Worship Must be Introspective
Psalm 106:1–2 (ESV) Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?
So Psalms 105 and 106 go together. The first extols the Lord for His mighty acts and goodness exhibited to His people. It tells us to recount the wonderful deeds of the Lord. Psalm 106 also calls us to recount His deeds, but a different set of deeds altogether. In this Psalm, the call to worship God is based on His consistent mercy and grace to a stubborn and obstinate people.
The first recollection starts with Egypt:
Psalm 106:7–8 (ESV) 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. 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
It talks about the up and down nature of the people's faith and trust in God from there. When He delivered them, they trusted Him. But soon they forgot and were once again in bondage.
Psalm 106:13 (ESV) But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
I'm very aware that most of us live in this Psalm. Our relationship with God, whether we like to admit it or not, is often on again off again depending on the conditions of our lives. Perhaps this is the reason for the Psalm in the first place. It ends with a call for God's salvation and a plea of agreement for the people with a verbal "Amen."
Psalm 106:47–48 (ESV) 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. 48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!
Its as if the Psalmist is writing and calling the people to sing this song so that they snap out of their topsy turvy faith. We need songs like this, confessing that we often fail and desperately need God's grace. If we don't take time to remember the many ways God has saved us from ourselves we will begin to trust only in ourselves.
Worship must be introspective. Worship must be a heart check wherein we take time to recount that God's greatest deed was His mercy when we deserved so much worse. Many times God did bring His just judgment upon them. But He never forsook His people. You can be sure that God will never forsake you. Yes, we will bear the consequences of our sin. And yet, God punishes everyone He receives as a son (Hebrews 12). But we do not loose heart. We remind ourselves that He got us this far and He will take us home.
Amen.
So Psalms 105 and 106 go together. The first extols the Lord for His mighty acts and goodness exhibited to His people. It tells us to recount the wonderful deeds of the Lord. Psalm 106 also calls us to recount His deeds, but a different set of deeds altogether. In this Psalm, the call to worship God is based on His consistent mercy and grace to a stubborn and obstinate people.
The first recollection starts with Egypt:
Psalm 106:7–8 (ESV) 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. 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
It talks about the up and down nature of the people's faith and trust in God from there. When He delivered them, they trusted Him. But soon they forgot and were once again in bondage.
Psalm 106:13 (ESV) But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
I'm very aware that most of us live in this Psalm. Our relationship with God, whether we like to admit it or not, is often on again off again depending on the conditions of our lives. Perhaps this is the reason for the Psalm in the first place. It ends with a call for God's salvation and a plea of agreement for the people with a verbal "Amen."
Psalm 106:47–48 (ESV) 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. 48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!
Its as if the Psalmist is writing and calling the people to sing this song so that they snap out of their topsy turvy faith. We need songs like this, confessing that we often fail and desperately need God's grace. If we don't take time to remember the many ways God has saved us from ourselves we will begin to trust only in ourselves.
Worship must be introspective. Worship must be a heart check wherein we take time to recount that God's greatest deed was His mercy when we deserved so much worse. Many times God did bring His just judgment upon them. But He never forsook His people. You can be sure that God will never forsake you. Yes, we will bear the consequences of our sin. And yet, God punishes everyone He receives as a son (Hebrews 12). But we do not loose heart. We remind ourselves that He got us this far and He will take us home.
Amen.
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