Psalm 106
1 Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew forth all his praise?
3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
5 That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him 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 to be known.
9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.
12 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.
13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.
23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
25 But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:
27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.
30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.
31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.
32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them:
35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
40 Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.
48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord.
Psalm 106 Commentary
Overview
Psalm 106 is a communal confession framed by praise. It begins with God’s enduring mercy, then tells the painful story of Israel’s rebellion. The worshipers do not criticize earlier generations from a distance. They confess, “We have sinned with our fathers,” recognizing the same forgetfulness and unbelief within their own community.
The chapter deliberately accompanies Psalm 105. Psalm 105 emphasizes God’s faithful acts; Psalm 106 emphasizes Israel’s responses. It moves from the Red Sea through wilderness rebellion, the golden calf, Canaanite idolatry, oppression, and captivity, setting human unfaithfulness against divine judgment, intercession, deliverance, and mercy.
The final prayer asks God to gather his scattered people so they may thank his holy name. Although it likely reflects foreign domination or dispersion, its hope reaches beyond one setting. Sin remains serious, but restoration does not depend on Israel’s record. The Lord remembers his covenant and acts according to abundant mercy.
Key Themes
Praise and confession belong together. The psalm does not begin with human failure but with God’s goodness. Confession becomes despair when it loses sight of mercy, while praise becomes shallow when it refuses to name sin. Psalm 106 holds both truths together: God is worthy of thanksgiving, and his people must speak honestly about the ways they have resisted him.
Corporate confession recognizes inherited patterns. “We have sinned with our fathers” does not assign personal guilt for acts others committed. It acknowledges solidarity with the community and admits that earlier sins can be repeated or defended. Faithful confession learns from the past without pretending present worshipers are naturally superior.
Israel forgot God’s mercies at the very place of deliverance. The people had seen the plagues in Egypt, yet at the Red Sea they interpreted danger as proof that God had abandoned them. Exodus 14 records their fear and complaint. Recent evidence of grace does not automatically create durable trust; remembered truth must be brought consciously into each new crisis.
God saved for the honor of his name. Verse 8 says that the Lord saved Israel “for his name’s sake,” making his mighty power known. This does not make his compassion impersonal. It means that salvation reveals who he truly is—the covenant-keeping God whose character is not defeated by the fear, weakness, or inconsistency of his people.
Deliverance should produce enduring faith, not only temporary enthusiasm. After the sea closed over Egypt’s forces, Israel believed and sang. Yet they soon forgot God’s works. A powerful experience may awaken faith, but lasting discipleship requires continued remembrance, instruction, prayer, and obedience.
Uncontrolled desire can become rebellion. In the wilderness the people “lusted exceedingly” and tested God. Numbers 11 shows that the issue was more than hunger; they despised God’s provision and demanded life on their own terms. Desire becomes spiritually dangerous when gratitude disappears and a wanted gift becomes the condition for trusting God.
A granted request is not always a sign of approval. Verse 15 says God gave Israel what they asked for but sent “leanness into their soul.” The language warns that receiving a desired thing can expose its inability to satisfy or can arrive with painful consequences. Wise prayer therefore asks not only for what is wanted but also for desires to be corrected by God’s wisdom.
Envy attacks God’s ordering of service. The rebellion against Moses and Aaron was not merely a disagreement about administration. Dathan and Abiram rejected the leaders God had appointed, while Korah’s company coveted priestly authority, as described in Numbers 16. The earth and fire judgments reveal the seriousness of ambition disguised as spiritual equality.
Idolatry exchanges God’s glory for something controllable. At Horeb, Israel shaped a calf and worshiped an image of an animal that eats grass. The insult is deliberate: they exchanged the glory of their Savior for a lifeless representation of a dependent creature. Idolatry still reduces God to an image, cause, possession, leader, or expectation that can be managed.
Moses stood in the breach through intercession. God’s announced judgment was not indifferent anger, and Moses did not persuade a cruel deity to become merciful. The Lord raised up an intercessor who appealed to his promises and reputation, as Exodus 32 records. Moses’ prayer became one of the means through which covenant mercy was displayed.
Unbelief can despise a good gift before receiving it. Israel rejected the pleasant land because fear gave greater weight to the obstacles than to God’s promise. Their refusal in Numbers 14 was not prudent caution but distrust after repeated demonstrations of God’s faithfulness. Grumbling in their tents revealed a settled unwillingness to obey.
Sin spreads from private complaint to public collapse. The people first murmured in their tents, then joined themselves to Baal-peor and participated in idolatrous worship. Numbers 25 connects this apostasy with sexual immorality and a deadly plague. Hidden resentment and tolerated compromise can prepare the heart for open disloyalty.
Phinehas acted within a unique covenant judicial crisis. His intervention stopped brazen public defiance while judgment was already falling on Israel. The commendation recognizes zeal for covenant holiness in that setting; it does not authorize private religious violence or the rejection of lawful authority.
A community’s rebellion can place leaders under severe pressure. At Meribah, Israel provoked Moses, but he remained responsible for speaking rashly. Numbers 20 says he failed to honor God. Pressure can explain a sinful response without excusing it, especially in leadership.
Incomplete obedience opened the way to cultural assimilation. Israel did not remove the nations as commanded, then mixed with them, learned their works, and served their idols. The concern was not ethnicity or ordinary contact with neighbors; foreigners could join Israel in faith. The danger was adopting worship and practices that denied the Lord and corrupted the covenant community.
