Psalm 106

¹ Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
² Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise?
³ Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
⁴ Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
⁵ that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
⁶ We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
⁷ When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

⁸ Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.
¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
¹² Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
¹³ But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel.
¹⁴ In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test.
¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.
¹⁶ In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD .
¹⁷ The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
¹⁸ Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
¹⁹ At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
²⁰ They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ So he said he would destroy them had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
²⁵ They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.
²⁶ So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert, make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
²⁸ They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
²⁹ they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
³¹ This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
³² By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
³³ for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.
³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
³⁵ but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
³⁶ They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
³⁸ They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
³⁹ They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
⁴⁰ Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.

⁴¹ He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
⁴⁴ But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;
⁴⁵ for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
⁴⁸ Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the LORD.

After reading this psalm of how God dealt with Israel in the past and his future dealings with Israel the reader should realize that God is a merciful God, a God that is always willing to forgive. However, we as a nation should also take heed of our relationship with God today. I am afraid that we as a nation today represents Israel at the time of Elijah and that the true worshipers are a part of the seven thousand that have not bowed their knees to Baal. These are individuals that walk daily in God’s way and are not a part of a movement. Movements are man’s way of making things happen, however the more I study God’s Word and watch events happening in the world around me, it seems that God uses individuals moved by His Spirit to make things happen both on a local scale as well as on a global scale. These individuals have the characteristics that are found in verse three, they maintain justice and constantly do what is right. They strive at living a blameless life.

Paul used the example of this psalm in his warning to the Corinthians in I Corinthians chapter ten. In verses 5-11 he writes “Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.”. Yes, God is a merciful God, but if we are bended on rebellion when as verse forty-three states we will waste away in our sins. Chose then the correct way to conduct your daily walk.

It is amazing how God has embedded simple truths in his Word. As I study this psalm the words of verses nineteen through twenty-three speaks of our society today.

¹⁹At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
²⁰ They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ So he said he would destroy them had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
The event that took placed at Horeb has been taking place in the course of history since the fall of man. Even in the very strong holds of religion itself we see God being exchanged for other gods. When you read Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” you must realize that this is the first of the simple truths that God reveals to men from the scriptures. This truth is that God started the process of the heavens and the earth by creating something out of nothing. This truth that God is a creator should shape and mold your understanding of everything that surrounds you. For without God nothing would or could exist. Therefore, to gain an understand of the world in which we live we must recognize God as creator. That is not the case with society today. In an article from the Houston Chronicle (6/21/2009) Opportunities to Fellowship With Other Humanists in Houston the author Hux (Brian Surratt) stated “The HOH seems to be getting stronger. I hope the options for humanists continue to grow overtime to include, say, more activities for families who desire to raise ethical children in a naturalistic tradition”.

What is a humanist? Just go to their website for the answer. In the Humanist Manifesto III, the American Humanist Association outlined the following basic principles of Humanism:

• Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis.
  • Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.
  • Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.
  • Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals.
  • Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships.
  • Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

At first glance these principles might sound great. However, a farther look at the Humanism definition of Humanism itself states “Humanism is a worldview which says that reason and science are the best ways to understand the world around us, and that dignity and compassion should be the basis for how you act toward someone else. Humanism is nontheistic. By this, we don’t mean to say that there is no God. Instead, we say that there is no proof for the existence of God, any gods, the supernatural or an afterlife. Therefore, we take very seriously the idea that “No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.” We are living the only life we’ll have; in the only world we know about. The responsibility for the choices we make are ours and ours alone.” This statement is a reflection of exactly what the Israelites did here at Horeb, and what Paul describes in Romans chapter one as the condition that mankind now suffers. Then we look at the last two verses of this Psalm we see the psalmist requests to God: save us and gather us from the nations. If one of the fundamental beliefs of Humanism is that God does not save us, only we can; then I cannot abide in their company. However, like Moses may I stand in the breach between God and the Humanist and pray that they may see the light offered to them through Christ.