Let all the people say, "Amen!" (Psalm 106)

If Psalm 105 is Israelite History 101, Psalm 106 is Israelite History 102, with an emphasis on confession of sin.

Most of the psalm's forty-eight verses review Israel's sins from the time the people dwelled in Egypt (7), through the exodus (7-12), during their long sojourn in the desert (13-33), as they occupied the Promised Land (32-39), and during their oppression and captivity (40-43).

The psalmist prefaces this long confessional litany of sin with praise and a declaration that seems contradicted by most of the psalm (1-3, ESV):

Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD,
or declare all his praise?
Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times!

It's easy to sing the familiar words praising God's goodness and his steadfast love, and we readily realize our inability to recount all God's mighty deeds or adequately declare all the praise due his name. But verse three causes pause.

Can anyone observe justice and do righteousness at all times? Since no one can, how can anyone be blessed?

The psalmist then writes:

Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,
that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance (4-5, ESV).

God's favor is the only avenue to blessing. His Son is the only source of salvation. His Spirit is the only way to obey. Because God grants us his favor, salvation through Christ, and sanctification through His Spirit, we begin to live for him. Then we can see the spiritual, if not the physical, prosperity of God's elect. Then we are able to rejoice within the church community. And then we look forward to our glorious inheritance in Christ.

But while we do these things, we confess our sin.

The long list of Israel's sins, despite God's repeated deliverance and provision, confirms the impossibility and our inability to do righteousness at all times. If we're honest with ourselves, we realize that we are just as sinful as those stiff-necked Israelites. We feel our kinship with Israel, whose "enemies oppressed them" and brought them "into subjection." Although God delivered them many times, they "were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity" (42-43, ESV).

When we humble our hearts and turn to God in true repentance, he hears our cries for mercy.

Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
He caused them to be pitied
by all those who held them captive (44-46, ESV).

God motivated pagan kings to release a remnant of faithful believers from captivity so they could return to the Promised Land. God also remembers his covenant with us. He will grant relief from our distress according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

We can pray with the psalmist:

Save us, O LORD our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise (47, ESV).

God will save us. But he saves us with a purpose: that we may gives thanks to his holy name and glory in his praise.

Because God is faithful and his love never fails, we praise him with all his people in every place and every time (48, ESV):

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, "Amen!"
Praise the LORD!


Quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Remembering and Recounting, Psalm 105

Need a quick lesson in Old Testament covenant history? Read Psalm 105.

Psalm 105 recounts God's covenantal promise and how he brought his people into the promised land. God made the promise to Abraham, preserved and expanded Abraham's descendents during hundreds of years in Egypt, brought those two million people out of slavery, and destroyed an entire unbelieving generation in the desert before finally bringing his people into the land flowing with milk and honey.

But Psalm 105 isn't mere history; it's history with a purpose. That multi-faceted purpose is reflected in the opening verses (1-6, ESV):

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

The psalm calls God's people to do more than remember God's wondrous works. It calls all of us to worship God, to thank him, to praise him, to glory in his name, to seek him, and to rejoice in him. And one more thing: make known his deeds among the peoples.

Worship must be accompanied by witness.

When we remember and recount God's covenant faithfulness, we have comfort and confidence for the future. This covenant God still controls all the events in the world, while caring for us and our children.

He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations (7-8, ESV).

Most of this long psalm conveys God's sovereignty over the patriarchs' lives and the Israelite nation. God is the one who "summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread," but "he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave" (16-17, ESV). This was God's plan for preserving his people in Egypt.

In that lush land, the Lord "made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes" (24). God is the one who "turned" the "hearts" of the Egyptians "to hate his people" and "to deal craftily with his servants" (25).

But God provided rescue for his people. "He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen" (26).

The psalmist emphasizes God's actions in subsequent verses describing how God sent each successive plague: "He sent.... He turned.... He spoke.... He gave.... He struck down.... He spoke.... He struck down...." (28-36, ESV).

That emphasis on God's work continues in verses describing the exodus from Egypt and his provision in the desert: "...he brought out Israel with silver and gold" (37). "He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night" (39). "...he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance" (40). "He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river" (41).

God did all this for Israel because "he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant" (42). God is always faithful. His steadfast love never fails. He did not merely deliver his people, he granted them joy and abundance (43-45, ESV):

So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
And he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD!

God did all this for his people so that they could obey him and praise him. God has delivered each believer from the land of sin's slavery. Someday he will deliver each of us from this land of sin's sorrow. What a day that will be!

But until that day comes, we have a responsibility to spread the good news of God's sovereignty and his salvation through Jesus Christ. We have a duty not merely to remember covenant history in our minds, but to recount it to others!