A Cycle of Mercy & Wrath
Psalm 106:1 - Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Like Acts 7 in the New Testament, Psalm 106 is a great summary of what took place to Israel from the time that Moses led them out of captivity to the time of the kings. Here is a breakdown of the chapter:
(vs. 1-12) The psalm itself starts by praising God for all His mighty and wondrous works. It describes God’s mercy towards Israel, specifically how He delivered them from the hand of Egypt and saved them from their enemies. In this part of Israel’s history, they physically saw the wonders that God had performed for them. Yet, they still doubted Him at the Red Sea. After they were delivered at the Red Sea, they believed God’s words again and sang His praises (vs. 12). But, this praise did not last.
(vs. 13-23) Very soon after seeing all that God had done for them, Israel forgot His works and doesn’t seek His advice or counsel. While in the wilderness, they tempted God and envied the leaders that God had appointed. They even set up their own idol to worship. By doing so, they showed how easily they forgot God and all He had done to deliver them out of Egypt (vs. 21). God was ready to destroy them, but Moses interceded on their behalf. So, they were spared from His wrath.
(vs. 24-27) In addition to forgetting God, they showed a complete lack of faith in Him. God had promised the Israelites a home in a beautiful land flowing with milk and honey. Yet when faced with the people occupying the land, they refused to go in. They were scared and did not trust God to deliver them to the land they were promised. They murmured against God (vs. 25) and the result was God sending them back to wander in the wilderness until that generation was no more. A new generation arose who would go to the Promised Land, but they too forgot God and His mighty works.
(vs. 28-39) In these verses, we see that this new generation of Israel was even worse than the last. They joined themselves with the surrounding nations and began worshipping their gods. They completely assimilated into the heathen culture. They even sacrificed their own children to these gods, shedding innocent blood (vs 38). They defiled themselves and turned away from God.
(vs. 40-48) After countless sessions of mercy, the wrath of God was poured out on Israel. God despised His own people because of their sin. As punishment, Israel was conquered by other nations and oppressed by their enemies. Even though they had turned away from God many times, God still had mercy on Israel and would deliver them from the hands of their enemies when they cried out to Him (vs. 44). But when they grew comfortable again, the people of Israel would again turn to sin and be punished. This cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, and redemption was repeated time and again during the age of the judges. The psalm then ends in the same way it began by praising God.
How does this chapter apply to us today?
In many ways, Christians are the same, if not worse than the children of Israel. We have forgotten His our God, mingled with the world, and shed innocent blood. As Gentiles, we were not part of God’s original chosen people. But, by His grace, we have been grafted into God’s family. We are privileged to be called His children and considered joint-heirs with Christ. Since we are living in the age of grace, God is patient with us and delivers us when we call out to Him. But, we cannot take that for granted.
Since we are the bride of Christ, we need to act like it. Our lives should be dedicated to God’s service and we must follow His law. We cannot forget the God who took us from the mire and put us in a position of honor. That promotion only comes by God’s grace, not of any action of our own. But, Christians cannot grow so complacent in their spiritual life that they join with the world knowing their salvation is secure. We do not want to end up like Israel whom God eventually despised because of their sin. Christians should be living a life where God is proud of us and delights to be called our God.
**Image taken from the Bible App
