In The Word
Read: Psalm 106:1-33
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Deliverances.
106 Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can show forth all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who keep justice,
Who practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people;
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with Your inheritance.
6 We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses,
But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known.
9 Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up,
And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
10 So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.
13 They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14 But craved intensely in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15 So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.
16 When they became envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.
18 And a fire blazed up in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
20 Thus they exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe in His word,
25 But grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He swore to them
That He would cast them down in the wilderness,
27 And that He would cast their seed among the nations
And scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves also to Baal-peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and interposed,
And so the plague was stayed.
31 And it was reckoned to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah,
So that it went hard with Moses on their account;
33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
God is good and that’s a fact. We read how God’s people ebbed and flowed in their obedience to Him, but He, in His loving-kindness, would reach down, forgive, and restore them. This gives us a great example of God’s faithfulness to mankind, but a bad example of how mankind should live life. Like it says in this psalm, “How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times!” God didn’t save them just to see them destroyed but so that they would know His goodness, have His favor, and live in His prosperity for the rest of their lives.
God desires prosperity for our lives as well. Yahshua came to destroy the works of the devil so that God wouldn’t have to destroy His people. Yahshua came to save us and empower us to live a different life. To go back to the way we once lived in ignorance and disobedience would be to despise what Christ did on the Cross. Nevertheless, some people do go back to their old lives. But just like Phinehas and Moses, our Lord never stops praying for us so that we can find repentance, forgiveness, and restoration.
As God’s people, we need to be grateful for the goodness of God and for His loving-kindness. However, if we love God, we would do well to walk in His ways and benefit from His promises. Maybe you have gone back to a lifestyle that is displeasing to God. I pray today that you would see the error of your ways, repent, find forgiveness, and come to appreciate His goodness.