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Psalm 106:1-48

“Praise ye the LORD, O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. [i.e. Baal worship] Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say. Amen. Praise ye the LORD.”

Introduction

“Psalm 106 is the last Psalm in the 4^th Book, the Book of Psalms divided into books. This is the final Psalm in the 4^th Book. It’s interesting, the 4^th Book of Psalms goes from Psalm 90 to Psalm 106, and Psalm 90 begins “LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations, before the mountains were brought forth, for ever thou hast formed the earth, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” and if you look at the end here, in the last verse in Psalm 106, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” So it’s almost as this 4^th Book of Psalms begins with the idea of “from everlasting to everlasting” and it ends with the idea of “from everlasting to everlasting.” A side note, you look at the first phrase in Psalm 106, it’s “Praise ye the LORD,” you look at the last phrase in Psalm 106, it’s “Praise ye the LORD.” In Hebrew, both places it’s “Hallelujah” it’s the first Psalm that we come to in the Book of Psalms that begins and ends with that phrase, hallelujah. And that’s interesting, because this is a Psalm that no doubt sits in, segued into Psalm 105. Psalm 105 speaks of how the LORD treated the nation of Israel, treats his people. Psalm 106 tells, in contrast to that, how God’s people treat him, all of their failings, their unbelief, their provoking him. Psalm 105 speaks of his grace and his love to his people, Psalm 106 speaks of their failing in relationship to him. And it’s very interesting, as God puts this Psalm in front of us, in context of Psalm 105, how he loves and cares for us. Then in Psalm 106, the Psalm where he’s telling us ‘These are all the failings of my people,’ yet he begins this Psalm with ‘Hallelujah’ and he ends the Psalm with ‘Hallelujah.’ He begins in the first 5 verses with a challenge about praising him and speaking his glorious name and so forth, and then there’s repentance in verse 6, in regards to their sin, and then verses 7 to 46 speak in particular of those failings. And then we come in verse 44 to this word nevertheless, which is wonderful, in light of all those things, God still in his faithfulness ministers to his people. And it ends again with ‘Praise the LORD,’ or ‘Hallelujah.’ So look, as we look at it, no doubt lessons for each of us, as we go through the failings. It tells us in Romans 15, ‘the things that were written beforetime were written for our learning,’ that through the comfort and challenge of the Scripture that we might have hope. So, specific things, written in here of God’s grace, God inspires this, it goes to the page, we’re not certain who the writer is. No doubt it’s probably during the end of the Babylonian Captivity, and God speaking to his people of all ages, you know, Psalm 105, ‘This is how I treated you, this is how I loved you, this is how I’ve drawn you to myself, this is how I’ve remembered you and cared for you and watched over you,’ and in Psalm 106 he says to his people, ‘But this is how you’ve turned away from me, this is what you’ve done with my marvellous works, this is what you’ve done with my Word and my promises, this is how you’ve failed, this is where you made mistakes, nevertheless, nevertheless, still beyond all that, I care for you, and I minister to you, and I bless you, and I keep you, hallelujah.’ Just an interesting, interesting track of thought.

The Psalmist’s Prayer For Himself, For Us---“Remember Me With The Favour That Thou Bearest Unto Thy People”

Let’s look at it here, it begins by saying “Praise ye the LORD, Hallelujah. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (verse 1) that’s going to be important, when you look at the failing of his people through here. “his mercy endureth for ever”, aren’t we glad? Great question, “Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?” (verse 2) what human is there that can articulate and bring forth with unction, with authority, the wonders of the LORD, his mighty works, and all of his praise, who can do that? “Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.” (verse 3) I’m gone already, I don’t know about you guys, that just canceled me out, “and doeth righteousness at all times.” And then the prayer, “Remember me, O LORD,” and he’s gonna say it within this context, “with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;” (verse 4) ‘LORD, remember me, there isn’t anyone who can articulate the wonder of your works, your love, your power,’ and he said, ‘I know there’s blessing on those that keep justice continually, that do righteousness every minute, every day, there’s blessing for them. But remember me, O LORD, with favour, with grace, that thou bearest unto thy people, O visit me with thy salvation,’ notice, “that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.” (verse 5) So, this Psalmist is praying, on your behalf, my behalf, in the singular here in verse 5, ‘that I may do this, that I may do this, I may see, I may rejoice, I may glory,’ there in verse 5, that’s what he’s asking for, ‘I want to see something, the good of your chosen, how you treat your chosen people, how do I see that? Secondly, I want to rejoice, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, a nation that belongs to you, and that I may glory with your inheritance, with your people, I ultimately want to glory with them.’

