Created, Directed, and Remembered by God (Psalms 104–106)

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Start with a sky full of galaxies and a drop of pond water alive with unseen creatures, and you begin to sense the scale and precision of a world crafted by a wise Creator. We follow that thread from Psalm 104’s vision of light, winds, and angels to a tender image of a wild donkey finding water in the desert. The point is simple and life-giving: God is both vast beyond measure and near enough to meet us where we hide, offering what we need when we feel barren and alone.

From there, we turn to Psalm 105 and trace the arc of promise through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, landing in the surprising place where many stories of rescue begin—chains. Joseph’s fetters and iron collar become a doorway to purpose, a reminder that difficult seasons can serve a larger good we cannot yet see. We talk about how grace fulfills God’s promises and how obedience shapes our ability to fully enjoy the gifts he gives. It’s not about earning favor; it’s about walking in the way that turns gifts into sustained joy.

Finally, Psalm 106 holds up a mirror to our forgetful hearts. Israel lost sight of God’s works and love, and the cost was exile. Yet the refrain that outshines failure is this: God remembered his covenant, looked on distress, and acted for his name’s sake. We explore how divine mercy outlasts human inconsistency, why remembrance is a spiritual discipline, and how praise—anchored in a closing doxology—grounds our lives in hope. If creation is a teacher, covenant is the curriculum, and grace is the steady hand that guides us back when we drift.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
God's glorious creation, as well as his
gracious works on our behalf,should be at the center of our
praise and worship of him.
They also remind us of oursolemn obligation to live in
faithful obedience to him.
The fact that God created youmeans that he has the right to

(01:58):
make certain claims over yourlife.
When you submit to him, itbrings blessing and joy and
fulfillment.
Stephen called this lessoncreated, directed, and
remembered by God.

SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
What do the telescope and the microscope
have in common?
Each of them, in its own way, isable to magnify and intensify
the glory of God's handiwork increation.
For instance, the telescope hasrevealed that we are merely one
of a billion and countinggalaxies in the universe, and

(02:38):
each galaxy contains billions ofstars and planets, and we
haven't come close to seeing theouter edges of the universe.
The microscope reveals theteeming complexity of creation.
We now know that in one tinydrop of water from the pond out

(02:59):
back are millions of bacteria,oxygen-producing algae, tiny
organisms, little tiny livingcreatures.
One drop of water is home tomore than 10 million
identifiable living things wedon't know much about at all.
Well, what does this say aboutour creator God?

(03:21):
Well, I think the psalmist putit perfectly in Psalm 104 and
verse 1, where he draws thisconclusion.
O Lord my God, you are verygreat.
What else can you say?
God is incredibly great.
Now the psalmist goes on here topoetically describe in the first

(03:43):
nine verses God's relationshipto creation.
God is, as it were, wearing agarment made of light in verse
2.
He's riding in the clouds like achariot over here in verse 3.
He's got angels circling theglobe doing his bidding, verse

(04:03):
4.
In this brief tour of heaven, aswell as a rather extensive tour
over in the book of Revelation,the Apostle John saw, well, too
many angels to even begincounting.
He just said that there were10,000 times 10,000.
That means there were a hundredmillion angels singing to God.

(04:26):
How vast is God's creation?
Well, even though it's vast, thepsalmist tells us here that God
cares enough to give one wilddonkey a little water to drink.
That's verse 11.
One Old Testament scholar writesthat the wild donkey was timid,

(04:48):
was jealous of their freedom.
They would hide out deep in thedesert rather than be caught.
Now, in the desert, of course,there's there's not a lot of
water, but the Lord is providingfor them.
Now today you might be uhfeeling a little like that wild
donkey out there.
You you rather be left alone insome uninhabited, lonely

(05:12):
wilderness.
Well, let me tell you, the Lordcan meet you there.
He can give you a drink ofwater, he'll give you what you
need.
Now the psalmist goes on inverses sixteen to twenty-three
to describe God's wisdom indesigning creation.
Even even the rhythm of time andthe seasons provided by the sun

(05:34):
and the moon, all that'sdesigned with amazing precision
by God.
The New Testament tells us thatcreation is actually a tutor.
It's a teacher, Romans chapterone, and it's designed by God to
point us to the reality of Hispresence and his design.

(05:55):
I remember reading about thebrilliant physicist and
astronomer Isaac Newton, who, bythe way, was a committed
believer.
On one occasion he built aperfectly scaled down replica of
our solar system.
A large golden ball representedthe sun at the center, and the
known planets were revolvingaround it through a series of

(06:16):
cogs and belts and rods that hehad designed.
It was a rather sophisticatedmachine.
Well, one day while Newton wasstudying his model, an agnostic
friend stopped by for a visit,and he he asked Newton, this is
amazing, who made this exquisitemachine?
And without even looking up,Newton replied, Well, nobody.

(06:39):
Nobody, his friend asked.
Well, that's right, Newton said.
All these belts and gears andminiature planets just happened
to come together and and bychance they began revolving in
their orbits with perfecttiming.
Well, nothing more was said.
The message was loud and clear.

