Scripture: Psalms 105:1-15 NKJV
Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,” When they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people, He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”
KEY POINTS
THE CALL verse by verse. Genesis 12:1-8
VERSE 1: Now the Lord had SAID to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house To a land that I will show you. He didn’t question God, asking where, why or how. He didn’t make excuses. He just obeyed. And, because he obeyed, he immediately began to receive promises from God.
VERSE 2: PROMISE#1 – I will make you a great nation. And God did. The nation is called Israel, which began with his grandson, Jacob, who wrestled with an angel all night for a blessing. (Gen. 32:24-32)
PROMISE #2 I will bless you And make your name great. And God did. He gave Abram favor with Kings and men; he made him wealthy; and he made him the Father of Many Nations. (Gen. 17:4) Christians, Jews and Muslims all claim Abraham as the Father of the Faith.
PROMISE #3 And you shall be a blessing. And Abram was a blessing to everyone attached to him and around him.
PROMISE #4 – VERSE 3: I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you. One way God demonstrated this was by covering Sarah when she was called into the house of Pharoah in verses 10-20 and the house of King Abimelek in Genesis 20. Also, when he rescued Lot and received honor from the King of Sodom and a blessing from Melchizedek. (Genesis 14:1-24)
PROMISE #5 And in you, ALL the families of the earth shall be blessed.” And we are.
Galatians 3:29 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
VERSE 4: Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Why did Abram take Lot with him? Because Lot followed the same God as Abram. Joshua 24:2 says they were not idolators like their fathers, Terah and Nahor. When God called, they answered, and left their family heritage behind to follow the Lord. They were called and they were chosen.
And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
VERSE 5: Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had ACQUIRED in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan.
FOR PERSPECTIVE: Canaan was over 600 miles from Haran – That would be a minimum 10-day journey by foot if you traveled non-stop, but with men, women, children, and animals in tow, and breaks for rest, it would take much longer. The distance would be like from Central Florida to Nashville, TN. Can you imagine traveling that far by foot in hot weather, on rocky roads, by foot?
So, they came to the land of Canaan. VERSE 6: Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. VERSE 7: Then the Lord APPEARED to Abram. So now, God doesn’t just talk to Abram. He APPEARS, with yet, another promise.
PROMISE #6: and [God] said “To your descendants I will give this land.” Abram responded by building an altar to the Lord. VERSE 8: And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east.
Abram went up the mountain where he could see all the land that God promised him, and he built ANOTHER ALTAR there, where he CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD.
