Month: April 2025

Psalm 106:6-7 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.

The Psalmist confesses the sin and rebellion of the people, both now and in the past. They did not take to heart the wonders God had done for them nor His many mercies. Out of sheer grace and mercy the Lord had done mighty wonders in the deliverance and provision for the people. But they forgot. And the present people continued in the same sin as their fathers. It was time to confess and return in faith.

The awesome, miraculous works of God for our salvation need to be remembered and brought to mind often, for it has a positive effect on our faith and life. The great salvation accomplished by the Son of God must be remembered and rehearsed by us today. If we don’t remember regularly by hearing the Gospel in church, “doing this (taking Communion) in remembrance of Me,” and reminding ourselves in daily repentance and faith, we will forget, go on living without God, and life will not be changed for the better. The positive benefits and blessings do not take hold. Life changes for the better when we understand and remember the Gospel. Confess it!

Psalm 106:3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Blessings come to those who obey God’s covenant commands and live out righteous lives according to God’s Law. The benefits and blessings of living life according to God’s revealed way are numerous, but are not necessarily material blessings. God provides daily bread, rain and sun for the “just and the unjust,” but the believer enjoys these blessings with gratitude and peace. The true blessings from the Lord are things like love, peace, joy and hope.

We repent and believe the Gospel, are forgiven, healed and restored, and all true blessings come from the only source of life. A blessed life starts from God, flows through us, returns back to God, and we are blessed forever. Then out of faith and thankfulness and the working of the Spirit through the gospel, we keep the Law and do righteousness. It is God’s doing and not we ourselves. We are saved for good works that the Lord has planned in us. It is God who fills us and uses to do good.

Psalm 106:2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise?

The believer’s response to God’s mighty acts of salvation is not only that we believe in the heart that God raised Him from the dead but also confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord [Romans 10:9-10]. Our response to God’s great salvation in Christ is so overwhelmingly wonderful that we cannot keep it to ourselves. We are compelled to want to tell the world. We do all we can in word and deed to support the preaching of the Gospel to all Creation. And we are not ashamed of Jesus. Nor do we act as secret Christians.

We go to church to show forth His praise and tell God and the world how great and good He is. In our daily words and interactions with people we are bold to utter the Gospel of Christ whenever and however we can. We readily admit and confess that we are sinners who make mistakes, while at the same time we are “being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you [1 Peter 3:15].”

God gave us a mouth to use it to praise God, bless others, and witness to Him. We confess our misuse of the tongue and confess Jesus’ forgiveness and life.

Psalm 106:1 Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever.

Our response to the Lord’s goodness and everlasting mercy is praise and thanksgiving. We can praise the Lord and thank Him at all times, in good times and and in bad times, because the Lord is always good and His strong mercy lasts forever. When we see, hear, and feel the goodness and mercy of God in the Gospel we naturally praise the Lord. But He is still good, kind, forgiving, and merciful all the time whether we feel it or not. So we thank Him always, no matter the present circumstances.

When we don’t feel thankful, we thank Him anyway, for our feelings don’t affect His goodness and mercy. But by faith we praise the Lord and the result is that we feel better. Because God is always good, we can be always thankful. The gospel comes first, then follows faith, then follows feelings. Praise in the spirit and thankfulness in the heart brings pleasant emotions with it. Believe the gospel, respond with praise, enjoy a sense of wellbeing.

Psalm 105:45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.

The Lord has delivered His people, brought them forth with joy, and gave them the lands of the heathen. God’s great Exodus and Conquest was accomplished by Him alone with the purpose that the redeemed people might keep their part of the covenant according to His laws. God’s Redemption has a purpose: that they would worship God and lives of love for God and one another. Ephesians 2:10: “We are created in Christ Jesus for good works…that we should walk in them.”

The purpose and result of Christ’s work of salvation and new life is that by the power of the Spirit we would actually live lives of love according to the covenant commandments, do the good works of loving God and one another. A life of keeping is our response to the Gospel. Our lives become lives of praise for the goodness and greatness of God for loving us first.

When we believe and receive His covenant love we gladly respond with covenant love for God and people. We study the Law to know what to do; we hear and believe the Gospel to have the desire and ability to keep.

