Psalms Chapter 106

Scripture: Psalms Chapter 106

World English Bible

  1. Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
  2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD, or fully declare all his praise?
  3. Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
  4. Remember me, LORD, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation,
  5. that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.
  6. We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.
  7. Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
  8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power known.
  9. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert.
  10. He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
  11. The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left.
  12. Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
  13. They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel,
  14. but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland.
  15. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
  16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, the LORD’s saint.
  17. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
  18. A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.
  19. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.
  20. Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.
  21. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
  22. wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea.
  23. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.
  24. Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word,
  25. but murmured in their tents, and didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice.
  26. Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
  27. that he would overthrow their offspring among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.
  28. They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
  29. Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.
  30. Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.
  31. That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.
  32. They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes;
  33. because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.
  34. They didn’t destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,
  35. but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
  36. They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
  37. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
  38. They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
  39. Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
  40. Therefore the LORD burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
  41. He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.
  42. Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.
  43. He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.
  44. Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.
  45. He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
  46. He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.
  47. Save us, LORD, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!
  48. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!

Psalm 106 — The Mercy of Unedited Memory

Psalm 105 and Psalm 106 belong together. Yesterday’s psalm remembered what God did right; today’s remembers what we did wrong. Psalm 105 sings covenant faithfulness. Psalm 106 confesses covenant treason. Together they teach a lesson the church badly needs: holy memory is never selective.

What many Western readers miss is how unusual this is. Ancient nations wrote history to flatter themselves. Kings carved victories in stone and buried their shame. But Israel’s worship book tells the truth about Israel. It names rebellion at the sea, envy in the camp, the calf at Horeb, contempt for the promised land, the worship of Baal, and even the horror of child sacrifice. Scripture is not propaganda. Grace has made it honest.

One of the sharpest lines comes in verse 13: “But they soon forgot his works” (English Standard Version). In Hebrew the wording is abrupt, almost breathless: they hurried; they forgot. That is profound. Sin is not always open defiance. Often it is impatience. “They did not wait for his counsel.” Many of our gravest failures begin there—not with shaking a fist at God, but with refusing to live at the pace of trust.

Then comes a terrifying sentence: “He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them” (New International Version). More literally, he sent “leanness into their soul.” There are prayers God answers in judgment. We get the thing we demanded, and inwardly become thin. Our age is full of satisfied cravings and starved souls.

The psalm’s vision of idolatry is equally piercing: “They exchanged their Glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (English Standard Version). “Their Glory” is a shocking phrase for God himself. The calf was not mere barnyard foolishness. In Egypt and Canaan, bull images carried ideas of strength, rule, and fertility; archaeology confirms how common that symbolism was. But the psalm mocks the idol’s claim to greatness: it eats grass. All idolatry is an exchange downward. Paul echoes this in Romans 1:23. We trade living glory for manageable power, and that trade never stays private. In Psalm 106, false worship finally leads to bloodshed and the destruction of children. Idols always devour the vulnerable.

Yet the final word is not they forgot, but he remembered: “for their sake he remembered his covenant” (verse 45). Moses “stood in the breach,” and Phinehas “stood up”; both are living pictures of mediation. Calvin saw here the stripping away of every human boast so that mercy alone might shine. Augustine heard the whole people of God praying this psalm with tears. Christians hear something more: the greater Mediator, Jesus Christ, who stood not only in the breach of a wall, but in the breach our sin tore open between earth and heaven.

So tell the truth about your past—personal, familial, ecclesial. But tell it before the God whose covenant memory is stronger than your forgetfulness.

Suggested cross-references: Exodus 32; Numbers 14; Numbers 25; Romans 1:23; 1 Corinthians 10:1–12; Ezekiel 22:30; Hebrews 7:25.

Hymn: “Depth of Mercy! Can There Be Mercy Still Reserved for Me?” by Charles Wesley.

Prayer:
Lord, we have hurried and forgotten. We have wanted gifts more than your counsel, and our souls have grown thin. Forgive our false exchanges and wandering loves. Thank you that when we forget, you remember your covenant in Christ. Gather us, deepen us, and make us truthful under your mercy. Amen.

Narrated version of this devotional on Psalms Chapter 106