It is easy to be overwhelmed in the midst of misery. Whether you’re facing your own sin, that of another’s against you, or suffering of one sort or another, we are tempted to remain downcast. If that describes you today, the prescription you need is found in Psalm 106. The psalmist lifts our eyes from our misery to the marvelous mercies of God.
Multiple Marvels
The psalmist begins with a call to praise and thanksgiving based on the steadfast love of the Lord and His mighty deeds, “Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise?” (Ps. 106:1-2). Then he states a blessing upon those who are just and righteous, “Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” (v. 3). Finally, the psalmist asks the Lord to remember him, so he can “look upon the prosperity” and “rejoice in the gladness” and “glory with” God’s people (vv. 4-5).
Jesus echoes the psalmist’s beatitude in His Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). As believers we have much for which to give thanks. We should thank God for His attributes, like goodness, love, and justice. And we should imitate His goodness, love, and justice as we interact with everybody around us.
Multiple Miseries
The psalmist recognizes the misery of sin, “Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness” (Ps. 106:6). It’s no surprise, then, that their “fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider [God’s] wondrous works” (v. 7). However, in the wake of deliverance, “they believed his words; they sang his praise” (v. 12). Sadly, such belief and praise didn’t last long. God’s people “soon forgot his works….and put God to the test in the desert” (vv. 13-14). At Sinai they grew impatient and “forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things” as they worshiped the golden calf (vv. 19-21). They spurned God and “despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise” (v. 24). In wilderness wanderings they embraced idolatry and “yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead” (v. 28). Yet thankfully, “Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed” (v. 30). Iniquity grew worse in Canaan as “they mixed with the nations” and “served their idols, which became a snare to them” (v. 36). Therefore, exile came upon them as the Lord, in His righteous anger, “gave them into the hand of the nations….and they were brought into subjection under their power” (vv. 41-42). Although “many times he delivered them…they were rebellious in their purposes” (v. 43).
Such miseries reveal humankind’s desperate need of redemption, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Thankfully, God offers us a solution, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23). Yet every believer knows the struggle with sin is not over upon conversion and can say with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (7:24). Gratefully, with Paul we can also declare the answer, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 25). “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1). Let us, then, “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (12:1).
Multiple Mercies
Both God’s covenant and His compassion are highlighted in the closing verses of Psalm 106. “Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (Ps. 106:44-45). Such a great salvation should lead to thanksgiving and praise: “Save us, O LORD our God…that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise” (v. 47). Indeed, all God’s people are to say, “Praise the LORD!” (v. 48).
Giving thanks to the Lord is what we will spend eternity doing. Believers will not cease to praise the triune God in the new Jerusalem. We will worship God our Father, Christ our Brother, and the Spirit our Helper. Delivered from our misery, we will spend eternity marveling at the mercies of the Lord.