Tuesday: Remembering History and Repentance
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 5th of March 2024
Read Psalms 106:1-48. What historical events and their lessons are highlighted in this psalm?
Psalms 106:1-48 also evokes the major events in Israel’s history, including the Exodus, sojourn in the wilderness, and life in Canaan.
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It stresses the heinous sins of the fathers that culminated in the generation that was carried into exile. Thus, the psalm almost certainly was written when the nation was in Babylon, or after they had returned home, and the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recounted for God’s people these historical incidents and the lessons that the people should have learned from them.
This psalm, too, as the others, points to God’s faithfulness to His covenant of grace, by which He saved His people in the past (Psalms 106:45). It expresses hope that God will again show favor to His repentant people and gather them from among the nations (Psalms 106:47). The plea for present deliverance is not some wishful thinking but a prayer of faith based on the assurance of God’s past deliverances (Psalms 106:1-3) and the unfailing character of God’s faithfulness to His covenant with His people.
The recollection of Israel’s historical failures in Psalms 106:1-48 is an integral part of the people’s confession of their sins and acknowledgment that they are not better than their forefathers. The present generation admits that it is even worse than its ancestors because it knew the consequences of the past generations’ iniquities and how God exercised His great patience and grace in saving them, even though they had deliberately walked in wicked ways in the past. If this were true for them, think about how much more so for us, today, who have the revelation of God’s character and saving grace as revealed in Jesus and the Cross.
The good news of Psalms 106:1-48 is that God’s steadfast love always prevails over the people’s sins (Psalms 106:8-10, 30, 43-46). The key role of Moses and Phinehas in turning away God’s wrath points to the significance of Christ’s intercession on behalf of believers. Only personal experience of God’s grace can transform a past story into our story.
Psalms 106:1-48:13 reads: “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel” (NKJV). Why is that so easy for us to do in our own lives, as well?
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The faithfulness of God when we are rebellious is like a rock in a storm-tossed sea. There is a headland near here that I often visit. Just a short distance from the headland is a large rock. I have been there when the rock has been hidden as 20 metre waves thundering a foaming over it. And yet when the sea is calm, the rock is still there, just as it was before the storm.
The rock metaphor for God's steadfastness occurs frequently in our hymns and songs:
The rock metaphor fall short though because while it represents God's persistence and presence with and for us, it does not represent the active role he plays in our salvation - his desire to form a loving relationship with us. God wants us to grown in his grace.
I remember I was in one church years ago, I must confess. By the way the Lord has already forgive me but confession is good for the soul even though the Lord has forgiven. I must confess I did not do what the pastor wanted us elders to do, and that was take a deacon and go visiting. Then after a couple of years the Holy Spirit was working on me, And I said yes to Jesus. I took one of our loving decons around visiting, we had visited many members and then I said to my deacon who was so kind and willing, let's stop here before we go home. We stopped at our pastor's home and knocked on his door. We told him we had been visiting and thought we would pay a little visit. He said this is what I told you to do a few years back. We had a smile on our faces. He got a smile on his face and invited us for a nice chat. He was a loving pastor. So with those memories I want to sing of the goodness of God.
Ok brothers and sisters what are your memories, memories of the goodness of God.
Your comment is a wonderful lesson. It will start a new chapter in my life that I have needed to see. Thank you for sharing. I had to mature in another area before I was ready to do this, so it has come at the right time. Blessings to the Holy Spirit for His work in you.
This lesson is an example and a stepping stone;that we should not make the mistake like ancient Israel do.So we have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us,and
His teachings in our past history. Regardless of the failure of the past;the promises nevertheless will not be altered, but are to be fulfilled. Says, Inspiration,
I know this may sound like having no connection to our lesson for today but it is in those moments of waiting on God that we need to remember the good things he has done in the past.
The text say (Psalms 106:13) They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel”. Why is that so easy for us to do in our own lives, as well?
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. (Exodus 32:1). The people fail to let patience have it's perfect work.
The second part of (Psalms 106:13), says they waited not for his councel. Waiting calls for patience, sometimes we fail to let patience have it's perfect work and try to get out of the transformation chambers too soon.
Waiting is a time to do a few things: waiting is time to become. Waiting is time to evolve. Waiting is time to learn and waiting is time to grow. In other words Life is in waiting. We can't rush maturity.
There is only one way our faith can grow that is if we can sit down and take note of what God has been busy doing in our lifes in the past. The past informs the present - the present will informs even the future.
When we come to the conclusion by faith that it could never be by our own strength to be where we are today - then we recognize that it was God acting in the past.
Psalm 106:8 - “Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power known.” I want to be bold and say that God’s foremost focus is to keep His Creation from descending into the dark pit His adversary has dug which devours all who do not keep their eyes firmly focused on our Creator God and His Living Word - Jesus!
I consider that calling for remembering and repentance is to assure the living soul that, when doing so, it will be safely kept in the heavenly courts and not ensnared by the darkness of this world. It appears that no matter what the experience, what evidence has been presented, man is still prone to consider his belly to be more important than to give praises to God. Again and again we confess our sins. But it should not merely be for being cleansed, but rather for remembering that we know that we need to be cleansed, and that it is our GOD who cleanses us from sin.
Prayer and repentance ought to never become a 'routine' or 'ritual'. I believe that God wants us to acknowledge where we are on our journey through prayer. By remembering, we testify that it is God working on our behalf to rescue us! His Righteousness becomes the templet for His Grace with which He extends salvation to us. He draws us to Himself - it is always about Him and never only about us!
A sure way out of this continuous cycle of being drawn to sin and then asking for forgiveness is to learn to love our God with all our heart and soul and show this by how we treat our fellow man. Then, God will make His Home inside of us and dwell comfortably in His Temple.
It is easy for us to forget Who is in control of everything. Thus, we must recognize this Force giving us breath and try to align our desires to His. Perhaps then we'll be efficient and genuinely live a life of fullness.