“We Have Sinned With Our Fathers…We Have Done Wickedly”

But look, in verse 6 here, but here’s the problem, “We” and he changes now to the plural, includes himself amongst God’s people, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” (verse 6) three “we have’s”, he takes his place amongst God’s imperfect people, he changes to the plural, ‘I want to” verse 5, “see this, I want to rejoice in this, I want to glory in this, but the problem, we have sinned,’ includes himself, ‘speaking of practice, we’ve missed the mark.’ “Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.” (verse 7) “We have sinned” speaks of practice, “we have committed iniquity,” speaks of our nature, the twistedness, all that’s wrong in us, “we have done wickedly,” so this is our behaviour, this is what we’ve done. And remarkably, he’s saying ‘I want to see, I want to rejoice, I want to glory,’ how does that happen? ‘because this is what we’ve done, this is who we are, these are the mistakes we’ve made, this is our fault, we’ve acted this way.’ And then he’s gonna rehearse all of their failings, and he comes to the end to say ‘nevertheless, LORD, you love us,’ that’s how he can see, that’s how he can rejoice, and that’s how he can glory. Look, you know yourself, in your own time alone with the Lord, and we go through these different struggles, each one of us, you know, God cares for us, he shepherds us individually, we fail, we make mistakes, we’re different, each one of us. I watch people, I’m 63 years old now, I think of the mistakes I made early in my Christian experience. My early backsliding, the year after I got saved, falling back into things I had done before I was saved, knowing those things were wrong, just the struggle of those things, and reading the Word, God forgave me, but not being able to forgive myself, because you know you sinned against the Light, you go through all of that. And somehow in the process, God’s grace and God’s love finally gets down into the marrow of your being, it gets into your bones, it gets down into the deepest part. And for us as individuals, we have our journey, we have the path that we go through. I don’t begrudge somebody, sometimes I shake my head, I think, ‘they’re taking the long way around the barn, the way they’re going.’ And I know that ultimately we’re gonna end up bound before him, overwhelmed by his love and his grace, the power of the cross and the power of the blood of Jesus, and we’re going to realize, ‘Now I know.’ He says ‘I want to see, I want to rejoice, I want to glory, but this is who we are, this is how we fail, this is what we’ve done.’

