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Psalm 106

Psalm 106 recounts Israel’s persistent rebellion and God’s covenant mercy as the grounds for confession, praise, and a plea for rescue.

An unnamed psalmist calls Israel to praise YHWH, then joins the people in confessing their sins alongside those of their ancestors. The account moves from rebellion at the Red Sea through wilderness unbelief to idolatry and the shedding of children’s blood in Canaan. God judges his people and hears their cries in distress. The closing plea asks him to gather them from among the nations, suggesting a setting of exile or dispersion without identifying a date.

guilt and confessionpraise and worshipsermon or Bible study notes
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1Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
2Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD, or fully declare all his praise?
3Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
4Remember me, LORD, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation,
5that 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.
6We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.
7Our 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.
8Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power known.
9He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert.
10He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left.
12Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
13They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel,
14but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland.
15He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
16They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, the LORD’s saint.
17The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
18A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.
19They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.
20Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.
21They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
22wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea.
23Therefore 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.
24Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word,
25but murmured in their tents, and didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice.
26Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
27that he would overthrow their offspring among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.
28They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
29Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.
30Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.
31That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.
32They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes;
33because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.
34They didn’t destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,
35but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
36They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
37Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38They 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.
39Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
40Therefore the LORD burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
41He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.
43He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.
44Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.
45He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
46He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.
47Save us, LORD, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!
48Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!
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Key verses
Psalm 106:1The opening praise establishes God’s enduring loving kindness before the psalm recounts the people’s long history of rebellion.
Psalm 106:45God’s remembrance of his covenant contrasts with Israel’s forgetfulness and explains his mercy toward them in captivity.
Psalm 106:47The plea for gathering brings the historical confession into the people’s present distress, with renewed praise as rescue’s goal.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus and Numbers recount the same Red Sea rescue and wilderness rebellions, while Deuteronomy shares warnings about idolatry and scattering among nations. Judges shares the pattern of rebellion, oppression, and rescue; Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah share themes of judgment for unfaithfulness and the gathering of God’s scattered people.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What does the contrast between Israel forgetting and God remembering help you notice about this confession?

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How might the psalm’s account of rebellion and mercy shape what you want to confess or thank God for?

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Questions people ask about Psalm 106

Who wrote Psalm 106, and when was it written?

Psalm 106 does not name its author. Its closing request to be gathered from among the nations suggests that exile or dispersion forms the setting of the prayer. The references to captors fit that setting, though the psalm itself supplies no date or named empire.

What does it mean that God “repented” in Psalm 106:45?

Here “repented” describes God relenting from judgment in response to his people’s distress. The surrounding verses explain that he heard their cry, remembered his covenant, and caused their captors to show pity. The word concerns his treatment of his people; it does not imply that God had committed sin.

What does “leanness into their soul” mean in Psalm 106:15?

The phrase describes a wasting consequence that accompanied God’s granting the people’s craving in the wilderness. The wording can suggest wasting sickness or loss of vitality; the precise sense is debated. In context, their request arose from testing God and refusing to wait for his counsel.

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What the Bible says about guilt →What the Bible says about worship →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).