(07:00):
Creation is sending a message toour world that we happen to have
a creator and a savior.
Question is, are you listening?
Now Psalm 105 has a lot incommon with the previous Psalm.
It's also calling us to worshipGod for his creative handiwork.
In fact, verse 2 says here, Singto Him, sing praises to Him,

(07:25):
tell of all His wondrous works.
These wondrous works beingreferred to here are going to
now include God's specialrelationship with His people
Israel.
In fact, many believe that thispsalm was written during the
return of the Jewish exiles fromBabylon after their 70 years in
captivity.

(07:46):
And now they're going to rebuildthe temple, they're going to
rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
And frankly, they're going toneed encouragement.
Well, let's look together atthat encouragement.
Verses 7 to 15 cover the historyof the patriarchs, beginning
with Abraham.
And the readers are remindedhere in verse 8.
He remembers his covenantforever.

(08:06):
The covenant that he made withAbraham, his sworn promise to
Isaac, which he confirmed toJacob, to Israel as an
everlasting covenant.
Now, if you were with me on ourwisdom journey through the book
of Genesis, you might rememberhow God sent a lifesaver into
Egypt.
His name was Joseph.
Joseph had been sold intoslavery, but God raised him up

(08:29):
to be prime minister so that hecould rescue his family and
ultimately all of Israel fromstarvation.
Now all of that is rehearsedhere in this psalm in verses 16
through 25.
What's unique here is that we'retold something about Joseph's
prison time that Genesis did nottell us.

(08:50):
Verse 18 tells us his feet werehurt with fetters, his neck was
put in a collar of iron.
Joseph's captivity was designedby God to bring comfort to his
people later on, but it's a goodreminder to us that our own
circumstances might be veryuncomfortable.

(09:12):
And that's part of God'spurpose, not just for our
future, but for our present.
Now that doesn't mean thefetters on our feet and that
collar around our neck isn'tgoing to hurt as much, but we
can trust that God isessentially setting the table
for the next course.
We just don't happen to know atthe moment what's on the menu.

(09:35):
Now down here in verses 44 and45, we're given two very
important principles to keep infront of us.
Verse 44 says that God gave hispeople the lands of the nations.
That's in fulfillment, by theway, of his promise to them.
The first principle is that whatGod promises his people they

(09:57):
will experience or receive.
The second principle is this.
The other night I gave mygrandson some ice cream for

(10:18):
finishing his vegetables.
There aren't many incentives toeat your vegetables more
powerful than ice cream andchocolate syrup.
Well, he received that ice creamblessing, so to speak.
I think he's gonna appreciatethat enough that next time we
sit down and eat together, he'sgonna want to please his papa.

(10:39):
But you know, even if he doesn'tobey me next time and finish his
supper, he's still gonna be mygrandson.
But he won't get any ice cream.
See, that's the principle here.
God gave Israel the land just ashe promised, but he expects them
to cooperate and obey him.

(10:59):
And if they don't, they're gonnaremain his people, they're just
not gonna be able to fullypossess and enjoy the land as a
nation, and that's exactly whatwill happen as they're sent into
exile.
But with that, Psalm 106 takesus back to when Israel was in
exile from the land because oftheir disobedience.
They had forgotten God'sblessings, they'd followed in

(11:22):
the footsteps of theirrebellious forefathers back in
Egypt, who, verse 7 tells us,did not consider God's wondrous
works.
They did not remember theabundance of his steadfast love.
Now let me tell you, thepsalmist isn't trying to beat
his readers over the head, youknow, with a list of their
failures.
We we know that because afterdescribing their sinful actions,

(11:45):
he's now going to point them tothe grace of God.
That God saved them for hisname's sake, verse 8.
He redeemed them from the powerof the enemy, verse 10.
He gave them what they asked,verse 15.
He delivered them many timesover, verse 43.
Here's the wonderful thing aboutGod, the psalmist says now in

(12:06):
verse 44.
Nevertheless, God looked upontheir distress when he heard
their cry.
For their sake, he rememberedhis covenant and relented
according to the abundance ofhis steadfast love.
Yes, they forgot God.
And frankly, you're gonna forgetabout God at times like I am,

(12:29):
and we're gonna go about ourbusy lives as if he doesn't
exist.
But let me tell you, God willnever, ever forget us.
Now we come to the close of bookfour of the Psalms.
Remember, each book, ascatalogued in ancient times,
ends with a closing doxology.

(12:51):
Well, here's the doxology thatconcludes book four.
Here it is in verse 48.
Blessed be the Lord, the God ofIsrael, from everlasting to
everlasting, and let all thepeople say, Amen, praise the
Lord.
Amen means, well, I believe it.

(13:11):
It's true.
Amen.
God will be faithful to hispromises and his people
throughout all of eternity.
That's forever and ever and everwithout end.
Well, until our next wisdomjourney, beloved, may the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ and thelove of God and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with youall.

(13:33):
Amen.

SPEAKER_00 (13:45):
Thanks for listening to The Wisdom Journey with
Stephen Davey.
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(14:07):
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So please join us next time tocontinue the wisdom journey.