Idolatry eventually demanded innocent blood. Verses 37–38 describe sons and daughters sacrificed to demons and the land polluted by blood. Scripture refuses to romanticize the religions of Canaan. False worship harmed the most vulnerable, showing that ideas about God and worship are never merely private when they shape what a society permits people to do to one another.
God’s judgment gave Israel over to consequences it had chosen. Because the people repeatedly rejected the Lord, enemies ruled over them and oppressed them. The pattern resembles the cycle in Judges 2: rebellion, subjection, crying out, and deliverance. Judgment exposed the slavery hidden inside Israel’s chosen independence.
Repeated failure did not exhaust covenant mercy. Verse 43 says God delivered them many times, even though they continued provoking him. Divine patience is not approval of sin, and repeated rescue does not make rebellion harmless. It shows that the history of God’s people cannot be explained by their worthiness; their survival rests on mercy they continually need.
God hears afflicted people even after self-inflicted ruin. The word “nevertheless” in verse 44 marks one of the chapter’s greatest turns. Israel had been brought low through its own iniquity, yet God regarded their affliction when he heard their cry. Consequences may be deserved, but suffering people are not therefore forbidden to seek mercy.
The Lord remembers his covenant when his people have forgotten him. Verse 45 answers the forgetfulness that dominates the psalm. God’s remembrance means faithful action toward promises, not recovery from a lapse of memory. The community’s hope rests in his steadfast commitment, while genuine return includes confession rather than presuming upon that commitment.
Restoration is sought for the sake of worship. The final petition asks God to gather the scattered people so they can thank his holy name and triumph in his praise. Rescue is not merely a return to safety, territory, or prosperity. Its proper goal is renewed communion with God and a restored public witness to his goodness.
Questions About Key Verses
Why does the psalm say, “We have sinned with our fathers”? The worshipers confess their own sin while locating it within a continuing communal history. They do not blame ancestors to avoid responsibility. Instead, they admit that the same impulses remain active among them and that faithful repentance requires naming both personal acts and destructive patterns passed through a community.
What does “leanness into their soul” mean in verse 15? It describes judgment accompanying the granted request. Israel obtained the food it demanded, but abundance did not bring spiritual health or contentment. The phrase may include bodily wasting connected with the plague, but its larger lesson is that a satisfied appetite can coexist with an impoverished inner life.
Did Moses change God’s mind in verse 23? Scripture presents the warning and the intercession as genuine parts of God’s dealings with Israel. Moses appealed to truths God himself had revealed, and the Lord relented from the announced destruction. This does not suggest that God discovered a mistake; it shows that prayer and mediation are real means within his faithful covenant purpose.
Does Phinehas provide a model for religious violence today? No. His act occurred during Israel’s theocratic covenant order, in a public crisis already under divine judicial sentence, and was later recognized within that specific priestly context. Christians are commanded to reject personal vengeance, pursue peace, practice church discipline without physical coercion, and leave final judgment to God.
What does it mean that God “repented” in verse 45? In older English, “repented” can describe relenting or changing a declared course of action in response to changed circumstances. The verse does not say God confessed moral wrongdoing. It says that, according to his abundant mercy, he turned from continued judgment and showed compassion to afflicted covenant people who cried to him.
Why does Psalm 106 end with a doxology after so much failure? The final blessing closes both the psalm and Book Four of the Psalter. Israel’s sin receives no excuse, but it does not receive the last word. God remains the everlasting Lord of Israel, and the congregation is invited to answer “Amen” and praise him while still asking for restoration.
Practical Applications
Let praise create a safe place for honest confession. Begin repentance by remembering God’s goodness and enduring mercy, not by minimizing wrongdoing. Name specific failures without theatrical self-condemnation. Confidence in God’s character makes it possible to tell the truth and seek change rather than hide, excuse, or despair.
Practice remembrance before the next crisis. Israel forgot quickly because deliverance was not allowed to govern later fear and desire. Build habits that keep Scripture and God’s past faithfulness available: regular reading, shared worship, written testimony, and conversation across generations. Memory must be cultivated before pressure narrows attention.
Submit strong desires to God’s wisdom. Do not assume that intensity proves a request is good or that receiving it proves divine endorsement. Ask what the desire is doing to gratitude, obedience, relationships, and judgment. Pray for God either to provide wisely or to reshape the appetite that has begun to rule you.
Resist assimilation by choosing what forms you. Loving neighbors and learning from other cultures do not require adopting beliefs or practices opposed to God’s character. Examine entertainment, ambitions, political loyalties, financial habits, and community expectations by Scripture. Compromise usually becomes normal through repeated participation before it is defended in words.
Intercede for failing people without excusing harm. Moses’ example joins concern for God’s honor with concern for a sinful community. Pray for repentance, protection of victims, truthful accountability, and restoration where possible. Biblical intercession does not conceal evidence or erase consequences; it asks that judgment serve mercy and genuine transformation.
Return to God even when consequences are deserved. Psalm 106 repeatedly says that Israel’s distress grew from its own choices, yet God still heard their cry. Do not use responsibility as a reason to avoid prayer. Confess what caused the ruin, accept necessary correction, seek help, and trust the covenant mercy ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ.