Bible Strands
Psalms 105:42
For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His servant.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel, explaining the motive behind the recent wilderness miracle. The declaration bridges the water from the rock in verse 41 and the joyful exodus described in verse 43.
The words — The Hebrew verb זָכַר (za.khar) literally means “to remember,” paired with דְּבַר (de.var), meaning “word” or “promise.” The construction indicates active recollection that triggers fulfillment rather than passive memory.
The thread — This divine recollection of a patriarchal commitment appears in Exodus 2:24 concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and is cited in Luke 1:72 as the ground for showing mercy to the fathers. The original pledge is recorded in Genesis 12:7 where God promises land to Abram’s offspring.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to identify historical deliverance as the direct result of God’s prior commitment. A reader must acknowledge that present circumstances are governed by fulfilled divine promises, not by human initiative.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
Cross-references
- Exodus 2:24 So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Luke 1:72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
- Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Luke 1:54 He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,
- Genesis 13:14 After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west,
- Exodus 32:13 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
- Micah 7:20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.
- Genesis 15:13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- Deuteronomy 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Deuteronomy 9:27 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.