Psalms 106
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Psalms 106
[Psalms 106:1] PRAISE YE THE LORD. O GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD; FOR HE IS GOOD: FOR HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOR EVER.
[Psalms 106:2] WHO CAN UTTER THE THE MIGHTY ACTS OF THE LORD? WHO CAN SHEW FORTH ALL HIS PRAISE?
THE MIGHTY ACTS. Hebrew "gevurotav" from the root "gever" meaning "male" and connoting heroism and manhood.
[Psalms 106:3] BLESSED ARE THEY THAT KEEP JUDGMENT, AND HE THAT DOETH RIGHTEOUSNESS AT ALL TIMES.
This verse continues from the previous one that spoke of the "mighty acts" of the Almighty.
People who do what is right at all times often need great self-control and personal denial. These qualities are similar to acts of heroism. They parallel THE MIGHTY ACTS of God. Furthermore by virtue of these qualities THE MIGHTY ACTS of God are given "room" to make themselves evident.
[Psalms 106:4] REMEMBER ME, O LORD, WITH THE FAVOUR THAT THOU BEAREST UNTO THY PEOPLE: O VISIT ME WITH THY SALVATION;
The Psalmist is saying: I am part of YOUR people and identify with them. In the same way as YOU show them special favor in a general sense so too watch over me in my private capacity since I too am part of them and identify with them.
[Psalms 106:5] THAT I MAY SEE THE GOOD OF THY CHOSEN, THAT I MAY REJOICE IN THE GLADNESS OF THY NATION, THAT I MAY GLORY WITH THINE INHERITANCE.
We should all identify with the Israelite nation or rather "nations". In this present situation we find ourselves in they who wish to do the will of the Almighty should endeavor to identify simultaneously with both Judah and Joseph. If one is an American this should be relatively easy since an American patriot will see that the good of the USA and the good of the State of Israel are identical.
THINE INHERITANCE. This refers both to the People of Israel and to the Land of Israel with the People of Israel dwelling upon it. At present Judah dwells on part of the Land and in a sense is preparing the way for the rest of Israel.
See:
"Return of Judah Precedes Return of Other Tribes"
http://www.britam.org/judah.html#9a
[Psalms 106:6] WE HAVE SINNED WITH OUR FATHERS, WE HAVE COMMITTED INIQUITY, WE HAVE DONE WICKEDLY.
Our parents, grandparents, and they who were before them were not always saints. Sometimes (for some of us at least) they may have been just the opposite. We descend from them and have their virtues and faults. We have weaknesses and negative inclinations some of which are inherited. We need to overcome or channel them into good directions. If we do this we not only bring redemption to ourselves but we also help our children and in a sense redeem our forefathers.
[Psalms 106:7] 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.
Each of us to some degree has gone through some kind of crisis and come through it. Sometimes this has been in an almost miraculous manner. At the time we may have been thankful to the Almighty but when new troubles arose forgot our previous deliverance.
[Psalms 106:8] NEVERTHELESS HE SAVED THEM FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE, THAT HE MIGHT MAKE HIS MIGHTY POWER TO BE KNOWN.
[Psalms 106:9] HE REBUKED THE RED SEA ALSO, AND IT WAS DRIED UP: SO HE LED THEM THROUGH THE DEPTHS, AS THROUGH THE WILDERNESS.
The Israelites passed through the Red Sea. Shortly after the founding of the USA it was seriously considered making this passage one of two major themes on the Great Seal. The other theme was to be the invasion of England by the Anglo-Saxons in the 450s CE.
See:
Brit-Am Now"-98
#1. Question on National emblem of USA
http://britam.org/now/now98.html
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson proposed that the seal for the newly declared
United States of America should represent
"the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a
pillar of fire by night ; and on the other side, Hengist and Horsa, the
saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose
political principles and form of government we have assumed" (Boyd 1950,
495).
[Psalms 106:10] AND HE SAVED THEM FROM THE HAND OF HIM THAT HATED THEM, AND REDEEMED THEM FROM THE HAND OF THE ENEMY.
HATED. Both Judah and "Joseph" have very many of the heathen that hate them for no real reason or for reasons that are not justified.
[Psalms 106:11] AND THE WATERS COVERED THEIR ENEMIES: THERE WAS NOT ONE OF THEM LEFT.
[Psalms 106:12] THEN BELIEVED THEY HIS WORDS; THEY SANG HIS PRAISE.
