Psalm 105:44-45
He gave them the lands of the Gentiles,
And they inherited the labor of the nations,
45
That they might observe His statutes
And keep His laws.
Praise the Lord!
Promises made, Promises kept. We’re at the end of the Psalm and the story of how God, after making a covenant with Abraham, fulfilling His Word has been told. From Abraham to Joseph to the Exodus to Joshua, this psalm tells the story. It shows how God never stops working, His presence is always with us, and the Holy Spirit guides us in every situation. It ends with Praise the Lord! How else can it end? (Bill)
Charles Spurgeon
“And gave them the lands of the heathen.” He drove out the Canaanites and allotted the lands to the tribes. They were called on to fight, but the Lord wrought so wonderfully that the conquest was not effected by their bow or spear—the Lord gave them the land.
“And they inherited the labor of the people,” they dwelt in houses which they had not built and gathered fruit front vines and olives which they had not planted. They were not settled in a desert which needed to be reclaimed, but in a land fertile to a proverb, and cultivated carefully by its inhabitants. Like Adam, they were placed in a garden. This entrance into the goodly land was fitly celebrated when the ark was being moved to Zion.
“That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws.” This was the practical design of it all. The chosen nation was to be the conservator of truth, the exemplar of morality, the pattern of devotion: everything was so ordered as to place them in advantageous circumstances for fulfilling this trust. Theirs was a high calling and a glorious election. It involved great responsibilities, but it was in itself a distinguished blessing and one for which the nation was bound to give thanks. Most justly then did the music close with the jubilant but solemn shout of HALLELUJAH.
“Praise ye the Lord.” If this history did not make Israel praise God, what would?
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Enduring Word
They inherited the labor of the nations: “By right of conquest they freely inherited from the Canaanites cities, vineyards, orchards, cisterns, and all kinds of material benefits.” (VanGemeren)
That they might observe His statutes: At the conclusion of the psalm, David brought home a point of moral obligation. God rescued the Israelites and brought them into the land, setting them free not for the ultimate purpose of personal indulgence, but so they could observe His statutes and keep His laws. (Guzik)
“The emphasis throughout the psalm lies on God’s goodness: his promise, protection, providence, and presence. He is true to his word. And as an afterthought, the author reminds God’s people of their responsibility. Keeping the precepts of the Lord is, therefore, an expression of joyous gratitude for all the benefits the Lord has provided for his people.” (VanGemeren)
“The final verse shows why grace abounded; not that sin might also abound, but (to quote a New Testament equivalent of Psalm 105:45), ‘that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:4).” (Kidner)
Praise the LORD: Psalm 105 ends just as the previous psalm, with the Hebrew word Hallelujah. It is right and worthy for God’s people to remember His marvelous works and to praise Him for all He has done. (Guzik)
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Barnes
Verse 44
And gave them the lands of the heathen – Of the “nations” of the land of Palestine, according to his promise. See the notes at Psalms 78:55.
And they inherited the labor of the people – The fruit of their labors. See Deuteronomy 6:10-11; Joshua 13:7.
Verse 45
That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws – The end – the design – of all this was that they might be an obedient people. This was the purpose of all his interventions in their behalf; and their obligation to obedience was enforced and measured by what he had done. The same is true in regard to his people now.
Praise ye the Lord – Hebrew, Hallelu-jah. See Psalms 104:35.
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John Gill
And gave them the lands of the Heathen,.… The countries of the seven nations that dwelt in Canaan; the Lord did it, who had a right to do it, being the possessor of heaven and earth; and who was provoked unto it by the sins of these Heathens, as well as promised it to his people the Israelites.
And they inherited the labor of the people; dwelled in the houses they had built, which they found full of all good things; enjoyed the vineyards and olive trees they had planted, and possessed the wells which they had dug, Deuteronomy 6:10. In like manner the heavenly Canaan is enjoyed by the saints without any labor of theirs; this inheritance is not of the law, nor of the works of it, it is the gift of God, Romans 4:14.
That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws,.… All this the Lord did for them, to engage them by his goodness to them to observe the statutes he appointed them, and the laws he gave them; the contrary to which the Canaanites had done, which caused him to cast them out of the land; but on these his people he heaped benefits, thereby to influence them to a cheerful obedience to his will; and this was all he required of them, and the least that they could do, being so highly favored by him. And this is the end of our spiritual and eternal redemption by Christ, and of our effectual calling by his grace and Spirit, that we be zealous of good works; live unto righteousness, live to him that died for us; glorify him with our bodies and spirits, which are his; and be holy in all manner of conversation.
Praise ye the Lord, all the Israelites ought to have done so, upon the remembrance of the manifold instances of the divine goodness to them, recorded in this psalm; and so the spiritual Israel of God ought to praise him for their redemption by Christ, out of a worse than Egyptian bondage, the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law; and for their calling into liberty, and to marvelous light; for their meetness for heaven, and right unto it; they should praise him now with joyful lips, as they will in the other world to all eternity.
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Matthew Henry
Their entrance, at length, into Canaan (v. 44): He gave them the lands of the heathen, put them in possession of that which they had long been put in hopes of; and what the Canaanites had taken pains for God’s Israel had the enjoyment of: They inherited the labour of the people; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. The Egyptians had long inherited their labors, and now they inherited the labors of the Canaanites. Thus sometimes one enemy of the church is made to pay another’s scores.
The reasons why God did all this for them.
- Because he would himself perform the promises of the word, v. 42. They were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did those great things in their favor because he remembered the word of his holiness (that is, his covenant) with Abraham his servant, and he would not suffer one iota or tittle of that to fall to the ground. See Deu. 7:8.
- Because he would have them to perform the precepts of the word, to bind them to which was the greatest kindness he could put upon them. He put them in possession of Canaan, not that they might live in plenty and pleasure, in ease and honor, and might make a figure among the nations, but that they might observe his statutes and keep his laws,-that, being formed into a people, they might be under God’s immediate government, and revealed religion might be the basis of their national constitution,-that, having a good land given them, they might out of the profits of it bring sacrifices to God’s altar,-and that, God having thus done them good, they might the more cheerfully receive his law, concluding that also designed for their good, and might be sensible of their obligations in gratitude to live in obedience to him. We are therefore made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the psalm concludes may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God’s favours and as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them. Has God done so much for us, and yet does he expect so little from us? Praise you the Lord.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 105:44-45
44 And gave them the lands of the heathen, and they took the labors of the people in possession,
45 That they might z keep his statutes, and observe his Laws. Praise ye the Lord.
z This is the end, why God preserves his Church, because they should worship, and call upon him in this world.
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3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
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