This chapter is a polar opposite to Psalm 105 – I came across an interesting quote that highlights this dichotomy: “The keynote of Psalms 105 is, ‘Remember His mighty deeds,’ that of Psalms 106 is, ‘They forgot His mighty deeds.’ ” (Alexander Maclaren)
“Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them. Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the Lord!” (v6-8,13-14,19-22,37-38,40-41,43,47-48)
The ongoing theme throughout the OT is this: people rebel against God, they suffer horribly because God withholds His favor, the people remember God and cry out to Him, and then He redeems them. This cycle repeats many, many times. Unfortunately, this cycle is still repeating today.
How many of us go through this same cycle? I know I have (more than once unfortunately). When things are “going well”, work is good, there’s money coming in, and we’re more or less happy in life, it’s very easy to forget God. Ironically, when we’re living under God’s abundant blessing it is hardest to see Him. It’s far easier to see our need for God when His blessing is withheld – when we hit rock bottom, experience spiritual bankruptcy, lose all hope, and are in the direst of need, then we can see the need for Him.
My challenge for us today is to strive to remember God always – He is consistently present with us, so acknowledging Him consistently makes sense. We can use whatever reminders we want to help get us started – maybe a timer that beeps once every hour, or every time we thirst for a beverage acknowledge our thirst for God – you can do whatever works for you to remember Him throughout the day. Whenever I come across an unpleasing task that bores or frustrates me (which is at least twice per day), I spend that time talking to Him – the chore seems to go faster and easier, and I have the added bonus of spending time in His presence.
Now of course I’m not suggesting that by remaining submitted to God we won’t ever have troubles – that’s a prosperity-style gospel and that is outright false according to scripture. What I am suggesting is that when trials come, if we are consistently rooted in God at least once every day, we won’t get so far away from Him as to completely lose hope and hit rock bottom, because He is close to us and longs to deliver us. The closer we are to Him, the less likely we’ll rebel drastically, and the less severe the consequences will be. I don’t believe in lack of troubles (the external trials in life that happen to everyone), though I do believe we will experience fewer consequences (direct outcomes from our disobedience, ie. discipline).
Father God, we come before You today repentant of our past sin. We praise You for Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior and Redeemer who paid the penalty for that sin. Father we implore You to please help us – we are weak and need Your strength. We cannot be obedient to You on our own volition, for we lack integrity and stamina. Please aid us in our desire to obey and follow You. We wish to acknowledge and praise You consistently, drawing us so close to You we cannot wander. Please keep our feet from the snares of the enemy, and on the one true path of righteousness, for Your name’s sake. We wish to honor and glorify You with our words and works which we cannot do if we’re walking the wrongs paths. Thank you Father for the love and care You provide. We praise Your holy name. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training