Year 5, Day 237: Psalm 106

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

As we read through this psalm, we get another historical psalm that tells us about God and what He has done for the Hebrew people.  We hear about God’s character.  We hear about His grace.  We hear about His love.  He hear about His righteousness.

But there is something that leaps out far more often than anything else.  We hear about God’s reaction to our brokenness.  God forgives.  Time and time again the Hebrew people rebelled.  Time and time again we hear that the Hebrew people deserved to be destroyed.  Time and time again we hear that God was angry with them and in many instances actually did get around to meting out consequences.  But time and time we hear that God forgave.  God embraced His people once more.  God welcomed His repentant people back into His graces.

However, to leave it right there misses one substantial subtheme in this psalm.  Occasionally, we hear about intercessors.  Moses interceded.  Phineas interceded. Sometimes when God forgives, He does it through a person that He calls to stand in the gap.  I love Psalm 106:23 for that very reason.  It tells us that Moses stood up and stood in the breech that was before Him.  That is when God’s forgiveness meets human calling.

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