Psalm Devotional
Merciful God
Written by Ian Wise. This devotional was first published in the July 2012 issue of The Reformed Presbyterian Witness.
A famous unbeliever is reported to have said, “God forgive? Of course He’ll forgive; that’s what He does!” But the Christian can never take either his sin or God’s mercy so lightly. Psalm 106 shows us the way of the happy Christian: deep sorrow over sin and heartfelt thanks for our Savior.
Psalms 105 and 106 are similar in form, and both remember aspects of the history of God’s people. Yet while Psalm 105 focuses on God’s faithfulness and activity (“He…He…He”), Psalm 106 emphasizes our unfaithfulness (“they…they…they”), with the goal of highlighting God’s longsuffering mercy.
Remember Your Sin
The main section of Psalm 106, verses 6-46, is not enjoyable reading, but we must remember who we are by nature. Notice the following:
He takes responsibility. The psalmist won’t allow us to treat this song like a history lesson: “We have sinned with our fathers” (v. 6). He doesn’t say, “I’m a victim of my environment, a product of my nurture.” He doesn’t dodge guilt. He says, in effect, “My parents sinned because they were sinners, and I sin for the same reason.”
He acknowledges sin’s persistence. Ask a seasoned believer what frustrates him most, and the answer will likely be, “I keep doing the same things!” Our psalm presents a litany of failure. Day after day, year after year, generation after generation, the unbelief continues.
He confesses it particularly. Plenty of people will admit, “Sure, I’m a sinner.” But far fewer are ready to repent of particular sins, confessing them particularly (see Westminster Confession of Faith 15.5). Notice the verbs: we forget, we lust, we envy, we make idols. Does our repentance follow this pattern?
He grieves its heinousness. It’s written all over this hymn: Sin is no small thing to this man of God. Our sin “provoked God to anger…angered Him…the wrath of the Lord was kindled”—all this from a God who is also slow to anger! But what’s most grievous? That we have sinned against great love. The psalmist wants us to feel this. They “rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea” (v. 7) right after a great deliverance. “They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt” (v. 21).
He mourns its power. How wicked can man be? We could read the newspapers to answer that question, or we could just read this psalm! “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons” (v. 37). When you hear of a particularly terrible crime, do you think “What a monster!”? “What an awful nature we share!”?
It’s not fun, but we must, as the Puritan Richard Sibbes said, “cultivate the art of mourning for sin.” It keeps our sense of need sharp; it helps us keep short accounts with God; it helps us keep a watch on our hearts. But remembering our sin is only worthwhile if it has a positive purpose: to then look up out of our sins to the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything less is self pity, or a misguided effort to atone for sin through penitence.
Remember Your Savior
Five times in our song we have some form of the Hebrew word that we translate “savior,” and which comes to us in the New Testament as “Jesus.” “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
The longsuffering mercy of our Savior is on display here. The middle section is framed by the word “nevertheless” (vv. 8, 44). In the face of every possible provocation and offense, our Lord perseveres in loving us. He tells us, “Notwithstanding every obstacle that you set up, no matter how long the road, I will persevere in loving you. No matter how you provoke Me, you will know the ‘multitude of [My] mercies’” (vv. 7, 45). For you who trust in Christ, that steadfast love follows you into the dark and ugly places that your sinful choices take you. Yes, He disciplines us; He sends leanness into our soul (v. 15), but only in order to win us back.
Remember Christ’s work. Moses’ act of intercession (v. 23) foreshadows Jesus’ own greater work of turning away the wrath of God from His people.
“Lord, Remember Me”
Now we can see why the psalm is framed with “Praise the Lord”—because God hasn’t changed. So we say, “Remember me” (v. 4) and “save us” (v. 47) with confidence. Will He forget us now? We hardhearted people that He’s given so much to save—will He forsake us now?
So the doxology (v. 48) doesn’t just belong because this is the last psalm in Book Four of the Psalms. It fits the psalm, too. The gospel is preached to us in its starkest, truest colors—we are so wicked, God so merciful!
