Psalms 106:1

Psalms 106:1-2, “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all His praise?”

God is a Poet. And The Book of Psalms is God’s great poetical work. Psalms deals a lot with how and why to praise God. Psalms 106 is one such Psalms. In shewing how and why to praise God Psalms 106 is going to give the entire history of the children of Israel and what God did for them in the past in redeeming them from slavery and making then into a great nation.

There are quite a few Psalms in the book of Psalms that do exactly this same thing. Because there are, we have the opportunity to realize how important it is to remember the past in terms of what God has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ.

What is mentioned in verse one as the reason to give thanks and praise to God for His goodness is His mercy.

His mercy endureth for ever. There is no being in the universe with the kindness, compassion and mercy that God has. God gives mercy to everyone especially those that ask Him for mercy. We can receive mercy because of Jesus. Jesus took on the holy wrath of God on the cross. Because He did we can receive a mercy that endures forever or one might say beyond the end of time.

We need mercy because we are sinners. Without the mercy of Jesus our destinies would be to burn in hell. Because God is merciful we should praise Him.

As we get into Psalms 106 it is important to consider all the great things that God did for the children of Israel as things done out of His everlasting mercy for them.

God is love and one of the ways He shows His love is through His mercy.

Psalms 106:3-5, “Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.”

The happiest person in the world is the Christian who is most consistent at doing what is right. Some people in life are not satisfied with a mediocre life but they want to be a part of the great things that God does.

This Psalmist was one such person. This Psalmist understood the great favor and blessings that God had bestowed upon the nation of Israel. Because of Abraham’s faith God picked Israel out of all the nations of the world to be His chosen nation, to be the ones that would bear the light of His testimony to the world through the giving of the word and through the coming of Jesus Christ.

God is always doing something great in the world. In the days of the Old Testament He used Israel as a nation. In today’s age He uses the Church.

These verses explain why all of Islam and the Muslim nations are wrong in their attitude towards Israel. Despite what the Koran teaches God has chosen Israel. God has a special plan for Israel a plan that reaches back before the beginning of time. And God will fulfill that plan one day through the person of Jesus Christ. Wise is the person and the nation that sides with God and God’s plans.

If You want to be a part of the great things that God does then pray these words to Jesus and pray them in godly sincerity. “O visit me with thy salvation; That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.”

Jesus makes all things beautiful in His time. If you could see and understand just what it is the gospel can do for you in forgiving you of your sins, in making life beautiful for you, just do what is best for your life and trust in Jesus and His gospel and all things will increase in ways you cannot imagine. You will discover the secret ecstasy of life if you turn to the gospel.

Psalms 106:6-8, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.”

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In talking about the failures of the Israelites what is mentioned here is their failure to understand the great work that God was doing for them and the great mercy of God. But despite their failures Jesus still saved them. He saved them for his names sake.

We fail too just like the Israelites. We fail to understand what God is doing sometimes. And we also fail to remember how merciful God is. We can be thankful that everything is based on God’s grace and not on how righteous we are or how righteous we are not.

Psalms 106:9-12, He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.”

Why is the parting of the Red Sea mentioned more than other miracles? Why is it considered such a great miracle? It is mentioned more even than the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses? The answer to this question is simple. The parting of the red sea symbolizes salvation. It is God making a way when no man can make a way; a way to cross from sin unto righteousness, a way for man to be redeemed from the circumstances that he himself has no power to redeem himself from.

There is no greater miracle than the miracle of the gospel of Jesus, of Jesus coming to this earth becoming our sins for us, suffering the wrath of God, dying and rising from the great. The greatest, the most poetic words ever written are the words of the Gospel. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Human beings have a desire to achieve greatness, to live lives that are full of wonderful imagines. This is why Hollywood is obsessed with making moving about fantasy and epic action movies filled with fantastic events. Life can be this way but only through the gospel of Jesus Christ. If only we could see just how amazing and glorious the gospel is then we would never make the mistake the Israelites made of forgetting the parting of the red sea.

The rest of Psalms 106 is going to go into detail about all the horrible failures of the Israelites.

