Title: Endless Crime and Endless Mercy / Psalm 106
Psalm 103 praises the God of redemption, Psalm 104 praises the God of creation, Psalm 105 praises the God of covenant and history, and Psalm 106 praises and gives thanks to the God of infinite mercy.
1. Hallelujah, thank the Lord (1-5)
"Hallelujah, give thanks to the Lord" (1). The psalmist first gives praise and thanks to God before stating in this part Israel's endless transgression and God's boundless mercy. The subject of thanksgiving is the goodness and mercy of God. But the poet finds no words to properly express the boundless goodness and mercy of God. "Who is able to preach the mighty works of the LORD ... go mad?"
"Remember me, O LORD, by your kindness to your people, and make them proud" (4, 5). After giving thanks, the poet then offers a prayer of supplication. It was to receive the grace of God and the grace of salvation so that he might rejoice and boast in the joy of the Lord's kingdom.
2. We have sinned with our ancestors (6-42)
“We have sinned with our fathers” (6). Here, the poet makes a lengthy statement of Israel's sinful history and God's wrath and mercy, and admits and confesses that the endless crime was not the actions of the ancestors alone, but his own.
(1) As soon as they saw the Egyptian army coming after them without remembering God's wonders and mercy at the Red Sea, they disobeyed God and complained (7-12).
(2) He became greedy in the wilderness, tested God, and committed the sin of being jealous and rebelling against Moses and Aaron (13-18).
(3) They made a calf and an idol in Horeb and forgot God (19-22). But God did not destroy them because of Moses' intercession (23).
(4) Even before the land of Canaan, they did not believe the word of promise, doubted and complained (24-27).
(5) He committed fornication and worshiping the idols of Baal-peor in Shittim (28-31).
(6) They attacked Moses and Aaron at Meribah, causing them to fall and angering God (32-33).
(7) Even when they entered the land of Canaan, they did not destroy the Gentiles but learned their customs and worshiped idols (34-43). Many times the LORD delivered them, but they rebelled.
3. But the Lord... Hallelujah (44-48)
“But the Lord” (44). Israel, who has sinned endlessly, deserves destruction. But the boundless mercy and mercy of God had mercy on those who cried out in pain and saved them. Because they could not break the covenant they had made with their ancestors.
"Save us, O LORD, that we may praise... Praise the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting, Amen, Hallelujah." Here the psalmist again pleads for God's salvation and ends the psalm with a hymn of hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the repeated prayers and praises of all the saints.