Psa 106:10 | KingComments | STEP | Psalm 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 ( ). In Psalm 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt. In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts ( ). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience. The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses ( ). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”. We can think of as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in . From , the real history of the people begins. Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra ( ; ). The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. ), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins ( ). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. ; ). Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. ). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity. Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” ( ). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them. Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference. It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference? And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on ( ). Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” ( ; cf. ). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty ( ). The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” ( ; ; ; ). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land ( ). So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” ( ; cf. ). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands. What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries ( ). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” ( ; cf. ). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished. After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” ( ; ). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance ( ).

‏ Psalms 106:10

Saved and Redeemed From Egypt

Psalm 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 (Gen 15:2-21). In Psalm 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt.

In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts (Psa 106:2). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience.

The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses (Psa 106:6). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”.

We can think of Psa 106:6 as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in Psa 106:1-5. From Psa 106:7, the real history of the people begins.

Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra (Dan 9:4-19; Ezra 9:6-7 ; 10 ; 15).

The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. Mal 4:5), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins (Gen 42:21). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. 1Kgs 8:46-47; Zec 12:10).

Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. Rev 2:4). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity.

Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” (Psa 106:7). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them.

Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference.

It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference?

And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on (Exo 14:10-12).

Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” (Psa 106:8; cf. Isa 48:9). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty (Exo 9:16).

The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Psa 106:9; Exo 14:21-22 ; 29; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land (Isa 63:12-14).

So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” (Psa 106:10; cf. Lk 1:71). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands.

What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries (Psa 106:11). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” (Exo 14:27-28 ; Exo 15:5; cf. Dan 2:45). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished.

After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” (Psa 106:12; Exo 14:31). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance (Exo 15:1-18).