Psalms106
New International Version
1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.
4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
5 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.
6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our ancestors 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.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 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.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to false gods.
38 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.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hands of the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused all who held them captive to show them mercy.
47 Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord.
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Psalms 106Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 106. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The happiness of God's people. (1–5). Israel's sins. (6–12). Their provocations. (13–33). Their rebellions in Canaan. (34–46). Prayer for more complete deliverance. (47, 48).
vv1-5
None of our sins or sufferings should prevent our ascribing glory and praise to the Lord. The more unworthy we are, the more is his kindness to be admired. And those who depend on the Redeemer's righteousness will endeavour to copy his example, and by word and deed to show forth his praise. God's people have reason to be cheerful people; and need not envy the children of men their pleasure or pride.
vv6-12
Here begins a confession of sin; for we must acknowledge that the Lord has done right, and we have done wickedly. We are encouraged to hope that though justly corrected, yet we shall not be utterly forsaken. God's afflicted people own themselves guilty before him. God is distrusted because his favours are not remembered. If he did not save us for his own name's sake, and to the praise of his power and grace, we should all perish.
vv13-33
Those that will not wait for God's counsel, shall justly be given up to their own hearts' lusts, to walk in their own counsels. An undue desire, even for lawful things, becomes sinful. God showed his displeasure for this. He filled them with uneasiness of mind, terror of conscience, and self-reproach. Many that fare deliciously every day, and whose bodies are healthful, have leanness in their souls: no love to God, no thankfulness, no appetite for the Bread of life, and then the soul must be lean. Those wretchedly forget themselves, that feast their bodies and starve their souls. Even the true believer will see abundant cause to say, It is of the Lord's mercies that I am not consumed. Often have we set up idols in our hearts, cleaved to some forbidden object; so that if a greater than Moses had not stood to turn away the anger of the Lord, we should have been destroyed. If God dealt severely with Moses for unadvised words, what do those deserve who speak many proud and wicked words? It is just in God to remove those relations that are blessings to us, when we are peevish and provoking to them, and grieve their spirits.
Key Words
הָלַל: to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make ashow, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify
יָדָה: physically, to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to bemoan (by wringing the hands)
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
טוֹב: good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)
חֵסֵד: kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opposition) reproof, or (subject.) beauty
עוֹלָם: properly, concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) always
מִי: who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
מָלַל: to speak (mostly poetical) or say
גְּבוּרָה: force (literally or figuratively); by implication, valor, victory
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
Cross References
Psalms 106Direct citation and source of the psalm's closing prayer for gathering and deliverance.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Moses pleads for God's name's sake to avoid destruction of Israel in the wilderness.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct parallel showing they believed His words and sang praise at the Red Sea.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The source text where Israel 'lusted exceedingly' (lusted a lust) in the desert.
Supported by JFB
The historical event of making and worshipping the molten golden calf at Horeb.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The historical account of Israel joining themselves to Baal-peor and eating pagan sacrifices.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prophetic description of God leading them through the deep Red Sea as a horse.
Supported by JFB
New Testament warning citing Israel's lusting in the wilderness as an example for us.
Supported by JFB
The earth opening to swallow Dathan and the company of Abiram.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Apostolic echo of changing the glory of the incorruptible God into images.
Supported by JFB
Moses standing in the breach to turn away God's wrath from destroying them.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
God's covenant of peace given because Phinehas executed judgment and turned away wrath.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The provocation at the waters of Meribah where Moses spoke unadvisedly.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Solomon's prayer matching the three-fold confession of sin used by the captives.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The sister psalm's detailed catalog of the wonders and plagues in Egypt (land of Ham).
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole