Today's selection closes out Book IV with two very similar Psalms, 105 and 106. I'll cover Psalm 106 today.
The Psalmist opens with praise, noting the everlasting lovingkindness of God and His mighty deeds. He says that those are blessed who keep justice and practice righteousness at all times. He asks for God's favor and His salvation, and that he may see the prosperity of God's chosen ones, that he may glory in God's inheritance.
Now the Psalm turns into a confession of national sin and shortcomings of Israel before God. The rebellion and unbelief at the Red Sea, followed by repentance at seeing God's mighty salvation and then followed soon thereafter by the people quickly forgetting God's works again.
The rebellion of Dathan and Abiram is recalled along with the molten calf, and again, it is noted that the people forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt.
After appropriating the land of Canaan, the people did not completely obey the commandment of God:
They did not destroy the peoples,
Concerning whom the LORD had commanded them,
But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
They served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
God's anger is again directed against His people so that time and time again they are given into the hand of other nations, and then time and time again, He would deliver them out of their distress when He heard their cry.
The Psalmist closes the Psalm, and Book IV with this prayer:
Save us, O LORD our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, "Amen! "
Praise the LORD!
A historical Psalm, the events recalled near the end remind me of the book of Judges, where Israel goes through alternating periods of wickedness and its associated oppression, followed by righteousness, freedom, and prosperity. Our Christian walks can sometimes look like that too. Sometimes we get too comfortable and we think we don't need God. We're wrong when we think that way, but God has ways to remind us that we need Him. Wisdom is in realizing that sooner rather than later.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.