Bible Study Psalms 106
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Psalms 106 · WEB

We Have Sinned Like Our Fathers

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Praise Yah! Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
2Who can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh, or fully declare all his praise?
3Blessed are those who keep justice, who do righteousness at all times.
4Remember me, Yahweh, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation,
5that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.
6We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.
7Our fathers didn't understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn't remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
8Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power known.
9He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a wilderness.
10He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left.
12Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
13They soon forgot his works. They didn't wait for his counsel,
14but gave in to craving in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.
15He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
16They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, Yahweh's holy one.
17The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
18A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.
19They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.
20Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.
21They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
22wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea.
23Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses, his chosen, stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
24Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn't believe his word,
25but murmured in their tents, and didn't listen to Yahweh's voice.
26Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
27and that he would overthrow their offspring among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.
28They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
29Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke out among them.
30Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, and so the plague was stopped.
31That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.
32They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was harmed for their sakes,
33because they were rebellious against his spirit. He spoke rashly with his lips.
34They didn't destroy the peoples, as Yahweh commanded them,
35but mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their works,
36and served their idols, which became a snare to them.
37Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
39Thus they became unclean in their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
40Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
41He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.
43Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.
44Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.
45He remembered his covenant with them, and relented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
46He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.
47Save us, Yahweh, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, and to triumph in your praise!
48Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen." Praise Yah!
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Summary

Psalm 106 is the confessional counterpart to Psalm 105 — where 105 celebrates God's faithfulness, 106 confesses Israel's unfaithfulness. It surveys the same history — the Red Sea, the wilderness, the golden calf, Baal Peor, the conquest failures — as a litany of ingratitude and rebellion. The recurring pattern is: God delivers, Israel forgets, God judges, Israel cries out, God relents. The psalm closes not with shame but with a prayer for restoration: "save us and gather us." This doxology (v. 48) closes Book IV of the Psalter.

Themes

  • The cycle of grace, forgetting, failure, judgment, and mercy
  • "Leanness of soul" — getting what you demand from God at the expense of what you need
  • Intercessory standing in the breach: Moses as a type of mediator
  • God's covenant faithfulness persisting through human unfaithfulness
  • Confession as the path back to covenant relationship

Key verses

  • Ps 106:15 — “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”
  • Ps 106:23 — “Had not Moses, his chosen, stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath.”
  • Ps 106:44-45 — “Nevertheless he regarded their distress... He remembered his covenant with them.”

Context & background

Psalm 106 closes Book IV of the Psalter (Psalms 90-106) with a corporate confession that mirrors the opening of Book IV: Psalm 90 (Moses) and 106 (Moses standing in the breach). The psalm's prayer — "gather us from among the nations" (v. 47) — suggests exile as the backdrop, likely reflecting the Babylonian captivity (modern Iraq). The phrase "leanness into their soul" (v. 15) — sometimes translated "a wasting disease" — describes the spiritual cost of demanding provision without trust: Israel got the quail but lost the joy. The Baal Peor incident (vv. 28-31) saw Phinehas execute judgment in a way so decisive that it was "credited to him for righteousness" — a phrase paralleling Genesis 15:6 on Abraham's faith. Romans 11:2 alludes to v. 4's prayer when Paul notes that Elijah "prays against Israel."

Cross-references

  • Exodus 32; Numbers 14 — Moses standing in the breach (v. 23)
  • Nehemiah 9 — the great confessional prayer covering identical history
  • Numbers 11:31-34 — the quail and the "leanness" (vv. 13-15)
  • Numbers 25:1-13 — Phinehas and the plague at Baal Peor (vv. 28-31)
  • Romans 1:23 — "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images" — v. 20's exchange

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    List the specific failures of Israel catalogued.

  2. Observe

    What is the repeated pattern?

  3. Interpret

    What does "leanness of soul" mean (v. 15)?

  4. Interpret

    What does Moses standing in the breach (v. 23) teach about intercession and Christ?

  5. Apply

    Where is one in the cycle right now?

  6. Apply

    What does praying into God's covenant community mean (v. 4)?

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