[Psalms 106:13] THEY SOON FORGAT HIS WORKS; THEY WAITED NOT FOR HIS COUNSEL:
[Psalms 106:14] BUT LUSTED EXCEEDINGLY IN THE WILDERNESS, AND TEMPTED GOD IN THE DESERT.
[The rest of this Psalm has been explained with the assistance of the Commentary of Amos Chacham in "Sefer Tehillim" from Daat Mikra".]
This and the following verses refer to specific events when the Israelites after coming out of Egypt sojourned in the Wilderness.
First they complained that they lacked food:
AND THE WHOLE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL MURMURED AGAINST MOSES AND AARON IN THE WILDERNESS [Exodus 16:2].
Then they were give the manna.
Later they complained that the manna was too much of a "vegetarian" diet for their liking:
AND THE MIXT MULTITUDE THAT WAS AMONG THEM FELL A LUSTING: AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ALSO WEPT AGAIN, AND SAID, WHO SHALL GIVE US FLESH TO EAT? [Numbers 11:4]
[Psalms 106:15] AND HE GAVE THEM THEIR REQUEST; BUT SENT LEANNESS INTO THEIR SOUL.
They requested the fatness of meat so God sent them the quail but smote them as they eat it:
AND WHILE THE FLESH WAS YET BETWEEN THEIR TEETH, ERE IT WAS CHEWED, THE WRATH OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED AGAINST THE PEOPLE, AND THE LORD SMOTE THE PEOPLE WITH A VERY GREAT PLAGUE [Numbers 11:33].
[Psalms 106:16] THEY ENVIED MOSES ALSO IN THE CAMP, AND AARON THE SAINT OF THE LORD.
This refers to the dispute of Korah the Levite and Datan and Abiram from the Tribe of Levi who banded together to dispute the leadership of Moses and Aaron as related in Numbers chapter 16.
[Psalms 106:17] THE EARTH OPENED AND SWALLOWED UP DATHAN AND COVERED THE COMPANY OF ABIRAM.
They who contested the authority of Moses were swallowed up by the earth or were consumed by a flame.
AND THE EARTH OPENED HER MOUTH, AND SWALLOWED THEM UP, AND THEIR HOUSES, AND ALL THE MEN THAT APPERTAINED UNTO KORAH, AND ALL THEIR GOODS [Numbers 16:32].
[Psalms 106:18] AND A FIRE WAS KINDLED IN THEIR COMPANY; THE FLAME BURNED UP THE WICKED.
It is related in Numbers 16 how a portion (apparently from the Tribe of Levi) of the rebels against Moses tested the Almighty by coming forth to offer incense as a sign of their rebellion and were consumed by a flame of fire:
AND THERE CAME OUT A FIRE FROM THE LORD, AND CONSUMED THE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN THAT OFFERED INCENSE [Numbers 16:35].
[Psalms 106:19] THEY MADE A CALF IN HOREB, AND WORSHIPPED THE MOLTEN IMAGE.
CALF. Hebrew "aegel" meaning "bull-calf".
HOREB is another name for Sinai where the Children of Israel received the Torah.
[Psalms 106:20] THUS THEY CHANGED THEIR GLORY INTO THE SIMILITUDE OF AN OX THAT EATETH GRASS.
They made the golden calf and worshipped it (Exodus 32:4).
THEY CHANGED THEIR GLORY. This may also be understood in the Hebrew as saying, "They swapped their honor for the mould of a bull".
It was their own honor they were desecrating.
When we sin we are hurting and disgracing ourselves more than anybody else.
We should realize this because sometimes people under pressure of temptation justify succumbing by a need to "get back" at someone else such as their parents or spouse.
You however are the one who is being hurt when you sin. You are hurting yourself as well as others.
[Psalms 106:21] THEY FORGAT GOD THEIR SAVIOUR, WHICH HAD DONE GREAT THINGS IN EGYPT;
[Psalms 106:22] WONDROUS WORKS IN THE LAND OF HAM, AND TERRIBLE THINGS BY THE RED SEA.
The forefather of the Egyptians ("Mitsraim" in Hebrew) was the son of Ham son of Noah.
AND THE SONS OF HAM; CUSH, AND MIZRAIM, AND PHUT, AND CANAAN [Genesis 10:6].
[Psalms 106:23] THEREFORE HE SAID THAT HE WOULD DESTROY THEM, HAD NOT MOSES HIS CHOSEN STOOD BEFORE HIM IN THE BREACH, TO TURN AWAY HIS WRATH, LEST HE SHOULD DESTROY THEM.
