Praising the mighty acts of the Lord, Psalm 106

[Bible verses]

Psalm 106

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare His praise?

Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.

Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,

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.

We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

When our fathers 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.

Yet He saved them for His name's sake, to make His mighty power known.

He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy He redeemed them.

The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.

Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.

But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.

In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test.

So He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.

In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.

The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.

Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.

At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.

They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,

miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

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.

Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.

They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.

So He swore to them with uplifted hand that He would make them fall in the desert,

make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.

They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;

they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.

This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.

By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;

for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips.

They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,

but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.

They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

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.

They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

Therefore the LORD was angry with His people and abhorred His inheritance.

He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them.

Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.

Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.

But He took note of their distress when He heard their cry;

for their sake He remembered His covenant and out of His great love He relented.

He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.

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

Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD.

[My reflections]

In this psalm, the psalmist is singing of the "mighty acts of the Lord." This psalm has been lyricized and is often sung by choirs. What are the mighty acts that the psalm is singing about? Without knowing them, one may not be able to sing from the heart.

Of the 48 verses of the psalm, more than 30 verses have been devoted to confess the sins, wrong-doings and wickedness of Israel. The Israelites did not remember how God performed miracles to lead them out of Egypt and rebelled against Him by the Red Sea (v 7). In the desert, they gave in to their craving and put God to the test (v 14). They envied Moses and Aaron, consecrated to the Lord (v 16). They worshiped a golden calf and forgot their true savior, the Lord (v 19-21). They despised the land promised by the Lord and did not trust Him (v 24). They yielded to the gods of pleasure and lust and sinned against the true God (v 28). They rebelled against the Spirit of God (v 33). Instead of destroying the heathen nations as they were commanded to do, they mingled with them and adopted their customs (v 34-36). Yet, in spite of all these, God forgave them time and again for His name's sake and saved them.

The very description of the Israelites is the same description applicable to us, is it not? Although we are utterly unworthy, God forgave us and saved us, with the price of the blood of His own Son (Romans 5:8). Despite having received such an awesome love, do we not time and again doubt the goodness, kindness and mercy of the Lord and habitually exhibit mistrust and unbelief? Instead of fixing our eyes on the kingdom of heaven, do we not take pleasure in the vanities of this world -- cravings of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastings of the world (I John 2:16)? Yes, yes, yes, we do all these. Yet, the Lord God still loves us to the end (Romans 8:38-39) and disciplines us as His children (Hebrews 12:5-6), so that we may be on the path of righteousness.

Herein are the mighty acts of the Lord: that despite all our shortcomings, He still loves us and will never forsake us. Herein lies His great love: with patience that considers a thousand years like a day (II Peter 3:8), He waits for us -- like the father waiting for his prodigal son to return (Luke 15:20). My prayer is that, as the psalmist prayed in v 5 of this psalm, I will be among those who join in witnessing and experiencing these mighty acts of the Lord and in praising the joy of being His nation, His people, His children.