Rebellion of Disbelief, Discontent, and Disobedience

Psalms 106:24-48

24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe His word,
25 But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the LORD.

26 Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
To overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 To overthrow their descendants among the nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.

28 They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.

30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
31 And that was accounted to him for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.

32 They angered Him also at the waters of strife,
So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
33 Because they rebelled against His Spirit,
So that he spoke rashly with his lips.

34 They did not destroy the peoples,
Concerning whom the LORD had commanded them,
35 But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
36 They served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.

37 They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.

39 Thus they were defiled by their own works,
And played the harlot by their own deeds.
40 Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people,
So that He abhorred His own inheritance.
41 And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles,
And those who hated them ruled over them.

42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Many times He delivered them;
But they rebelled in their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.

44 Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,
When He heard their cry;
45 And for their sake He remembered His covenant,
And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.
46 He also made them to be pitied
By all those who carried them away captive.

47 Save us, O LORD our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.

48 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, "Amen!"

Praise the LORD!

This song of praise is also a recollection of woe to God’s people for their rebellion of disbelief, discontent, and resulting disobedience to His word and will.  The downward spiral began with despising the good and pleasant land given them, leading to doubt and then lose all faith in God’s word, the sin of disbelief begun in the Garden and the reason for judgment on all descendants as an inheritance from Adam.  Their complaints grew into complete discontentment at God’s good provision, which then resulted in disobedience to all He commanded them to please and glorify His name.  What God had called good in Eden was now thought of as not enough; they wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil, but they were corrupted by their inherited sin nature as a guide.  The LORD scattered them to teach obedience and honor to Him, yet they gave God up to worship false gods who could never help them (Romans 1:22-24).  They even sacrificed to the dead and angered Him in their rebellion more, resulting in harsh consequences of His wrath on their lack of faith and obedience.  They had dirtied themselves by their own evil works and sold themselves as harlots for their own fleeting pleasure and material gain.  God abhorred them for these things, handing them over to the godless nations (1 Timothy 1:20) for discipline to learn obedience.  Their new rulers lorded that over them, even as they thought to please them in their sinful living, which was also a form of punishment to point them back to Him.  The people rebelled many times, suffered, and were delivered by God’s compassionate mercy and grace.  He heard their cries of distress and showed mercy because He had made a covenant agreement to keep and multiply them in prosperity of numbers.  They were even given pity by their captors by that merciful grace.  The cry of the psalmist at the end of this song and of book four of the entirety of the Psalms was for salvation, deliverance, by the LORD their God by pulling them out of captivity and into Himself that they could triumph in thanksgiving and praise of His holy name (1 Corinthians 15:57, 2 Corinthians 2:14).  Blessed is the LORD who is and was and is to come, the Eternal one (Psalm 90:2, Micah 5:2, John 1:1) of Israel and all God’s complete people in the Anointed One!  We all then together say, “Amen.”  Praise the Lord God!