According to the simple meaning of Scripture God wanted to wipe out the Israelites but Moses persuaded HIM not to (Deuteronomy 13:14).
[Psalms 106:24] YEA, THEY DESPISED THE PLEASANT LAND, THEY BELIEVED NOT HIS WORD:
Later when they drew close to the Land of Canaan Moses sent spies to spy out the land. Ten out of the twelve spies returned with a foreboding report and caused the people not to want to enter the land but rather to return to Egypt (Numbers 13:32-14:4)
[Psalms 106:25] BUT MURMURED IN THEIR TENTS, AND HEARKENED NOT UNTO THE VOICE OF THE LORD.
[Psalms 106:26] THEREFORE HE LIFTED UP HIS HAND AGAINST THEM, TO OVERTHROW THEM IN THE WILDERNESS:
The generation that did not wish to enter the Land of Canaan were condemned to die in the Wilderness after wandering it for forty years. Their children would enter the Land and conquer it under Joshua and Caleb who were the only spies who had reported favorably.
[Psalms 106:27] TO OVERTHROW THEIR SEED ALSO AMONG THE NATIONS, AND TO SCATTER THEM IN THE LANDS.
Here we see that as a result of the Children not wanting to enter the Land of Israel it was decreed that their descendants should go into Exile. This may be understood as saying that previously if they sinned they would be punished in their Land. Exile would have been less of an option for punishment. After they rejected the Land the future threat of Exile became more of a reality, cf. Leviticus 26:33.
[Psalms 106:28] THEY JOINED THEMSELVES ALSO UNTO BAALPEOR, AND ATE THE SACRIFICES OF THE DEAD.
BAALPEOR or BAAL -PEOR was a type of idolatry that the women of Moab and Midian induced some of the Israelites to worship in exchange for sexual favors (Numbers 25:1-6).
[Psalms 106:29] THUS THEY PROVOKED HIM TO ANGER WITH THEIR INVENTIONS: AND THE PLAGUE BRAKE IN UPON THEM.
24,000 Israelites died in this plague (Numbers 25:9). The result of immorality and idolatry and other transgressions is disastrous and affects the whole community.
[Psalms 106:30] THEN STOOD UP PHINEHAS, AND EXECUTED JUDGMENT: AND SO THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED.
PHINEHAS was the son of Aaron. When with the incident of the pagan women Zimri Prince of Simeon took COZBI, THE DAUGHTER OF ZUR who WAS HEAD OVER A PEOPLE, AND OF A CHIEF HOUSE IN MIDIAN (Numbers 25:14) into a tent in public in order to fornicate with her Phinehas killed them both with a spear (Numbers 25:8).
[Psalms 106:31] AND THAT WAS COUNTED UNTO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO ALL GENERATIONS FOR EVERMORE.
Phinehas was blessed for all generations because of his deed that saved the Children of Israel from sin and averted the wrath of the Almighty from them (Numbers 25:12-13).
God does not want to punish us.
The Almighty does not want to punish the Children of Israel who are HIS children and HIS chosen. By doing something to make Israelites a better people it is as if we were helping GOD Himself and HE will relate to us accordingly.
[Psalms 106:32] THEY ANGERED HIM ALSO AT THE WATERS OF STRIFE, SO THAT IT WENT ILL WITH MOSES FOR THEIR SAKES:
THE WATERS OF STRIFE as the THE WATER OF MERIBAH (Numbers 20:13). In Hebrew "Meribah" connotes strife and contention from the root "rav" or "rob" (Hebrew has the same letter for the "ve" and "be" sounds) and there may be a connection to the English words "rave, rabies, rob, rabble". THE WATER OF MERIBAH affair began when the Children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Zin. They had no water and so quarreled with Moses who in turn reproached the Almighty. Moses was told to gather congregation together and speak unto the rock that it bring forth water. The People were gathers and Moses struck the rock with his staff and the rock gushed forth water. Moses was then reproached by the Almighty for not having sanctified HIM before the people (Numbers 20:2-13).
[Psalms 106:33] BECAUSE THEY PROVOKED HIS SPIRIT, SO THAT HE SPAKE UNADVISEDLY WITH HIS LIPS.
Moses had been upset by the complainings of the Israelites and this had led him to transgress.
[Psalms 106:34] THEY DID NOT DESTROY THE NATIONS, CONCERNING WHOM THE LORD COMMANDED THEM:
After and during the conquest of Canaan the Israelites did not wipe out or expell the Canaanites nations (Judges 1:27-36) as they had been commanded to (Deuteronomy 7:1).
[Psalms 106:35] BUT WERE MINGLED AMONG THE HEATHEN, AND LEARNED THEIR WORKS.
The Israelites intermarried with the Canaanites (Judges 1:27-36) .
[Psalms 106:36] AND THEY SERVED THEIR IDOLS: WHICH WERE A SNARE UNTO THEM.
As a result of this intermixing they came to serve idols.
The word used here for THEIR IDOLS is "Atsavaihem" from the root "Atsav" to design or form. The idols were things that men had fashioned. This is also a play on words since a root formed from the same letters and sounding almost the same, "etsev" means sadness and disappointment and that is what results from serving idols.
Even nowadays in parts of Europe (such as Poland and Bavaria) there are sacred statues. Not only are these statues worshipped as representing a spiritual entity but special powers are ascribed to specific statues as if the image itself is a living thing.
[Psalms 106:37] YEA, THEY SACRIFICED THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS,
DEVILS. Hebrew "shadim" also meaning "ghosts" etc or figments of evil imagination. This word is from the root "Shed". In Irish a similar word "sidhe" means "gods" or "spirits".
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/ali069.htm
[Psalms 106:38] 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.
The Canaanites were wicked people who worshipped idols and engaged in all kinds of sexual perversions and oppressions of each other and others. The Almighty had decided that they should be expunged from the Land. The Israelites however had mercy on them and could not bring themselves to kill them as they had been commanded to. The result was that the Israelites learnt the ways of these heathen. In the end instead of killing wicked foreigners who deserved to die the Israelites were killing their own offspring who were innocent. We see this happening today. In the State of Israel exist bands of do-gooders and bleeding hearts who run around worrying about the "poor" Palestinians. These nice wackos often succeed in protecting the Arabs from punishment or from security measures being enforced against them or from Israelis settling in certain areas. The result is frequently that innocent Jews are later killed because the security measures, etc, were not taken. The do-gooders who were responsible later reveal themselves as not so merciful when it comes to abortions or respecting the rights of religious Jews. Similar phenomenon exist elsewhere. Several of the Nazi leaders campaigned against cruelty to animals while killing innocent men, women, and children. The Nazis were also often sexual perverts (including AH who had once been a male prostitute as recorded by Samuel Igra in "Germany's National Vice" See http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/lively.html under the heading, 'Hitler's "Gay" Roots') and so too some of the bleeding hearts who devote themselves to "protecting" the seed of Ishmael are homosexuals and lesbians.
[Psalms 106:39] THUS WERE THEY DEFILED WITH THEIR OWN WORKS, AND WENT A WHORING WITH THEIR OWN INVENTIONS.
[Psalms 106:40] THEREFORE WAS THE WRATH OF THE LORD KINDLED AGAINST HIS PEOPLE, INSOMUCH THAT HE ABHORRED HIS OWN INHERITANCE.
[Psalms 106:41] AND HE GAVE THEM INTO THE HAND OF THE HEATHEN; AND THEY THAT HATED THEM RULED OVER THEM.
[Psalms 106:42] THEIR ENEMIES ALSO OPPRESSED THEM, AND THEY WERE BROUGHT INTO SUBJECTION UNDER THEIR HAND.
[Psalms 106:43] MANY TIMES DID HE DELIVER THEM; BUT THEY PROVOKED HIM WITH THEIR COUNSEL, AND WERE BROUGHT LOW FOR THEIR INIQUITY.
[Psalms 106:44] NEVERTHELESS HE REGARDED THEIR AFFLICTION, WHEN HE HEARD THEIR CRY:
[Psalms 106:45] AND HE REMEMBERED FOR THEM HIS COVENANT, AND REPENTED ACCORDING TO THE MULTITUDE OF HIS MERCIES.
Even if we sin, sin, and keep on sinning we may still repent. Our repentance will always be accepted. It happens however that sin has so corrupted us that we have great difficulty repenting.
[Psalms 106:46] HE MADE THEM ALSO TO BE PITIED OF ALL THOSE THAT CARRIED THEM CAPTIVES.
[Psalms 106:47] 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.
[Psalms 106:48] BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING: AND LET ALL THE PEOPLE SAY, AMEN. PRAISE YE THE LORD.
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