Psalms 106:13-43,

These verses basically point out the fact that the Israelites failed in just about every way imaginable. The great lesson to learn from studying this list of sins is how great and encompassing God’s mercy and forgiveness can be for those who repent of their sins.

This is why the last few verses of Psalms 106 say in 106:44-48, “Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.”

No matter how horrible your sins are, no matter how much you fail, Jesus will forgive you. He shed His blood for you. He will forgive you if you ask Him.

Now we move on to Psalms 107. Psalms 107 is a Psalm about the great things that God does for His redeemed, those that trust in Jesus.

Psalms 107:1-2, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”

These first verses of Psalms 107 tie into what was being taught at the end of Psalms 106. Psalms 107 begins by saying the Lord is Good. It might be a surprise to those who know God to hear that most people in the world do not thing the Lord is good. It seems strange indeed that so many people could be so blind to the truth. But they are. The sorrows of life come their way and even the consequences to their own sins becomes a reason that they accuse God of being unkind and unfair, and un loving. How wrong they are

In talking about the goodness of God there are two things mentioned here: the mercy of the Lord and redemption. Mercy is the kindness of God in not giving us what we deserve.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Human beings are sinners. Sin the one thing that mankind does often and does well. Its not something to be proud of but something that man should have great shame for.

Part of understanding how merciful God truly is, is by coming to understand your own sinful ness and just how much you have failed, just how much you have rebelled against God, just how much you have gone your own way instead of God’s way.

Despite how evil we are God gives us life and time to life and free will and often blesses us materially. Most importantly Jesus is always there to give us the blessings of His mercy through the forgiveness of our sins whenever we come to him to seek repentance.

If there is one thing you will need as you go through this life, if there is one thing you will be dependant upon it is the mercy of God. Often, because of the mercy of God, we do not suffer the full consequences for our failures when we sin.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Even the weakest Christian can keep his faith and accomplish great things for God because of the mercy of God. Just Remember that Jesus is there sitting upon His throne ready and willing to give out mercy to anyone who comes to Him seeking it.

Not only does God give out mercy but God gives redemption. Mercy and redemption actually go together. To be redeemed means to be freed from slavery.

Of course a lost person who is blind to the truth is not going to understand or see how merciful God is. But those who are redeemed should.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”

Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

Redemption is one of the great doctrinal words of the Bible. There are many different words used in the Bible to describe how God has saved us from our sins. The word redemption helps us to understand how not only how much more powerful God is than our sin or than the devil but also just how much we now belong to God once he has freed us from our sins and reclaimed belongs to Him.

It is a very interesting study looking at the Old Testament Hebrew word for redemption and the New Testament Hebrew Word for Redemption.

The New Testament word for redemption carries with it the idea of buying a slave out of the market place. The Old Testament word for redemption carries with the idea of a person marrying their relative’s widow. This was a common practice in Israel. Because when a woman lost her husband she would be vulnerable to society and helpless to take care of her basic physical needs.

If you put the Old Testament and the New Testament meaning together then you see the idea of God redeeming us from sin permanently and closely associating us with his righteousness through spiritual marriage.

When we think of redemption and the fact that we are the redeemed we should think about the great mercy of God in freeing us from our sins. There is never a reason to doubt that God is going to be merciful to those who trust in him. Jesus has redeemed you from your sins. He certainly will be merciful to you as you walk through this life and face the sorrows of life and the opposition of the world.

Psalms 107:3-6, “And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.”

Sometimes it is necessary to suffer so that we turn to God and so that we trust in him. This is what God did to the Israelites when they turned away from Him.

The important truth to remember is that once you become a child of God, Jesus will never cast you out. Jesus will never forsake you. You cannot lose your salvation. And nothing can separate you from the love of God.

John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.”

O, what great words of encouragement we find in the New Testament. What great promises God has given. God has not given Israel up. They are still a nation. Nor will God, Jesus, give up His bride the church. It would be foolish of course to fall away from God and from His truth but if you do, He will always grab hold of you with his strong and jealous hands.

We all need the mercy of God, especially those who have never trusted in Christ for forgiveness of their sins. If you have never reached out to Jesus for His mercy and His forgiveness you can do so now. He will forgive you and Jesus will give you the mercy of eternal life.

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