Psalms 106

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Psalm 106 opens and closes with calls to give thanks and praise to the Lord. The text recounts the history of the Israelites, starting with their rebellion at the Red Sea, followed by God saving them for His name's sake by parting the waters and destroying their enemies. The people repeatedly forgot God's works, craving food in the wilderness, envying Moses and Aaron at the camp where Dathan and Abiram were swallowed by the earth and fire consumed the wicked, and worshiping a molten calf at Horeb. Although God threatened to destroy them, Moses interceded on their behalf. The narrative continues detailing further rebellions, including grumbling against the promised land, joining Baal of Peor where a plague was stopped by Phinehas, angering the Lord at Meribah, and mingling with foreign nations to sacrifice their sons and daughters to idols. Because of these actions, the Lord delivered them into the hands of hostile nations who oppressed them. Yet, whenever they cried out in distress, God remembered His covenant, showed compassion, rescued them from their captors, and the psalm concludes with a final blessing to the God of Israel.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever. ²Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORD or fully proclaim His praise? ³Blessed are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times. ⁴Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people; visit me with Your salvation, ⁵that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, and give glory with Your inheritance. ⁶We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. ⁷Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea. ⁸Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known. ⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert. ¹⁰He saved them from the hand that hated them; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. ¹¹The waters covered their foes; not one of them remained. ¹²Then they believed His promises and sang His praise. ¹³Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel. ¹⁴They craved intensely in the wilderness and tested God in the desert. ¹⁵So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them. ¹⁶In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD. ¹⁷The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram. ¹⁸Then fire blazed through their company; flames consumed the wicked. ¹⁹At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image. ²⁰They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox. ²¹They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt, ²²wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. ²³So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them. ²⁴They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise. ²⁵They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the voice of the LORD. ²⁶So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness, ²⁷to disperse their offspring among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. ²⁸They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods. ²⁹So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. ³⁰But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained. ³¹It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come. ³²At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them. ³³For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips. ³⁴They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, ³⁵but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. ³⁶They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. ³⁷They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. ³⁸They shed innocent blood— the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. ³⁹They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds. ⁴⁰So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance. ⁴¹He delivered them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. ⁴²Their enemies oppressed them and subdued them under their hand. ⁴³Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity. ⁴⁴Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress. ⁴⁵And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion. ⁴⁶He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive. ⁴⁷Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise. ⁴⁸Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah!