Intervening in God's Judgment - Psalm 106

  Psalm 106 is a recital of the LORD's dealing with His covenant people, and it is a celebration of His steadfast covenant love towards them.  Part of the relationship between the LORD and His people is the actions of the people.  Psalm 106 explores this relationship in depth, starting with the blessedness of living as a righteous person who does justice (vs 3).  Yet by verse 6, the Psalmist acknowledges that the Lord's chosen ones have sinned and committed iniquity and wickedness. As he goes on to recount some of the rebellion of God's chosen ones, he also recounts different ways in which this rebellion was dealt with.

  The LORD's first response comes in verse 8 where He saves the people He chose from their rebellion by the sea 'for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power.'

  In verse 15, the LORD's second response is to send the people the thing they were begging for in their disregard for Him and to unleash judgment on them. Judgment follows again in verses 17-18.

 But in verse 23, after the people's most egregious breach of faith, the LORD speaks of destroying His own people, yet in response to Moses' pleading for the people, His judgment is turned away. This happens again in verse 30, where Phineas intervenes, and God spares the people further judgment. (Verse 31 notes that this was counted to Phineas as righteousness, just like Abraham!)

 In verses 32-33, an account is mentioned where Moses failed to intercede for the people because he himself was angered in sin.

 The final verses list accounts both of deliverance and judgment, specially focusing on God's steadfast love and His remembrance of His covenant.

 The thing that draws my attention here is the subplot, the part a couple individuals played in the grand narrative of God's mercy to an imperfect people. Moses and Phineas are allowed by God to act as true priests, standing between the great God and a sinful, rebellious people and pleading with God to have mercy on them. About Moses this is described as standing in the gap to turn away the Lord's wrath from destroying them. About Phineas, it is described as standing up and intervening. Strikingly, in verse 47, we find the psalmist himself begging for the LORD God's mercy on His people, too.

  This subtheme in the psalm is reminiscent of other passages where the righteous, but imperfect, believers act as priests for those living unrighteously. Abraham priests for Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah.  Ezekiel speaks of similar roles for the godly; in 22:30, he speaks of 'standing in the breach' like Psalm 106, as well as in 14:14, 20 where he speaks of the mercy which was extended to others through the priestly activities of Noah, Daniel, and Job. Notably, this priestly activity was not always for 'people of God,' at times it was for the unrighteous who did not acknowledge God as LORD.  

  PSALM 106

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise? Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them, that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them. Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD. Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness, and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands. Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever. They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds. Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power. Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD! (ESV)

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