SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/18/2012 6:58:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
106 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
106:1-6
Message
of the verses: In Today’s SD we will
begin to look at the 106th Psalm by looking at several introductions
from different Bible Commentators and then look at the first main section of
the psalm.
“After reading this psalm, we might
be tempted t say, ‘Those Israelites were certainly a sorry band of
sinners!’ Instead, we ought to be
commending the psalmist for telling the truth about his own people. Most historians present their nations in the
best possible light and blame other nations rather than their own, but our
anonymous psalmist told the truth.
‘History will bear me out,’ said Sir Winston Churchill, ‘particularly as
I shall write that history myself.’ But the writer is also to be commended for
identifying himself with his struggling people and saying ‘We have sinned’ and ‘Save us’
(vv. 6 and 47, italics mine). We noted
that 105 said nothing about Israel’s failings, but that deficiency is remedied
by 106. However, the purpose of the psalm is not to condemn
Israel but to extol the Lord for His longsuffering and mercy toward His people. In order to glorify God, the writer had to
place God’s mercies against the dark background of Israel’s repeated
disobedience. The psalm was probably
written after the Babylonian captivity, when the Jewish people were scattered
and a remnant had returned to the land to rebuild the temple and restore the
nation (vv. 44-47). After expressing his praise to
the Lord (vv. 1-6), the writer pointed out nine serious offenses the nation had
committed. He began with the Exodus and
closed with the Babylonian captivity, and at the heart of the list he placed
Israel’s rebellion at Kadesh Barnea He
did not arrange these selected events in order of their occurrence, for his
purpose was to teach us theology and not chronology. (Warren Wiersbe)
“Psalm 106 rehearses God’s mercy
during Israel’s history in spite of Israel’s sinfulness (cf. Ne 9:1-38; Ps 78;
Is 63:7—64:12; Ezek 20:1-44; Da 9:1-19; Ac 7:2-53; 1Co 10:1-13). The occasion for this psalm is most likely
the repentance (v6) of post-Exilic Jews who had returned to Jerusalem (vv. 46,
47). Verses 1, 47, 48 seem to be
borrowed from 1Ch 16:34-36, which was sung on the occasion of the ark’s first
being brought to Jerusalem by David (cf. 2Sa 6:12-19; 1Ch 16:1-7). True revival appears to be the psalmist intention.” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
I want to mention a couple of things
before I begin to comment on this psalm, and that is the 106th Psalm
is the last psalm in the fourth book that is contained in the Psalms. This is a fairly long psalm and so it will
take us several days to get through what this psalm contains. It is more important to go slowly through
this psalm as if we were mining for gold, than to speed through it and miss
some of the nuggets of truth that are found here. Lastly, I am reading a book at this time
entitled “Implosion” by Joel Rosenberg.
The book has just come out and the purpose of the book is to tell people
of the peril that our country is in at this time in history. The cure for this peril is revival and it
seems that that was at least one of the purposes of the author of Psalm
106.
Joyful
Faith (vv. 1-6): “1 Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is
everlasting. 2 Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD, Or can show forth
all His praise? 3 How blessed are those who keep justice, Who practice
righteousness at all times! 4 Remember
me, O LORD, in Your favor toward Your people; Visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the prosperity of Your
chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may
glory with Your inheritance. 6 We have sinned like our fathers, We have
committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.”
My first thought as I read these six
verses is that this would be a wonderful prayer for the concerns that I have for
our country, a prayer worth praying often for a revival that is greatly needed
here, and I suppose around the world.
The psalm begins with praise to the
Lord before the psalmist looks back at the sinful history of the people of
Israel. 1Thes. 5:18 says, “in everything
give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The psalmist was doing this even thought the
times were very bad because of the sinfulness of the nation of Israel. We know that this did not come as a surprise
to God that all of these things would happen to Israel for when we look at the
28th chapter of Deuteronomy we find that Moses wrote through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit even before Israel would cross the Jordan River
to enter the Promised Land that this would occur, and he also wrote that it
would occur again, which it did in 70 A. D.
God had sent His prophets to tell the children of Israel that the
destruction of Jerusalem and His temple was coming, but as Jesus said to the
sinful people when He was on earth that they killed the prophets because they
did not want to hear the truth. They
also killed the Lord of Glory for the same reason. In Acts chapter seven Stephen gives a similar
account of what the psalmist gives in Psalm 106, and he also speaks of killing
the prophets who were doing the will of God in telling the people the
truth. I have just finished reading the
book of Jeremiah as I read through the Bible and in his book we read of the
awful things that the people did to Jeremiah because they did not believe that
he was sent from God to tell them the truth.
There comes a time in a person’s life and in the life of a nation when,
as Paul writes in Romans chapter one that God will give them over to what they
are doing, and this is a very dangerous time in the life of that person or that
nation.
The psalmist includes himself as a
sinner as seen in verse six where he writes “We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.” He did not say that his forefathers sinned, but
we have sinned. In the books of Nehemiah
and Daniel we read the same thing, as both Nehemiah and Daniel confess the sins
of their fathers and include themselves in their confession. Take a moment to read through the first
nineteen verses of Daniel chapter nine to see the confession that Daniel makes
along with true intercessory prayer.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes this section
in his commentary on it by writing “As we study this psalm, it may be like
witnessing an autopsy, but we will benefit from it if, like the psalmist, we
keep our eyes on the Lord of glory and see His kindness and faithfulness to His
sinful people.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I think
that remembering the attributes of God is very helpful in the study of Psalm
106, for we know that God is love, but we also know that God is just and
therefore He must punish sin. The
attributes of God help us to understand who God is and therefore we will not
have a tendency to “put God in a box” as some people do. God was just in his judging Israel and
merciful in allowing them to return to their land. We also know that this was part of God’s
plan, for He was going to bring Messiah into the world after He brought Israel
back into the land of Israel. God has
again brought Israel back into their land beginning on May 14, 1948, and I
believe that the Bible teaches that Messiah will soon return to planet earth
again.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to trust the Lord to use me in the way that He has planned to
use me, as I desire to remain or abide in the Vine to get my marching orders
from the Lord.
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-6
1.
Simon
Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To
those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness
of our
God and
Savior, Jesus Christ: 2. Grace and peace
by multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing
that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and
godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and
righteousness. 4. For by these He has
granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them we can
become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world by lust.
5.
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith
supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence knowledge, 6. in your
knowledge self-control, in your self-control perseverance, and in your
perseverance godliness, and in your godliness, love.
7/18/2012
8:23:16 AM
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