Joy in Forgiveness of Israel’s Sins
1 Praise the Lord!
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can declare all His praise?
3 Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people.
Oh, visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with Your inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies,
But rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
That He might make His mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;
So He led them through the depths,
As through the wilderness.
10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left.
12 Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.
13 They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
15 And He gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
16 When they envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the Lord,
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
And covered the faction of Abiram.
18 A fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped the molded image.
20 Thus they changed their glory
Into 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,
Awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe His word,
25 But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
To overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 To overthrow their descendants among the nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
31 And that was accounted to him for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.
32 They angered Him also at the waters of strife,
So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
33 Because they rebelled against His Spirit,
So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples,
Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
35 But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
36 They served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
37 They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they were defiled by their own works,
And played the harlot by their own deeds.
40 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
So that He abhorred His own inheritance.
41 And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Many times He delivered them;
But they rebelled in their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,
When He heard their cry;
45 And for their sake He remembered His covenant,
And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.
46 He also made them to be pitied
By all those who carried them away captive.
47 Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.
48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
Though the Hebrew text of this psalm has no heading, evidence for its partial attribution to David is attested by (1) the presentation of verses 1 and 47-48a in 1 Chronicles 16:34-36 (following vs.1-15 of Psalm 105) as part of a psalm of thanksgiving ascribed to David, and (2) the attribution to David of verse 38 in Jewish tradition. At the same time, verses 40-47 bear the hallmarks of an exilic perspective, and quite likely represent the words of a later prophet that were added at a later point so as to continue (and hence further emphasize) the picture of God’s unbroken chastisement of—and hence lovingkindness towards—His people (which “picture” is still further extended by Paul in the New Testament period, in Romans 11:28-29). — Wechsler, pages 251-252.
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The basis of God’s faithfulness is not, as is sometimes thought, His covenants—as if binding Him to do (or not do) something whether He wishes it so or not—but rather His character, of which His actions and covenants are in turn a consistent and harmonious expression. The psalmist thus begins by focusing on those aspects of God’s character that undergird his faithfulness to Israel—i.e.: His goodness and His lovingkindness. It is on the basis of these two divine attributes, both of which “operate” irrespective of human merit, that god chose Israel as “a people for His own possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6)—as emphasized by the four different epithets applied to Israel in vs.4-5 (i.e., “they people,” “Thy chosen ones,” “Thy nation,” and “Thine inheritance”).
The expression of God’s faithfulness—which is, in essence, simply the inevitable expression of His goodness and lovingkindness once bestowed—constitute the bulk of this psalm and focuses on the ongoing cycle of God’s chastisement of sinful Israel. — Wechsler, pages 252-253.
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The answer to the question of verse 2 is, that no one can exhaustively analyse, understand, and show the meaning and purpose of Divine actions, or adequately praise such actions. But Messiah can, and He will show forth all God’s praise (Psalm 9:14).
But a spiritual intelligence will recognise Divine action and bow in worship because of such action (v.3). That intelligence results only from subjection of mind to the Scriptures, and from an unvarying life of righteous conduct. A conscious salvation (v.4) enables the believer “to see,” “to rejoice” and “to glory” (v.5). — Williams, page 380.
leanness (v.15) = wasting disease (spiritually)
They envied Moses and Aaron (v.16) — Numbers 16:3-7
He said He would destroy them (v.23) — Exodus 32:10-14
despised the pleasant land (v.24) — Numbers 13:32; 14:41.
They joined themselves unto Baal-peor (v.28) — This was the result of the suggestions of Balaam to Balak (Numbers 25:3; Revelation 2:14).
plague (v.29) — Numbers 25:7-8
mingled with the Gentiles (v.35) — In spite of Joshua’s warning (Joshua 23:12-13).
The psalmist turned to the unfaithfulness of the people in the land (vs.32-48). This he begins by referring to Moses’ exclusion. This reference seems to be a remarkable recognition of the strength of the man. The fair deduction from the setting of the story seems to be that if he had entered with them, some of the things might have been different.
The story of their failure in the land is tragic, but there is evident a recognition on the part of the singer of a poetic justice in their calamity. Moses was excluded because of his failure to represent God to His people, but that failure was provoked by their sin; and they , passing into the land without him, were from the beginning in greater or less degree corrupted. Their initial sin was that of disobedience, either on the ground of pity, or for purpose of compromise. The result was that they descended to all the abominations of which the peoples were guilty. — Morgan, page 200.
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