Psalm 106: 1, 47--48
Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His
loving kindness is everlasting...Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us
from among the nations, to give thanks to Thy holy name, and glory in Thy
praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to
everlasting. And let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the Lord!
NASB
In the name of the One Who is Good, amen.
If you can, take time to read all of Psalm 106. It glorifies God for
being gracious to His people, and then reviews the history of the
Children of Israel. What is striking is that it doesn't mention anything
good about God's chosen people. Rather it reviews all the evil that they
did, the lack of understanding, forgetfulness, idolatry, etc. Then it
speaks of how God gave them over to captivity because of their rebellion,
but even then He pitied them and saved them. We see that God saved them
even though there was nothing good that they did to deserve it.
Take a moment and review your family history. What would this psalm look
like if you had written it? Briefly mine would go something like this:
"I have sinned like my forefathers. They were pagans in a foreign land.
They didn't know your ways. They rejected and persecuted those who
brought them the Word. My family line is full of violent people who
loved war. They left their homeland to seek after wealth. My ancestors
were drunkards who made and sold moonshine during prohibition." I'll
stop there.
When you get down to your own day, are you able to see all the evil in
your family line and still say, "But He was faithful to the ones He has
chosen; He brought them out of the slavery of sin into righteousness?"
Are you still able to give thanks to God for His incredible goodness that
in spite of all our evil, He still guides and cares for us? Are you
still able to say, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel?
It is easy for us to focus on what we do. We look at our evil, and then
we want to see what sort of good we have done to make it right. But it
doesn't work that way and this psalm emphasizes that fact. Salvation
rests in the Grace of God in Jesus Christ. Remember that Christ Jesus
fulfilled all of God's Law for us. That means that He was patient,
thankful, worshipped only the true God, and anything else that you or
your ancestors fell short on. Rest assured that in spite of your family
line and your own personal history, God does love you. He does guide you
by His Word and care for you. May the Lord reveal to you His glory every
day. May He make you rejoice in the contrast between the evil of human
beings, and His incredible mercy. There is no other God who has given
His Son for you so that you could be His child. Praise the Lord! Amen.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, as we look back on our ancestors we see that they
were sinners worthy of death. We see that we too are sinners who are
worthy of death. Forgive us because of Your grace which you have shown
to us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that
we daily give thanks to You for winning salvation for us, amen.