Psalm 106 – God’s loving discipline
(by Kenneth Chan)
The Psalmist’s prayer began with praise to the LORD for His goodness and everlasting love in His acts of kindness, grace and mercy extended to Israel – the apple of His eye, in spite of their unfaithfulness in their covenant relationship with Him.
Israel spurned God’s love for them, and in rebellion chose to model the wickedness of foreign nations and worship their gods. However, God would not permit His people to be wasted away in sin (verse 43). In love, God mercifully disciplined His people with painful suffering to deter them from the path of sin and final judgment to repentance, forgiveness and restoration.
Similarly, God lovingly disciplines believers today, who, by their confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, are set apart to Him as His precious possession, yet persist in sin. Divine discipline is for the eternal good for believers to turn from rebellion to obedience and to grow in holiness and spiritual maturity, for the glory of God. God disciplines those He loves and those who endure His discipline are His sons (and daughters) – Hebrews 12:6-7.
May God’s people with the Psalmist look forward to our coming joy and glory in God’s presence when He finally saves us from the presence of sin.
Let’s Read Psalm 106
his love endures forever.
or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
who always do what is right.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let’s Pray
Our gracious God and loving Heavenly Father, how good it is to be loved by You who gives good gifts to all who belong to You, and disciplines in love that none of them should be lost. May Your ongoing love and grace complete the good work You started in us. We ask this in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
This devotional was kindly contributed by Dr. Chow Li Sze and her channel Heavenly Devotion. You may find the channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/HeavenlyDevotion/videos
About the Heavenly Devotion channel
The Heavenly Devotion channel is dedicated to encouraging you to listen to Bible Scriptures and pray with the Scriptures. They are inspired by the call of service as expressed and exemplified by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:12-15.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrew 4:12 NKJV)
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