Rings of old tent-stones on a wide empty gravel plain, an abandoned camp, faint tracks going off in every direction under a huge blank sky.

History

Psalm 106

The same story again, told by the people who failed it. For the day you’ve done it again: read to the end. He “remembered His covenant.”

48 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–41Book IDavid's prayers: 'The LORD is my shepherd'
42–72Book II'As the deer pants'; the throne under pressure
73–89Book IIIAsaph and Korah: the kingdom falls
90–106Book IVBack to Moses: the LORD reignsPsalm 106
107–150Book VSongs of ascents, and the last Hallelujah

Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good

Hallelujah!

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

His loving devotion endures forever.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Sunrise over range after range of desert mountains, light pouring across the whole land from the horizon to the near slopes.

Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORD

or fully proclaim His praise?

Blessed are those who uphold justice,

who practice righteousness at all times.

Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people;

visit me with Your salvation,

that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,

and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,

and give glory with Your inheritance.

Yet they soon forgot His works

and failed to wait for His counsel.

They craved intensely in the wilderness

and tested God in the desert.

So He granted their request,

but sent a wasting disease upon them.

In the camp they envied Moses,

as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.

The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it covered the assembly of Abiram.

Then fire blazed through their company;

flames consumed the wicked.

At dusk on the bare granite slopes of Sinai, an old white-bearded man seen from behind picks his way down a steep path, two plain stone tablets held edge-on against his chest; far below, the glow of a fire in the dark camp.

At Horeb they made a calf

and worshiped a molten image.

They exchanged their Glory

for the image of a grass-eating ox.

They forgot God their Savior,

who did great things in Egypt,

wondrous works in the land of Ham,

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

0:17

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

An ordinary ox chewing cud in a dusty field, a wisp of grass hanging from its mouth, looking blankly at the camera.

So He said He would destroy them—

had not Moses His chosen one

stood before Him in the breach

to divert His wrath from destroying them.

Reflect

Your ox

They traded the living God for something that eats grass. What do you reach for in place of Him? Name it, and write down what it has actually given you.

From a bare ridge, green hills shine far away, and in the foreground rows of tents stand with their door flaps turned shut against them.

They despised the pleasant land;

they did not believe His promise.

They grumbled in their tents

and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

So He raised His hand and swore

to cast them down in the wilderness,

to disperse their offspring among the nations

and scatter them throughout the lands.

A spring at the foot of a rock face run dry, its basin of cracked gray mud ringed with empty clay jars and flat goatskins, thin goats nosing the dust, and an angry crowd turning on two old men.

At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD,

and trouble came to Moses because of them.

For they rebelled against His Spirit,

and Moses spoke rashly with his 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 polluted with blood.

They defiled themselves by their actions

and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

From a hill village roof at harvest, a far line of foreign raiders' dust crosses the valley's barley, villagers small and still.

So the anger of the LORD burned against His people,

and He abhorred His own inheritance.

He delivered them into the hand of the nations,

and those who hated them ruled over them.

Their enemies oppressed them

and subdued them under their hand.

Many times He rescued them,

but they were bent on rebellion

and sank down in their iniquity.

Many times

Whiteboard

The circle of Judges, and the circle of us. And the one word that breaks it.

Nevertheless He heard their cry;

He took note of their distress.

And He remembered His covenant with them,

and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

He made them objects of compassion

to all who held them captive.

Nevertheless He heard their cry

An empty road climbs from a flat plain to far pale hills in clear morning, no one on it yet.

Save us, O LORD our God,

and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to Your holy name,

that we may glory in Your praise.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Hallelujah!

Pray

Say it with “we”

Confess it the way the psalm does, with your people and not apart from them: we have sinned, we have forgotten, we have reached for other things. Then thank Him that He remembers. End where it ends: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” “Amen!” “Hallelujah!”

You’ve experienced

Psalm 106

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A verse to carry with you

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Psalm 106:1

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