Psalm 106:40-46 “Therefore the LORD burnt with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance. He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand. He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry. He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.”

This sums up about 300 years of Israelite history. They went into captivity but eventually were allowed to go back home. Even in his wrath (“He abhorred his inheritance”), He was merciful (“nevertheless he regarded their distress“).

For additional worship: His Mercy Is More (Keith & Kristyn Getty)

Psalm 106:32-39 “They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes; because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips. They didn’t destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but mixed themselves with the nations, and learnt their works. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.”

Not only does sin pollute, idolatry is like prostitution. Just as we are supposed to be faithful in our marriages, we are to be faithful to God. There is only one true God. There is only one God worthy of praise. There is only one God we worship and serve!

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

For additional worship: If We’ve Ever Needed You (Casting Crowns)

Psalm 106:24-31 “Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word, but murmured in their tents, and didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice. Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness, that he would overthrow their offspring amongst the nations, and scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them. Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgement, so the plague was stopped. That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.”

This passage ends with the events in Numbers 25. God was punishing his people for their willingness to marry into idolatry, and Phinehas stopped the plague from spreading. As a result, he and his offspring received a special blessing from God:

Numbers 25:12-13 “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”

We sometimes forget that the sin of individuals can affect the entire community of faith in one way or another. We should want to be holy not only for our own relationship with God, but because of the impact we have on His church!

1 Corinthians 5:6 “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?”

For additional worship: Build My Life (feat. Chris Tomlin)

Psalm 106:16-23 “They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, the LORD’s saint. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burnt up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass. They forgot God, their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.”

The people continued to rebel and a group of them spoke out against Moses. Even after seeing the Lord’s power in deposing them, they forgot about His majesty and might. They even forgot about the awesome power He showed in bringing them out of Egypt! They engaged in ongoing idolatry, and their idolatry continued to provoke God until He was ready to start over. Moses, however, pleaded on their behalf, and God spared them.

Exodus 32:11-14 “Moses begged the LORD his God, and said, ‘LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, “He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?” Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.” ‘ So The LORD turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.”

The lesson for us? Intercession can make a difference!

James 5:16-18 “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

For additional worship: What if His People Prayed (Casting Crowns)

Psalm 106:6-15 “We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert. He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left. Then they believed his words. They sang his praise. They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel, but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

There are both good and bad examples in Scripture. Here the Psalmist is remembering the failures of the people in the past and comparing that to the sinfulness of the people in the present. There is an important lesson for us here: hopefully we can learn from the mistakes other people make so that we won’t make them ourselves!

1 Corinthians 10:11-12 “Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.”

There is another important lesson here too. There is someone who is always faithful. There is someone who always does what is right. There is someone who is always there. There is someone who is merciful, kind, and loving. There is someone who makes His power and might known in the way He deals with His people. God!

Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ ”

Part of the dealing with His people is helping them to understand when they make mistakes and disciplining them when they need it. It’s actually a form of love. So even when He gave them what they wanted (food), He made sure they understood that their unbelief was a problem: “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

For additional worship: Faithfulness (Matt Maher)

Psalm 106:1-5 “Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD, or fully declare all his praise? Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times. Remember me, LORD, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation, that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.”

Right after saying that there is no way that we can praise God enough for His goodness and mercy, the Psalmist gives us a plan. If we can’t say enough, maybe we can show Him how much we love Him by living for Him! Only then will we know the blessings that come from the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we experience the joy that is His presence and His peace. Only then will we be able to truly understand and rejoice in His inheritance!

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Acts 20:32 “Now, brothers, I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up and to give you the inheritance amongst all those who are sanctified.”

For additional worship: Give to Our God Immortal Praise

Psalm 105:43-45 “He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing. He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession, that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!”

God saved Israel, gave them a land and made them into a kingdom, and they were supposed to joyfully follow and praise Him.  And it’s no different with us!

Colossians 1:9-14 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

For additional worship: The Day of Resurrection (The Hymnal Project)

Psalm 105:37-42 “He brought them out with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person amongst his tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them. He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night. They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky. He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places. For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.”

Although they were slaves, the Egyptians were so happy to get rid of the Israelites that they gave them silver, gold, and clothing (Exodus 12:35). We also see how God protected and cared for them on their journey, but we shouldn’t expect anything less. God is faithful, and He keeps His promises!

Genesis 15:13-16 “Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’ “

For additional worship: Standing on the Promises

Psalm 105:26-36 “He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They performed miracles amongst them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn’t rebel against his words. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings. He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders. He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land. He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came with the grasshoppers, without number. They ate up every plant in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground. He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.”

This is the type of power God has and can display when He wants to! This speaks of the type of power that lives in us to guide, direct, support, and strengthen us.

Ephesians 1:17-20 “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,”

For additional worship: How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin)

Psalm 105:16-25 “He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies. He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons, until the time that his word happened, and the LORD’s word proved him true. The king sent and freed him, even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions, to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham. He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries. He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.”

The history lesson continues. Even in their hardship, God was with Joseph and Israel. Everything happened for a reason and with a purpose: “until the time that His Word happened.” Joseph ended up a ruler and Israel grew and prospered, so much so that the inhabitants ended up hating them!

God is with us in hardship as well. And even though we are warned that others may hate us, we should be joyful that the reason they hate us is because God is with us!

Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.”

For additional worship: Be Still My Soul (Emu Music)