1 Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks
to the Lord, for He is good – for
His
lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord, or
can show forth all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all
times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people, visit
me with Your salvation—
5 That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen
ones, that I may rejoice in
the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance.
6 We have sinned like our fathers, we have
committed iniquity, and we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not
understand Your wonders—
They did not
remember Your
abundant kindnesses, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea .
8 Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, that
He might make His
power known.
9 Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, and He led them through the deeps, as
through the wilderness.
10
So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them,
and redeemed
them from the hand of the
enemy.
11 The waters covered their adversaries – not one of them was
left.
12 Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.
13
Then they quickly forgot His works…
They did not
wait for His counsel,
14
But craved intensely in the
wilderness, and tempted God
in the desert.
15
So He gave them their request, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16
When they became envious of Moses in the camp, and
of Aaron the holy one of the Lord…
17
The earth opened and swallowed up
Dathan, and engulfed the company of Abiram.
18
And a fire blazed up in their company – the flame
consumed the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a
molten image.
20
Thus they exchanged their glory for the
image of an ox that eats grass.
21
They forgot God their Savior, who
had done great
things in Egypt ,
22
Wonders in
the land of Ham and
awesome things by the Red Sea .
23
Therefore He said that He would destroy
them...
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in
the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24
Then they despised the pleasant land – they did not
believe in His word...
25 But grumbled in their tents. They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26
Therefore He swore to them that He would cast
them down in the wilderness,
27
That He would cast their seed among the
nations and scatter them in
the lands.
28 They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29
Thus they provoked Him to anger with
their deeds, and the plague broke out among them.
30
Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, and
so the plague was
stayed.
31
And it was reckoned to him for
righteousness, to all generations forever.
32
They also provoked Him to wrath at the
waters of Meribah, so
that it went hard
with Moses on their account.
33
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly
with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples [from foreign
nations], as the Lord
commanded them,
35
But they mingled with the nations and
learned their practices…
36
And served their idols, which
became a snare to them.
37
They even sacrificed their sons and
their daughters to the demons,
38
And shed innocent blood, the blood of
their sons and
their daughters—
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan , and the
land was polluted
with the blood.
39 Thus they became unclean in their practices, and played the harlot in their
deeds.
40 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled
against His people and He abhorred His inheritance.
41
Then He gave them into the hand of
the nations, and
those who hated them ruled over them.
42
Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were
subdued under their power.
43
Many times He would deliver them—
They, however, were rebellious
in their counsel and
so sank down
in their iniquity.
44
Nevertheless He looked upon their
distress when He heard their
cry…
45 And He remembered His covenant for their
sake,
And relented according to the greatness of
His lovingkindness.
46
He also made them objects of compassion in the
presence of all their captors.
47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the
nations, so we may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in Your praise.
48
Blessed be the Lord, the God
of Israel , from
everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord!
As we continue to read the
history of Israel , we would
miss the message if we didn’t also examine ourselves and ask, “Lord, am I
guilty of unrecognized sin? We should
not shrug off our sins as if they were no big deal. Jesus said in Matthew 5:4,
“Blessed are those who mourn” (“over their sins”), “for they shall be
comforted.” Examine yourself and confess any that may be lurking in your heart—and
be comforted.
Rebellion
The sin of “rebellion” is
rooted in unbelief. Darkened minds do not
understand God’s wonders. We can be a witness to great miracles and or be the recipient
of God’s great mercies, and still to be harden in our heart and forget God’s
abundant kindnesses. We forget the
wonders of God’s salvation and fail to remember the many kindnesses from God towards
us. Rebellion in the form of unbelief is
not “faith” – it is not genuine saving
faith – that endures and bears fruit unto eternal life.
Idolatry
(100:34-40)
This is exactly why God warns us about false idols and false gods. He knows the objects of affection in the human heart all to well. Satan also knows, it is his job to get us to worship, praise and instill our faith in something which will ultimately prove false and let us down at the absolute worst time.
God knows the end result of what happens when we do seek to follow something or someone other than himself The disappointment is often too great to bear and we may become filled with guilt (false feelings) and ashamed. We may try to hide our face from the only one who can save us...God. Some are as deceived we even try to blame God. Anything that leads us away
from God stirs up God quickly. It was the greatest evil during Israelis
history, and just as much ours today.
But...
The depth
of God’s grace is greater than all our sin (106:1-3, 44-46)
Thus we should praise God
and cry out to Him to pour out His grace on His chosen ones. “He also made them [His people] objects of
compassion in the presence of all their captors” (106:46). This verse shows
God’s sovereign control even over those who do not know Him — He moved the
captors to show compassionate towards God’s people. As verse 3 shows, there is a positive
incentive towards obedience, “How blessed are those who keep justice, who
practice righteousness at all times!” God not only disciplines the disobedient,
but He also richly blesses the obedient.
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