REMEMBER ME, LORD, WHEN YOU SAVE US

Psalm 106:1-33 / Keywords 106:4

Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,

 

106:1 Praise the Lord.[a]

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.[b]

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.[c]

Footnotes

a. Psalm 106:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 48

b. Psalm 106:7 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verses 9 and 22

c. Psalm 106:33 Or against his spirit, / and rash words came from his lips

1. The psalmist confesses many sins of his people as recorded in the historical records of Exodus, Numbers, and Judges.

 

2. First, he praises the good LORD whose love endures forever. The LORD’s acts are mighty. Blessed are those who do right. Then he prays to be remembered when God delivers his people so that he can praise God with them.

 

3. Verses 6-43 recount many ways God’s people sinned. At the Red Sea, they complained; still, God opened the sea and drowned their enemies (Ex 14). But they forgot and demanded food in the desert, testing God; so, God sent disease among them (Nu 11). Some challenged Moses’ authority and were judged (Nu 16). They all made a calf idol, forgetting God, but Moses prayed for them (Ex 32). They despised the promised land and disobeyed God’s direction (Nu 14). They worshiped Baal, so God sent a plague (Nu 25). The plague was stopped by Phinehas’ righteous action. Even Moses sinned in anger by striking the rock at Meribah (Nu 20). God never gave up on them. How about us? Are we any better?

 

Prayer LORD, great is your patience and love. Help us to confess the many sins of our church and of our nation and stand in the gap through prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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