Psalm 105 recounted the story of God’s faithfulness to his promise to Abraham, when he rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 106 has also been recounting Israel’s history – but this time, it is remembering Israel’s constant unfaithfulness to God when he was leading them through the wilderness to the land he had promised them.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

What things in this Psalm can I relate to?
Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

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24 They despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe His promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.
26 So He raised His hand and swore
to cast them down in the wilderness,
27 to disperse their offspring among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
29 So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood and intervened,
and the plague was restrained.
31 It was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
32 At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD,
and trouble came to Moses because of them.
33 For they rebelled against His Spirit,
and Moses spoke rashly with his 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 polluted with blood.
39 They defiled themselves by their actions
and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
40 So the anger of the LORD burned against His people,
and He abhorred His own inheritance.
41 He delivered them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and subdued them under their hand.
43 Many times He rescued them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and sank down in their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He heard their cry;
He took note of their distress.
45 And He remembered His covenant with them,
and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
46 He made them objects of compassion
to 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,
that we may glory in Your praise.
48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Hallelujah!

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

What things in this Psalm can I relate to?
Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.