Psalm 106-107

Psalm 106 is given the heading, 'Joy in Forgiveness of Israel's Sins' the psalmist recounts the history of rebellion and sin along with God's mighty hand of power there's even prophecy nestled in at the end predicting the Babylonian captivity. 

1: The psalm opens up like one might open a prayer: with praise and thanksgiving declaring YAHWEH's good character. As a believer it is a good habit to get into declaring God's character as written in His word, Psalm 106:1 along with most of the declarative passages in Revelation accurately ascribe unto the LORD His goodness and holiness. 

2: Posing a question the psalmist wonders at the the sheer quantity of miraculous acts of the LORD and how possibly one person could remember and declare all the praises of Him for His mighty acts. 

3-5: The psalmist identifies himself as an Israelite and declares blessing on those who keep justice and do righteousness that the LORD's favor and glory rest on His chosen people and land; here inheritance means both the land and the people of Israel. 

6-12: Recalling back to the Exodus from Egypt the psalmist acknowledges the rebellion and doubting spirit of Israel by the Red Sea, the emphasis in verse 12 indicates a rise in faith as a result of God parting the Red Sea which causes the people to sing His praise.

13-23: Israel forgot God because they did not wait and instead turned to lust and sin. These verses recount the golden calf incident from Exodus 32 and the complaining of the people and the rebellion of Korah from Numbers 11 & 16. The emphasis here is how Israel forgot their Savior God preserved their life through Egypt and the wilderness. 

24-27: Recalling the spying of the land of Canaan and the way the people grumbled out of fear, the psalmist demonstrates what God intended to do to His rebellious people to scatter them across the lands. The people despised the pleasant land and did not believe His word, this is the point in Numbers 14 when out of presumption Israel rose up against the Amalekites and Canaanites in the hill country after God cursed that generation to 40 years in the wilderness because of their unfaithfulness. 

28-31: This group of verses encapsulates Israel straying and idolatrous heart with the Moabite seduction, the psalmist highlights the righteousness of Aaron's son Phinehas who ended the plague of the LORD against His people through his righteous indignation for sin. 

32-33: Recalling Numbers 20, this is the second water from the rock miracle though these verses indicate how the Israelites grumbling and complaining angered Moses so that he sinned with his lips and was therefore not allowed by God to enter into the promised land. 

34-43: The psalmist captures in these verses the violation of the first commandment and the mixing with the pagan Canaanite Gentile people's evil rituals and rites, specifically child sacrifice and how this polluted the land. God gives Israel over to these Gentile nations who hate them and oppress Israel - how often am I given to idolatry and then become that thing of worship? God is merciful and delivers them only for their iniquity to puff up with pride against Him.

44-48: This last bit demonstrates God's heart of grace and how God doesn't forget his covenant agreements, despite the captivity vs. 46 indicates that God made Israel to be pitied by those nations who carry them away in captivity (looking ahead this is likely referencing when the Persian king allows the people back into the land of Israel and fund them to rebuild their temple). Verse 45 is significant, "And for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies."

God is unendingly faithful, His mercies are great and His grace is sufficient to cover a multitude of sin. Our LORD God Almighty is truly matchless and fully deserving of our praise now and forever because of His great goodness. 

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