O my soul,

Would you enjoy the favour of the Lord?

What do I mean? I mean would you like him to shine on you and smile on you and bless you abundantly?⸺for that is the favour of the Lord.

If you would enjoy that favour then you must stand together with his people and be one with them.

Remember me, O LORD, when you show favour to your people; help me when you save them, that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

― Psalm 106:4-5

Here we see the psalmist desiring to count himself among the Lord’s people. Help me when you save them, Lord, that we may prosper together. That we may rejoice in gladness together. That we may glory with one another together with your inheritance.

It is easy to stand with those who are being blessed. But what is the other side of this coin called together?

Listen to the psalmist’s confession as he stands together with his people in their sin and shame and wretchedness, and counts himself one with them.

Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

― Psalm 106:6

The other side of this coin is to stand together with sinners⸺with those who have committed iniquity, who have done wickedness⸺and not to set ourselves apart. For what was Isaiah’s confession upon being overwhelmed by the beauty and the holiness and majesty of the Lord?

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

― Isaiah 6:5

The sin of his people did not excuse or diminish Isaiah’s own in any way, but rather magnified it.

But aren’t there limits to the sin of our brothers and sisters which we can own as ours? Let’s follow the psalmist for an answer.

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.

― Psalm 106:7

And thus begins another sorry retelling of the shameful failure and ongoing wretchedness of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness, both geographically and metaphorically. And equally another wonderful retelling of the Lord’s faithfulness to these reprobates.

Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.

― Psalm 106:8

So how did his people respond to this unmerited rescue?

But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert.

― Psalm 106:13-14

And it just got worse and worse.

They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

― Psalm 106:19-22

And then, and then, and then. What a pitiful refrain.

Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.

― Psalm 106:24-25

Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

― Psalm 106:28-29

They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

― Psalm 106:34-36

And was the Lord infinitely patient with his rebellious people? No he was not.

Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them.

― Psalm 106:40-41

O my soul, grieve over this obstinately wayward people, for they are your people. And marvel that the Lord did not finish with them.

Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.

― Psalm 106:43

This was the ongoing cycle, the Lord’s faithfulness towards his ungrateful and unfaithful people, and it remains so today.

And in the context of this sorry retelling of unfaithfulness and wretchedness and shame, marvel that the psalmist continued to stand with his brothers and sisters.

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.

― Psalm 106:47

Us! The word is us! Save us, O Lord! Have mercy on us!

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

― Romans 3:23-24

And knowing this, there are three things to be done.

The first is to praise our good and faithful God.

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

― Psalm 106:1

The second is to be overwhelmed by the Lord’s power and beauty and goodness and holiness.

Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise?

― Psalm 106:2

And the third is to use these to fuel a life that honours him in every way.

Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!

― Psalm 106:3

And we must do this together.

O my soul, stand together with the Lord’s people, for they are your people, and worship him together! 🙏