1 Praise the Lord!
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty doings of
the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your
people;
help me when you deliver them;
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 in your heritage.
6 Both we and our ancestors have
sinned;
we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.
19 They made a calf at Horeb
and worshiped a cast image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy
them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
Psalm 106 has a connection to
Deuteronomy. The theme is that of a covenant festival and the saving history.
It is similar to Psalm 105, but the focus now is disobedience. In fact, this
psalm may have had a connection with Psalm 105 very early. The Psalm shows God
as acting on behalf of Israel while Israel responds with disobedience. In
verses 1-6, we find a call to the community to testify to the everlasting
goodness of the Lord. The summons to offer praise and thanksgiving in prayer
has its underlying thought and motivation in the goodness of God.[1]
We find the same call in I Chronicles 16:34. In distinction from Greek worship
of the cosmos, which is perishable, the goodness of the Lord will remain. We
have a reminder of the eternity of God in Christian theology.[2]
Speech itself is not worthy of offering this praise of the multiplicity of the
divine acts of the Lord. Obedience to the divine command in the sense of
justice and righteousness brings blessedness. It refers to the people of the
Lord as the chosen ones, the nation, and the heritage of the Lord. He wants the
Lord to remember him when the Lord delivers the people. Yet, in a confession of
guilt that unites present with past, he confesses that both have sinned,
committed iniquity, and done wickedly. Verses 19-23 are part of a larger
section that extends to verse 33, in which the poet is numbering the sins of
the nation. It refers to Horeb, where the people made a calf and worshipped an
image, breaking the first and second commandments. They exchanged the glory of
God for an image of an ox. They already forgot God as their Savior. God saved
by doing great things in Egypt, wondrous works in Ham, and awesome deeds by the
Red Sea. Since they already forgot, God told Moses of the divine intent to destroy
them. The chosen one, Moses, stood in the breach before God, turning away the
wrath of God.
[1]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 432.
[2]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 401.
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