Psalm 105:40 The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

In the midst of an arduous desert journey with no food or water, the people complained again and again against Moses and God. But while complaining, they also prayed and asked the Lord for help. He heard their prayer and miraculously provided meat and manna in abundance. It is a sin of unbelief to complain, but it is a response of faith to ask.

In spite of their rebellion and unbelief, the Lord heard and answered their prayer and provided food for them, a horde of quail and bread from heaven. Because of all that God has done for us and our salvation, we too, still remember to ask; for along with our doubts, and mixed in with them, is a little faith, enough to ask for help. Our life is mixed with doubt and faith, but He is loving and gracious to hear our prayer and answer with provision of need. Complaining offends and prayer pleases. God’s love is stronger than our doubts and fears.

How quickly we can forget what the Lord has done. For this reason we need reminders of the gospel of grace, so we go to church and spend time with God, praying in faith. So we ask!

Psalm 105:3-5 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.

We. respond to the Lord’s greatness and goodness by glorying in His loving presence among us, with us, and in us. Give God the glory, credit and praise. This action causes rejoicing in the sad and polluted heart. So we seek the Lord and His strength ever and always, in every and any circumstance. We look for, and expect to find, His loving presence among us, and we find His.strength for the day. The Lord is always here and present to us every day, all the time. But we get distracted by life in the world and don’t always notice Him. So we take time to seek and to see that He is here for us. His face is near; just seek it out.

Then we remember His work of salvation for us at the cross and the tomb, His wonders and miracles accompanying us daily, and His Word of judgment and mercy. He judged our sin at the cross and our death at the tomb. We remember His lovingkindness and His work of salvation every week in church and every day in quiet time. It is too easy to forget God in the struggles of the day, so we seek the needed reminders.

Psalm 105:1-2 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of his wondrous works.

This Psalm rehearses the great deeds of deliverance and provision done by the Lord in the Exodus and Conquest. Our response to God’s great Salvation Event is thanksgiving, prayer, worship and proclamation.

Today we respond to God’s great Salvation Event worked for us at the Cross and the Tomb. We go to church every Sunday togive thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, sing unto Him, and talk of His great salvation for us. All of this goes on in the church worship service, and we have the privilege and joy of responding to His Gospel in public assembly.

We also enjoy a daily Time with God to worship, thank, pray, sing, and hear the Gospel. God has miraculously done everything for our life and salvation. The only thing left for us to do is respond exuberantly by worshipping, thanking, praying, and telling. This activity describes our life of joy, peace and hope. For God’s loving and saving activity happened once for all and its power and effect continues today and goes on forever.

Psalm 104:33-34 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. my meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.

The Creation, beauty, and glory of the Lord is so awesome that when I take note of what the Lord has done my response is to sing praises, meditate, and be glad. Singing praises to the Lord is a natural response whenever I see, feel, and think about the Lord God and what He has done. And the more we meditate and think about the greatness and goodness of the Lord the sweeter our thoughts become, the happier we are, and we are glad in the Lord.

In the midst of a life of sorrow and disappointment, God is always there, with us, in His glory and grace, loving and forgiving. Not only has He created blessings and good things for us to enjoy, He has also Redeemed us from every evil of body and soul. Therefore, we can, we may, we should, and we are, glad in Him. Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” Emphasize the word always, which means in any and every circumstance. No matter how we feel the truth is deeper and doesn’t leave.

Psalm 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

We are dependent upon the Lord for daily life and for every breath we take. God is in charge of our life and death. He takes away our breath and the soul separates from the body: we die. Every breath we take is a gift of God and a gift of life. Life comes from God’s breath: “The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living soul [Genesis 2:7].” Life comes from God, and death comes from separation from God.

And at the very moment Adam sinned he died (was separated from God), and so do we. And at the moment we believe in Jesus we are born again to a new life, a life that never ends. Jesus reunites us with God, the source of life. The Holy Spirit within our human spirit is the very air we breathe.

Trouble comes when God and His Life feel absent. He is hiding behind the troubles we experience and we can’t see Him clearly. However He promises to be with us, even when we are troubled, and He never forsakes us. We see with eyes of faith, given by the Spirit through the Gospel, that the Lord is present. Life, union with God, replaces Death, separation from God. The Law tells of death and convicts of Sin; the Gospel speaks of life and convicts of Forgiveness and reunion. We live in the midst of death; therefore, we repent and believe daily. “Let not your hearts be troubled. believe in God; believe also in me [John 14:1].”