We were going through Psalm 105, which is as succinct a summary of Genesis – Joshua as you’ll find anywhere when we stopped to meditate on Moses’ reluctance. The psalm skips over that saying simply:

“He sent Moses his servant…” (Psalm 105.26, NKJV)

Instead of including one of Moses’ initial responses:

Lord, please send someone else. (Exodus 4.13, NKJV)

Ever how long it took, Moses is sent. So now let’s finish it out. What did God do?

He sent the plagues (see Exodus chapters 7 through 12):

He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them… He sent darkness… He turned their waters into blood, And killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs, Even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, And lice in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, And splintered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came, Young locusts without number, And ate up all the vegetation in their land, And devoured the fruit of their ground. He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, The first of all their strength. (Psalm 105.26 – 36, NKJV)

He brought them out of Egypt (the exodus – see Exodus chapter 13, 14) and guided them with the pillars of cloud and fire:

He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night. (Psalm 105.37 – 39, NKJV)

He took care of them in the desert:

The people asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. (Psalm 105.40, 41, NKJV, see Exodus 16 and 17)

He gave them the land. The actual conquest is recorded in the book of Joshua. Here’s all Psalm 105 says:

He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations. (Psalm 105.44, NKJV)

It’s fun to compare verse 44 with verses 11 and 12:

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. (Psalm 105.11, 12, NKJV)

God said he would give them the land, and he did.

All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. (Joshua 10.42, NKVJ)

At the end of Joshua, Joshua reminded the people:

Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. (Joshua 24.11 – 13, NKJV)

And both Psalm 105 and the book of Joshua make the same point:

Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth…Serve the LORD! (Joshua 24.14, NKJV)

He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 105.44, 45, NKJV, emphasis mine)

The purpose of God’s rescuing his people and giving them the land is that they might demonstrate what following God looks like (“Observe his statutes and keep his laws”) and serve him.

It should sound familiar:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2.8 – 10, NKJV)