As opposed to the previous psalm, here the psalmist recounts the sinful history of Israel then praises the Lord for His love and mercy.
| Verse | Observation | Interpretation | Application |
| 1Praise the Lord.a Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise? 3Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. 4Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, 5that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. | The psalmist is again calling everyone to sing praises to the Lord because "He is good and His love endures forever." He then proves this in the next verses. | God's love endures forever. | |
| 6We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.b 8Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. 9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. 13But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. 14In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. 15So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them. 16In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord. 17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. 18Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass. 21They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 22miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. 24Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. 25They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord. 26So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert, 27make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. 28They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods; 29they provoked the Lord to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them. 30But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked. 31This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come. 32By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them; 33for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.c 34They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, 35but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. 36They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. 37They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. 38They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. 39They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves. 40Therefore the Lord was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. 41He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them. 42Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power. 43Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. 44But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; 45for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented. 46He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive. 47Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. 48Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord. | As we can see, Israel was quite the rebellious nation. The psalmist lists down nearly all of their rebellious acts. Yet, I have no right to judge them because I myself am as rebellious (or even more) than they are. But as we can see despite their rebellious nature God still chose them. God chose them because of Abraham's faith, not because they were good or anything. Also, we can see here that God's love endures forever: even though Israel turned many, many times from God He keeps His promises and He continues to love them. | God's love endures forever. He does not choose based on worthiness (we are all unworthy). (If He chooses based on faith or of His own volition, that is an entirely different matter regarding election. I would like to study that at a later time.) | Because of our human nature, we will inevitably sin. But let us remember that God's love endures forever and that "nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God." This is the greatest love we can ever receive this 'Valentine's Day'*. |
*I don't really 'celebrate' valnentines because I think it is one of the many, many ways Satan controls the world. All around us we can see how the enemy distorts the meaning of love. In fact, just a while ago, a homosexual organization in the campus was giving around condoms, with a heart attached to it saying "love responsibly." (nothing against homosexuals in this note). The notion of love has been so distorted that when we share God's love people no longer understand this as the 'agape' love.
Feel free to correct me if there is anything wrong in my understanding of the Bible. I am not a Bible scholar or anything, I'm just studying the Word of God.
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