Month: May 2025

Psalm 107:1-2 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

This refrain of prayer and thanks is written many times in the Psalms, and it is used as a mealtime prayer by Christians everywhere. Giving thanks is our constant prayer throughout life, spoken every day. Thanking God always is a hallmark of the believer’s life. A thankful attitude of gratitude is everlastingly in our hearts, keeping us humble, faithful, and dependent on God for all things. It is our constant state of mind, for He is always good and His mercy (faithful love) is forever.

The Lord has done it all, finished the work of salvation, and continues to provide daily and richly. Nothing is left for us to do but give thanks all the time. And then we say so, speaking and living lives that witness to the goodness and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” We thank God always, and at times say so, confess with the lips and praise God. We respond in faith to God’s redemption from our spiritual enemies. Say so with prayer, praise and thanking.

Psalm 106:47-48 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.

The Lord saved us and gathered us from among the heathen of this world. Our response is to thank Him and triumph in His praise. We sing the victory song and do the victory dance, for our Lord and Savior has defeated our enemies and won the victory. From eternity past to the present to eternity future the Lord is blessed forever. God is good; God is great; all the time.

Therefore, if we are eternally saved and constantly blessed in Christ, our whole life from morn till even our days are filled with thanks, praise and victory. Faith in Christ brings never-ending thanks. God is always good, even when we are not feeling good. But we praise God for He is good and His mercy is everlasting, even when we don’t feel it. We praise the Lord in every circumstance for He never fails. Faith knows, loves, and praises. All the time. Then our feelings catch up. And everyone said: Amen!

Psalm 106:37-39 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

The children of Israel sinned against the Lord in the most abhorrent way imaginable: they sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons. Worshipping other gods and idols was evil enough, but sacrificing one’s children to them is something else. Israel came into a new land and asked, “How do you get it to rain and grow crops here?” The pagan residents showed them how to sacrifice to the idol gods, which are actually demons.

This kind of response to the grace and salvation of God is a graphic example of how dark and ugly the sin in us really is. Our sins should be as abhorrent to us as child sacrifice and demon worship. When we see our evil sin nature to be as dark as it really is, then we are all the more thankful for the forgiveness of sin earned for us and given to through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After we confess, we deeply appreciate the love of God for forgiveness and life.

”Religion” seeks to impress the supernatural with our own works, ideas and inventions, while the true and only religion tells us that God is only pleased with the sacrifice of His Son for us. No further sacrifice is required.

Psalm 108:34-36 But they did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them; But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

The children of Israel did not respond to God’s salvation with pure and single-minded devotion to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Not only did they live among the heathen, but they also adopted their ways and their gods.

It is sin and rebellion to not worship the Lord alone, but to mix and mingle with the world’s ways and its gods. It is hard to be in the world but not of the world. The Lord holds a jealous love for His beloved children, and He knows the dangers and temptations of the gods of this world. Leaving the narrow way to God exposes us to the snares of the devil, the world, and the flesh.

We sinfully want to have our feet in two different worlds, which are opposed to one another. Paul says, “What fellowship has Christ with Belial?” Elijah says, “How long will ye limp along with two opinions? If the Lord be God, serve him; if Baal, be god, serve him.” We believe Jesus alone, and live for Him alone.

Psalm 106:32-33 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill for Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

The people responded to their experience of thirst and pain by complaining bitterly against the Lord and against His servant Moses. This action provoked Moses so that he struck the rock instead of obediently speaking to it as the Lord commanded. For this action of anger and unbelief Moses was banished from entering the Promised Land himself. It may have been the people’s fault, but Moses reacted wrongly in frustration to the complaints and unbelief, and he suffered the consequences.

We may cry, beg, and complain to the Lord in time of need, but to carry it further into blame and accusation is sin and unbelief. Then it causes others, like Moses, to sin and blame. The Holy Spirit is grieved when we complain about our lot in life and blame God for it. Complaining never does any good, and it negatively affects other people. It can also lead to unbelief and rebellion, and that will not go well for us. Therefore, we confess our sinfulness and receive forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

Psalm 106:28-29 They joined themselves also unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions; and the plague brake in upon them.

Even after the Lord delivered them and made a Covenant with them, they broke the First of the Commandments by worshipping (joining themselves to) false gods. Baal and other idols were in fact demons and the inventions of their corrupted human minds.

Idolatry, trusting in something other than the Lord God, is a grievous sin that provokes God’s jealous wrath. The Lord has placed His worth and value on and given His life to His created humans beings. To replace God alone as the source of all good is to despise Him and His love. Understandably, this releases God’s righteous wrath.

Idolatry comes in many forms and temptations present themselves in so many different ways that we don’t always recognize the sin. We are simply to look to God alone for all good, which we find impossible to do for it seems to us that good things come from the world. Jesus is the only good, and we seek first His kingdom.

Psalm 106:21, 24-25 They forgot God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt….Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

Although the people had just witnessed the wonderful miracles of Salvation in the Exodus, they soon forgot their Savior God. They despised the gracious gifts of God. They did not believe God’s Word. They complained. They did not listen to the Lord. It seems almost miraculous that they would so soon forget God, despise His blessing, not believe, and not listen, after seeing and believing. How could they have gone so far astray from God and act as if God wasn’t there or was not good?

We could ask ourselves the same question. How could I ignore God and live as though he does not exist or is not good? But that response shows the depth and depravity of our sin. That the Lord would forgive us and receive us back, like the prodigal’s father, exhibits the unlimited and unconditional Love of God. How do we respond to the saving gospel of Christ?

Psalm 106:13-14 They soon forget his works, they waited not for his counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in desert.

After God’s great Exodus miracle the people believed His Word. But soon after they forgot God and His salvation, did not pay attention to Him, and tempted Him in the desert. This was written for our learning: We may have been baptized and we believe, but it is easy to forget God and His Gospel, to be distracted by the things of the world, and to put Him to the test to prove Himself so we don’t need faith.

This is the story of our life. We sin and die, God forgives and saves, we complain and forget, but then we are reminded of the gospel of salvation and faith is renewed again. We stumble on the way to God, but we repent, believe, and remember. Because of our frail and corrupted memory, we need to rehear the gospel often to be reminded of God’s gracious life and salvation, lest we forget.

Because life is hard, and sin, death, and the devil looms, we can too easily look to other sources than God for help and hope. God understands, forgives, saves and restores because of Christ. Forgetting is too easy. Therefore, we listen to His loving call to remember, repent, return, and be restored weekly and daily.

Psalm 106:12 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

The response of God’s people after the Great Exodus Event was that they believed God’s words. God had said, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” Then the Lord parted the waters, the people passed through, and He drowned the Egyptian army. He saved them and they believed after they saw the salvation. God did a mighty act and they witnessed it with their own eyes. Then they believed. They witnessed God’s word and promise come true.

Our response to God’s saving Gospel of Christ is to believe His words when we hear it and see it. The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of faith to witness the death and resurrection of Jesus, even though we were not physically present. Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The Spirit gives faith to see our salvation in Christ, and we are saved.

Then we respond to the gift of salvation by singing His praises. When we truly hear, see, receive, and believe the words of God it is natural to respond with songs of praise in the public assembly and in the mind daily. They responded with the “Song of Moses” in Exodus 15.