Weds 1st July - Psalm 106
Psalm 106
Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures for ever.2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
who always do what is right.4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favour to your people,
come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may share in the joy of your nation
and join your inheritance in giving praise.6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.13 But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease among them.16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshipped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them –
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,
and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
and rash words came from Moses’ lips.[c]34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.
36 They worshipped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to false gods.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people
and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hands of the nations,
and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused all who held them captive
to show them mercy.47 Save us, Lord our God,
and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Praise the Lord.
- - -
Here is another ‘salvation-history Psalm. The first one we read was Psalm 78. Psalms 105 and 107 are the other two.
Psalm 78 is a warning to Israel not to repeat the sins of the past and to remember God’s sovereign and merciful dealings with them.
Psalm 105 looks back over the history of God’s people as a history of redemption.
Psalm 107 celebrates God’s creation, His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for all.
Psalm 106 looks back over the history of God’s people as a history of rebellion.
The Psalmist begins and ends this Psalm with praise because, although we read about Israel’s rebellion, we also read about the mercy, faithfulness and forgiveness of God.
Verses 1-5 Praise and Prayer
Verses 6-12 The people in Egypt
In spite of God’s provision, see how the people responded.
- ‘we have sinned’
- they gave no thought to God’s miracles
- they forgot God’s kindness
- they rebelled by the Red Sea
Verses 13-15 The people in the desert
- they soon forgot
- they did not wait
- they put God to the test
- God gave them what they longed for
- they were not satisfied with the LORD’s provision
(see Exodus 16 and Numbers 11)
Verses 16-18 The people and their leaders
- they were not satisfied with the LORD’s leadership team (see Numbers 16:1-35)
Verses 19-23 The people and idolatry
- they worshipped an idol
- they exchanged their God for a bull
- they forgot God
- they forgot His miracles
Verses 24-27 The people on the edge of the Promised Land
- they despised the land
- they did not believe God’s promise
- they grumbled
- they disobeyed
Verses 28-31 The people and idol worship
- they made the LORD very angry (see Numbers 25)
Verses 32-33 The people and their rebellion
- they angered the LORD
- they rebelled
- they pushed Moses to breaking point and he disobeyed the LORD, so missed out on going into the Promised Land
Verses 34-46 The people in the Promised Land
The Psalmist skips over the book of Joshua where we read of the victorious arrival in Canaan. But after Joshua’s death, the people reverted back to their old way of life. (see Judges 2)
What a catalogue of disaster after disaster.
If I had my history written down, I would want to run away and hide.
BUT GOD …
All the way through this history lesson we see God reaching out to His rebellious people, in spite of their sin.
Come back through the Psalm.
v.8 ‘yet He saved them’
v.9 ‘He rebuked the Red Sea’
‘He led them through the depths’
v.10 ‘He saved them … He redeemed them’
v.11 ‘not one of their adversaries survived’
Notice the effect this had on the people – v.12 ‘then the people believed the promises of God’
v.23 God would have destroyed His people ‘had not Moses pleaded with God’ (see Exodus 32)
v.30 ‘But Phinehas stood up and intervened and the plague was checked’ (see Numbers 25)
- 43-46 ‘He delivered them’
‘He took note of their distress’
‘He heard their cry’
‘He remembered His covenant’
‘He relented because of His great love’
‘He caused the nations to show mercy’
So, too, for us. Woven into MY story is HIS story.
v.48 ‘Praise the LORD. Let all the people say ‘Amen!’
(Roger Purdom)
Daily Readings
Thursday 2 July - Psalm 107
Friday 3 July - Psalm 108
Saturday 4 July - Psalm 109
Sunday 5 July - Psalm 110
Monday 6 July - Psalm 111
Tuesday 7 July - Psalm 112