Their Failings In Egypt

So he begins now to enter into, his confession is in verse 6, what he’s confessing now, when he says “we,” here’s the whole track of God’s people, all the way over to verse 44. He says “Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.” (verse 7) Verses 7 to 12 he’s going to rehearse their failing in Egypt. “Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.” please note “the depths”, not the swamp, “he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.” (verses 7-12) Look what it says, “Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.” It takes a little bit to get through, he’s saying. Look, in the land of Egypt, they didn’t understand his wonders. He wasn’t just putting on a frog-show, he wasn’t just bringing the lice, it was just, in all of those things he was bringing forth something of his own heart and his own light to his people. In fact, if you read again Donald Gray Barnhouse’s book, there on spiritual warfare, he tells you how each one of them happened to be an Egyptian deity that God judged, called ‘The Invisible War,” and it all leads up to the Passover night. And he’s saying here, ‘They didn’t understand, I did all of these things to set them free, and then finally that night with the blood of the lamb, and everything that took place, there was the Passover, and they didn’t understand. And I took them out of Egypt with a strong hand, with the blood of the lamb, the death of their enemies, I brought them to the Red Sea, and at the Red Sea (not the Red Swamp).’ You know, the writer to the Hebrews says “the Red Sea,” he could have said the swamp, said anything there. As they get on the other side of the Red Sea, it says they sing this song of Moses (cf. Exodus 15), ‘then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, they spake saying ‘I will sing unto the LORD, he hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider hath he thrown into the sea,’ not the swamp, ‘the LORD is my strength and song, he has become my salvation, he is my God, I will prepare for him a habitation, my father’s God, I will exalt him, the LORD is a man of war, the LORD is his name, Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea, his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea, the depths’ the swamp doesn’t have depths, in case you’re wondering, ‘the depths have covered them, they sank into the bottom as a stone. The right hand of the LORD is become glorious in power, thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy, and in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee, thou sendest forth thy wrath which consumed them as stubble, and with the blast of thy nostrils, the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap.’ There’s other places it says ‘the Red Sea stood on either side of them in walls,’ that’s the same word used as the walls of Jericho, and the walls of Babylon, there’s no confusion. It says ‘the waters were gathered together, they stood up in a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea,’ the depths. It tells us in Isaiah, ‘As cattle go down into the valley, that when the LORD led them through the Red Sea, he led them down as cattle going down from the mountain into the valley, through the depths of the sea.’ ‘The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust shall be satisfied, upon them I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ Thou didst blow thy wind, the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee among the gods?’ and so forth. You know, the idea is, the eye-witnesses that were there, that wrote the song, didn’t seem to think ‘This is really cool, they got bogged down in the reeds and the swamp while we got away.’ There isn’t any of that. The people that were there are astounded and overwhelmed by the majesty and the power of what took place. And it’s probably the most repeated miracle through the Old Testament, when you go through the Prophets and Psalms and so forth, this issue at the Red Sea. He says here, you think, ‘Hey man, if I could have been there, that would straighten out the stuff I’m all jacked up on in my life. If I could have been there,’ because I know, I would have said, ‘Watch this, watch what Charlton Heston does now,’ if I’d have been there, these guys never saw the movie, they didn’t appreciate it. If I’d have been there, that would really have freaked me out, it would really have straightened out my life.’ Well they were there. And they wrote that song. [Comment: Miracles can prove God’s existence, but they will never produce faith.] But it says “Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies,’ not just his miraculous power, but the multitude of his mercies, “but provoked him at the sea, even the Red sea.” (verse 7) because they get to the Red Sea, they blow through everything in Egypt that’s delivered them, and they get to the Red Sea, and the Egyptians are barking up their heels, Edward G. Robinson says ‘what are you doing, Moses, bringing us out into the wilderness to die,’ and they provoke the LORD there at Baal-zephon on the sea, it says they provoked him. Look, unbelief is the first thing. None of that bothers us, I understand. But for other churches God inserted that there, [tongue in cheek], that he does remarkable things, he does all kinds of things, and then when the pressure comes on, we gripe, complain, we don’t remember the multitude of his mercies. He sent his Son to die on the cross for us. He washed all of our sins away. His Son was raised in power, he filled us with his Spirit, his Son ascended, he’s returning. You know, he’s built a place for us [the New Jerusalem, cf. Revelation 21:1-23), his Father’s house, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, he’s going to come with a shout, the voice of the archangel, the Trump[et] of God, we’re going to be changed in an instant, we’re going to be caught up to meet him in the air (cf 1^st Corinthians 15:49-56). And we get a flat tire and say ‘You don’t love me, I can’t believe this is happening to me, I got a busy day today,’ you know, the first little test that comes along, unbelief is such a plague to us. And in the first trial it says, ‘They provoked him, they cried, they whined,’ you know, here’s the remarkable scene with the depths of the Red Sea, and it says, finally, when they got on the other side, that’s when they sang this song, isn’t it interesting, “Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.” (verse 12) You’d think that fix them for awhile. Right? Look at the next verse, “They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel.” (verse 13) they soon forgot. In the movie it’s about 15 minutes.

