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106. Psalm 106

1 Praise the LORD. Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 48

   Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
   his love endures forever.

    2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD
   or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
   who always do what is right.

    4 Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people,
   come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
   that I may share in the joy of your nation
   and join your inheritance in giving praise.

    6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
   we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
   they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
   and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verses 9 and 22
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
   to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
   he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
   from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
   not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
   and sang his praise.

    13 But they soon forgot what he had done
   and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;
   in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
   but sent a wasting disease among them.

    16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
   and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
   it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers;
   a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
   and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
   for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
   who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
   and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them—
   had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
   to keep his wrath from destroying them.

    24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
   they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
   and did not obey the LORD.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand
   that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
   and scatter them throughout the lands.

    28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
   and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the LORD’s anger by their wicked deeds,
   and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
   and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
   for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD,
   and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
   and rash words came from Moses’ lips. Or against his spirit, / and rash words came from his lips

    34 They did not destroy the peoples
   as the LORD had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
   and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
   which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
   and their daughters to false gods.
38 They shed innocent blood,
   the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
   and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
   by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

    40 Therefore the LORD was angry with his people
   and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hands of the nations,
   and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
   and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
   but they were bent on rebellion
   and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
   when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
   and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused all who held them captive
   to show them mercy.

    47 Save us, LORD our God,
   and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
   and glory in your praise.

    48 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.

   Let all the people say, “Amen!”

   Praise the LORD.

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14. And they lusted He goes on, according to the history, to mention the sin which, agreeably to the duty of his office as a teacher, he had briefly noticed. Should any one inquire in what way they did not attend to God’s counsel, he answers, because they had indulged in the gratification of their lusts; for the only way of acting with proper moderation is, when God rules and presides over our affections. It is therefore the more necessary to bridle that strong tendency to fleshly lusts which naturally rage within us. For whoever allows himself to desire more than is needful, openly sets himself in direct opposition to God, inasmuch as all fleshly lusts are directly opposed to him.

To tempt God is not to acquiesce in his will, but to desire more than he is willing to grant. And since there are a variety of modes of tempting God, the prophet here adverts to one mode of doing so, namely, that the people had been so presumptuous as to limit God to means of their own devising; and thus, in rejecting the way which they ought to have followed, they ascribed to God a property altogether novel, as much as to say, If God do not feed us with flesh we will not regard him as God. He gave them the food which ought to have satisfied them. And though God is not limited by any means whatsoever, yet it is his will that our minds be rendered subservient to the means which he has appointed. For instance, although he can nourish us without bread, nevertheless it is his will that our life be sustained by such provision; and if we neglect it, and wish to point out to him another way of nourishing us, we tempt his power.
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