Passage: Psalm 106:1-12
The Big Idea
Psalm 106 is honest about failure. God’s people sinned over and over. And yet He saved them anyway, for His name’s sake. Tucked into the opening verses is a little picture of the whole New Covenant: a humble person asking God for favor he could never earn.
Praise Begins with His Goodness (Psalm 106:1-2)
The instruction is simple: praise the Lord. How? Give thanks, and know His character. He is good, and His mercy endures forever (Psalm 106:1).
Who could ever describe all He has done (Psalm 106:2)? We cannot measure His goodness, but we can enjoy it, the way we enjoy a sunset without seeing all of it. In His fullness we are complete.
Right Living Is Blessed, and Grace Makes It Possible (Psalm 106:3)
Those who keep justice and do righteousness at all times are blessed (Psalm 106:3). Our actions matter. Right living leads to blessing.
But we cannot do this in our own strength. Through the Holy Spirit we can. When we walk in the Spirit, His life is expressed through us so consistently that it looks like we are doing it all the time (Galatians 5:16). When we fail, there is mercy. Our lives are built on grace, and they are made holy by grace.
The Gospel in One Prayer (Psalm 106:4-5)
The psalmist asks God to remember him with the favor He shows His people and to visit him with His salvation (Psalm 106:4). Look at this prayer phrase by phrase:
- He is asking. That is humility.
- “Me.” It is personal.
- “O Lord.” Directed to the one true God.
- “Favor.” That is grace: free, unmerited favor.
- “Toward Your people.” God has a history of grace.
- “Visit me.” I cannot climb up to God. He has to come to me. And He did, in Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
- “Your salvation.” In Hebrew, the word is related to Jesus’ own name: Yeshua, “the Lord saves.” His salvation is the only way out.
Then the psalmist longs for three identities (Psalm 106:5):
- Chosen. It is a blessing to think about how God chose me (Ephesians 1:4).
- Citizen. It is a joy to belong to His kingdom and His work.
- Inheritance. It is my glory to realize God values me as His treasured possession.
I don’t deserve any of it. That is what makes it grace.
Our Old Story (Psalm 106:6-7)
“We have sinned with our fathers” (see Psalm 106:6). Sin was inherited, a nature and a habit passed down.
Israel saw God’s power in Egypt and still did not understand. They forgot His mercies and rebelled at the Red Sea (Psalm 106:7). Power should have convinced them. Mercy should have reminded them. But the flesh only focuses on self.
In Christ we have a new nature. We are saints who may sometimes sin, not sinners who are stuck in it. We can remember our old identity and praise God that it was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6).
He Saved Them Anyway (Psalm 106:8-12)
Even so, God saved them for the sake of His name (Psalm 106:8). My salvation is His idea, His plan and His purpose. He saves people so He can save more people.
He rebuked the Red Sea and led them through the depths (Psalm 106:9). Sometimes it is wilderness. Sometimes it feels like death. But He leads us through. He will never fail. He will never abandon.
He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them (Psalm 106:10). Jesus rescues people who have no business being rescued. He walks right in and sets captives free from the enemy’s grasp (Colossians 1:13).
The waters covered their enemies; not one was left (Psalm 106:11). Total victory. That is a great promise to pray over people you love who are still in bondage.
Then they believed His words and sang His praise (Psalm 106:12). Deliverance produces faith, and faith produces worship.
Grace Takeaway
Pray Psalm 106:4 as your own prayer: “Lord, remember me with Your favor. Visit me with Your salvation.” He already has, in Jesus. He saved you for His name’s sake, not yours, which means your failures cannot undo it. He never fails.