holy God, it is still possible to dwell in him because when he makes a covenant promise, he keeps it no matter how far into sin his people fall.

Psalm 105 is one of the most beautiful and assuring descriptions of God’s faithfulness.