Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 106

Psalm 106 begins as everything we do should; with praise and thanksgiving for our Lord.

Psalm 106:1
Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

God deserves every bit of our energy to be spent on worshipping Him. True worship should express itself beyond words of thanksgiving by leading us to a life of obedience.

Psalm 106:2-3
Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise?  Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!

It’s easy to read the Old Testament and be critical of the Jews. Chosen by God to be His people, we see in their history, this crazy pattern of following God, then falling into idolatry and sin. Clearly the writers of their history were honest in the picture of their own unfaithfulness. But the point of this historical narrative is not heir unfaithfulness; the point is God’s faithfulness to His people.

Psalm 106:6-8
Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.  Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.

Take careful note here of why God saved them. “He saved them for his name’s sake.” And why? “That he might make known his mighty power.” It’s about Him; not us.

Read through Psalm 106 and you find a repeated history. They remember God and are blessed and saved. They forget God and fall into discipline that leads them, again and again, to cry out to Him. Why does God put up with them?

Psalm 106:45
For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

He answers this prayer:

Psalm 106:47
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

The truth people, is that we are also chosen by God to be His people. We were created according to scripture, to do His work.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Yet, if we look honestly at our hearts, we will see that like Israel, we fall in and out of sinful ways. The Bible paints a picture of mankind as fallen and sinful. According to Romans 3:23 we all sin, we all fall short of His glory. Jeremiah 17:9 is direct when it says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

This very day, wherever you are, it is time to look hard at your own heart. It is time to get on our knees in confession and repentance and cry out to God as the psalmist does here.

Psalm 106:47-48
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.  Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD!

God answers this prayer. Not because we deserve it. He answers it for His name’s sake. He answers it to show the world His mighty power. At the end of it all God’s power will do one of two things. It will save you from you own damning sin or it will condemn you for all eternity.

Today is the day of salvation. Let all the people say “Amen” and praise the Lord.