Psalms 106 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Likely during or after the Babylonian exile (~586-538 BC)
Location
Probably composed in Babylon during exile or Jerusalem after the return
Audience
The Jewish community in exile or recently returned from exile, gathered for corporate worship
Situation
This is a liturgical psalm of national confession, recounting Israel's repeated pattern of rebellion from the Exodus through settlement in Canaan. Verse 47's prayer to be gathered from among the nations suggests the people are experiencing the consequences of their disobedience through exile and dispersion.
Key Background
The psalm reviews specific incidents of Israel's unfaithfulness: grumbling at the Red Sea, the golden calf at Sinai, the rebellion at Kadesh, Korah's uprising, idolatry with Baal of Peor, the incident at Meribah, and syncretism with Canaanite worship including child sacrifice. This historical recitation serves as corporate confession, acknowledging that the current generation shares in their ancestors' pattern of rebellion, while also appealing to God's covenant faithfulness and mercy demonstrated throughout that same history.
Yahweh! Give thanks to — he is good, his never runs out.
Who could ever fully tell what has done? Who could give him all the praise he deserves?
is for those who act with justice, for the one who does what is right at all times.
Remember me, Yahweh, when you show to your people; come to me with your —
so I can see how good it is for those chosen, so I can share the joy of nation, so I can celebrate alongside those who belong to you.
We have — just like our ancestors. We have we have with
Our ancestors in Egypt didn't grasp your wonders. They forgot how many times you showed them love. At the sea — the Red Sea — they the Most
But he rescued them anyway — for the of name, to make known.
He commanded the and it dried up; he walked them through the as if through a desert.
He pulled them from the grip of those who hated them, he them from the enemy's hand.
The waters swallowed their enemies; not a single one survived.
Then his people believed what he said and sang his praise.
But it didn't take long — they forgot what he'd done. They didn't wait for to unfold.
They gave in to their in the wilderness and to the in the wasteland.
He gave them what they asked for, but sent a their
In the camp, they grew jealous of Moses and of Aaron, for
The earth split open and swallowed Dathan; it buried the followers of Abiram.
Fire blazed among their followers; flames consumed the
They made a at Horeb and bowed down to something they had cast from —
they traded their Glory for the image of a bull that eats grass.
They forgot God, who had them — the one who had done such immense things in Egypt,
wonders in the of Ham, terrifying at the Red Sea.
So he said he would destroy them — but Moses, the one he had chosen, in the before him to turn his away.
Then they rejected the land; they didn't trust what he had promised.
They grumbled in their tents and refused to listen to Yahweh's voice.
So he them in an oath: he would bring them down in the wilderness,
scatter their descendants among the nations, and disperse them across every land.
They to the of Peor and ate to the
They provoked him with everything they did, and a erupted among them.
Then stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped.
And it was to as an of justice for generation after generation, forever.
They made Yahweh angry at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses because of them —
because they bitter, and rash words came from lips.
They didn't destroy the peoples as Yahweh had told them to.
Instead, they in with the nations and adopted their ways.
They served their idols, which became a for them.
They sacrificed their own sons and their own daughters to
They poured out — the of their sons and daughters, sacrificed to the idols of Canaan — and the land was by bloodshed.
They made themselves filthy by what they did; their actions were an of
So Yahweh with against his people and was by those who belonged to him.
He them to the nations, and those who hated them ruled them.
Their enemies oppressed them and crushed them under their power.
Time after time he pulled them out, but they kept choosing rebellion and sank deeper into their own
But he saw their distress when he heard their cry.
He remembered his with them and because of his vast
He made their captors show them — everyone who had taken them prisoner.
us, Yahweh our God! Gather us from among the nations so we can give thanks to your name and find our deepest joy in praising you.
All to the God of Israel, from to everlasting! And let all the people say: It is so!" Praise