There are two sides to every story. Psalms 105 and 106 form a pair. Both review the early years of Israel’s history and praise God for His faithfulness, but do this from two very different perspectives. Psalm 105 praises God for how He protected the people and provided for them as He led them to the land promised to their father Abraham. Psalm 106 praises the Lord for His amazing grace despite the way His people were consistently stubborn, sinful, and rebellious. Yet, “his love endures for ever” (Psalm 106:1).

“We have sinned” (v. 6) sums up Israel’s behaviour. The psalmist remembers Israel’s years in Egypt—how Israel was not innocent. At the end of his life, Joshua had to exhort them: “Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped . . . in Egypt” (Joshua 24:14). During her years of slavery, Israel had worshipped the Egyptian gods. Despite their unfaithfulness, God “saved them for his name’s sake” (Psalm 106:8).

“But they soon forgot what he had done” (v. 13). Powerfully and wonderfully, the Lord rescued Israel through the waters of the Red Sea. What was Israel’s response? “They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull” (v. 20). The apostle Paul refers to this when he attacks human wickedness in Romans 1:25. Our great sin is idolatry. We have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator”.

“Then they despised the pleasant land” (Psalm 106:24). Israel knew that Canaan was “flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:17). Yet they refused to believe God would bring them there safely. Instead, “they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor” (Psalm 106:28).

“They did not destroy the peoples” (v. 34). The Lord knew Israel was weak and would easily be seduced into idolatry, so He commanded her to remove all temptations. But Israel refused. Instead, they adopted the wicked customs of the surrounding nations and “worshipped their idols” (v. 36). Idolatry was Israel’s besetting sin and her downfall. As Christians, we must maintain our loyalty to the one, true God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Idolatry is always our greatest temptation—to worship the beautiful creation rather than its Creator. To worship our favourite performance and not the One who gave them this gift. Or, to worship our sports team and not the One who daily gives them strength and skill.

Psalm 106 is the last psalm of Book IV (Psalms 90–106). Like each of the five books which comprise all of the psalms, it ends on a note of exuberant praise. Book IV contains psalms praising God the King (Psalms 95–99) and rejoicing in His many benefits to us (Psalms 103–106). There have also been sober reminders of our mortality and frailty (Psalms 90, 102).

Even more than Israel, Christians have cause “to give thanks to [God’s] holy name” (106:47) for the wonderful love and salvation given to us in the Lord Jesus. “Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’” (v. 48). Hallelujah!