PSALM 106*
Israel’s Confession of Sin
A
Give thanks to the LORD, who is good,
whose mercy endures forever.a
proclaim in full God’s praise?
whose deeds are always just.b
come to me with your saving help,c
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your heritage.
B
we have done wrong and are guilty.
I
did not attend to your wonders.
They did not remember your manifold mercy;
they defied the Most High at the Red Sea.
to make his power known.e
He led them through the deep as through a desert.f
freed them from the power of the enemy.
not one of them survived.
and sang his praise.g
II
they had no patience for his plan.
tempted God in the wasteland.h
and sent a wasting disease against them.i
III
and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.
it closed on the followers of Abiram.
flames consumed the wicked.
IV
worshiped a metal statue.
for the image of a grass-eating bull.
who had done great deeds in Egypt,l
fearsome deeds at the Red Sea.
had not Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach*
to turn back his destroying anger.m
V
they did not believe the promise.
they did not heed the voice of the LORD.
he would destroy them in the desert,
disperse them in foreign lands.
VI
ate food sacrificed to the dead.
and a plague broke out among them.
and the plague was brought to a halt.
for all generations to come.
VII
and Moses suffered because of them.*
that rash words crossed his lips.
VIII
as the LORD had commanded them,q
and imitated their ways.r
and were ensnared by them.s
their own sons and daughters,
the blood of their own sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
desecrating the land with bloodshed.
became adulterers by their conduct.
abhorred his own heritage.
and their adversaries ruled over them.t
kept them under subjection.
but they kept rebelling and scheming
and were brought low by their own guilt.u
when he heard their wailing.
and relented in his abundant mercy,v
from all who held them captive.
C
gather us from among the nations
That we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in praising you.w
from everlasting to everlasting!
Let all the people say, Amen!x
Hallelujah!
* [Psalm 106] Israel is invited to praise the God whose mercy has always tempered judgment of Israel (Ps 106:1–3). The speaker, on behalf of all, seeks solidarity with the people, who can always count on God’s fidelity despite their sin (Ps 106:4–5). Confident of God’s mercy, the speaker invites national repentance (Ps 106:6) by reciting from Israel’s history eight instances of sin, judgment, and forgiveness. The sins are the rebellion at the Red Sea (Ps 106:6–12; see Ex 14–15), the craving for meat in the desert (Ps 106:13–15; see Nm 11), the challenge to Moses’ authority (Ps 106:16–18; see Nm 16), the golden calf episode (Ps 106:19–23; see Ex 32–34), the refusal to take Canaan by the southern route (Ps 106:24–27; see Nm 13–14 and Dt 1–2), the rebellion at Baal-Peor (Ps 106:28–31; see Nm 25:1–10), the anger of Moses (Ps 106:32–33; see Nm 20:1–13), and mingling with the nations (Ps 106:34–47). The last, as suggested by its length and generalized language, may be the sin that invites the repentance of the present generation. The text gives the site of each sin: Egypt (Ps 106:7), the desert (Ps 106:14), the camp (Ps 106:16), Horeb (Ps 106:19), in their tents (Ps 106:25), Baal-Peor (Ps 106:28), the waters of Meribah (Ps 106:32), Canaan (Ps 106:38).
* [106:20] Their glory: meant as a reference to God.
* [106:23] Withstood him in the breach: the image is that of Moses standing in a narrow break made in the wall to keep anyone from entering.
* [106:32] Moses suffered because of them: Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of his rash words (Nm 20:12). According to Dt 1:37, Moses was not allowed to cross because of the people’s sin, not his own.
* [106:37] Demons: Hebrew shedim occurs in parallelism with “gods” in an important inscription from Transjordan and hence can also be translated “the gods.”
* [106:48] A doxology ending Book IV of the Psalter. It is not part of the Psalm.
a. [106:1] Ps 100:5; 107:1; 1 Chr 16:34; Jer 33:11; Dn 3:89.
d. [106:6–7] Ps 78:11–17; Ex 14:11; Lv 26:40; 1 Kgs 8:47; Bar 2:12; Dn 9:5.
f. [106:9] Ex 14:21–31; Is 50:2; 63:11–14; Na 1:4.
h. [106:14] Ps 78:18; Ex 15:24; 16:3; Nm 11:1–6.
i. [106:15] Ps 78:26–31; Nm 11:33.
j. [106:16–18] Nm 16; Dt 11:6; Is 26:11.
k. [106:19–20] Ex 32; Dt 9:8–21; Jer 2:11; Acts 7:41; Rom 1:23.
l. [106:21] Ps 78:42–58; Dt 32:18; Jer 2:32.
m. [106:23] Ex 32:11; Dt 9:25; Ez 22:30.
n. [106:24–27] Lv 26:33; Nm 14; Dt 1:25–36; Ez 20:15, 23.
o. [106:28–31] Nm 25; Dt 26:14; Sir 45:23–24.
p. [106:32–33] Ps 95:8–9; Ex 17:1–7; Nm 20:2–13; Dt 6:16; 33:8.
q. [106:34] Dt 7:1; Jgs 2:1–5.
r. [106:35] Lv 18:3; Jgs 1:27–35; 3:5.
s. [106:36–38] Lv 18:21; Nm 35:33; Dt 32:17; Jgs 2:11–13, 17, 19; 2 Kgs 16:3; Bar 4:7; 1 Cor 10:20.
w. [106:47] 1 Chr 16:35.
x. [106:48] Ps 41:14; 72:18; 89:53; 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5.
Fifth Book—Psalms 107–150
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