Their Failings In The Wilderness

“They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel” (verse 13) we’re moving now from Egypt into the wilderness, the wilderness journey, all the way down to verse 33. It says “they waited not for his counsel: but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” (verses 13b-15) Now they’re coming into the wilderness. We have three pictures here, by the way, if you want to think about this on your own. The picture of God’s people in Egypt, under pharaoh, is a picture of God’s people before they’re saved, unsaved, under Satan. The picture of God’s people in the wilderness is a picture of the carnal Christian in his journey. You know, it’s 11 days, the journey from Egypt to Canaan, it took them 40 years. That’s a dead giveaway. It’s a picture of the carnal Christian. Entering into Canaan is not a picture of heaven [i.e. the kingdom of heaven, which will end up on earth, cf. Revelation 21], because there’s battles and wars. When I get to heaven I don’t want any battles, I don’t want any wars. It’s a picture of entering into God’s inheritance, the spiritual man, and the way we have to stand. So there are certainly lessons for us, as we go through this. Isn’t it interesting, how often God does something remarkable for us, and then we look around, and we go ‘Aaah, the light goes on, that is you Lord, isn’t it. Now I understand.’ And we seem so blessed, but then it says “They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:” they didn’t care what the Word said, “but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.” (verses 13-14) discontentment, desire, “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” (verse 15) now look, this is the story, this is not necessarily chronological, but these are the different things that are laid out as they come into the wilderness. At one point in the wilderness, it tells us that they started to say ‘We miss Egypt, Egypt was great.’ You know, when the journey gets tough, the tough are supposed to get going, but what happens is when the journey gets tough, we start whining. Where it says ‘The tough get going,’ we cross all that out. They’re there in the wilderness, ‘What are we going to do, are we going to die here, we miss Egypt, it was great in Egypt,’ think of that. Think of the stupid things we say, ‘It was better before I was saved,’ it was not! [laughter] We were taking drugs, we were lost, we were all messed up, we were immoral, we were empty, we thought about suicide at times, we were so messed up, we hurt everybody around us, we worked everybody around us, we were completely selfish, we were not better off before we were saved. That’s so stupid. But somehow we get selective memory, when things get tough, and we only remember, and then we say ‘I wish we were back in Egypt,’ where they were slaughtering all the firstborn, thrown in the river, where they were whipping everybody, making them make bricks without straw, where it was torturous, God gives them the Passover, besides the Passover lamb, there’s the bitter herbs [oh! light dawns over Marblehead, the bitterness comes first, the lousy circumstances, and then the deliverance] there’s the salty water, they’re supposed to remember their tears and the bitterness of the experience. But you get in the wilderness and things get tough, you’re struggling, and then it’s ‘It was better in Egypt, you know why? garlic, leeks, onions, our breath was wonderful, fleshpots,’ just, it’s so ridiculous. And then they start to say to God, ‘We’re tired of this manna,’ this manna falls out of heaven every day. We’re told in the Scripture, there was an oily taste to it, but it tasted like honey. I’m happy when I’m thinking this. This is like angel-food, falling out of heaven, I like honey, this is sounding good to me. And they’re in the wilderness saying ‘We’re tired of this manna, manna in the morning, manna in the evening, manna at suppertime, mannacote, manna-splits, we’ve tried this every way we can make it, we’re sick of this manna.’ And they griped to God, gripe to God, ‘We want meat, we want pastrami sandwiches, we want corned beef again, we remember the deli’s in Egypt,’ and they go through this whole thing. And God finally says ‘Alright, you can have what you want,’ and it says he sends flesh, and the quails start to come in, migratory pattern, whatever, God drives them in, and it says they’re knocking them down out of the sky, and they’re drying them, dried quail, jerky, jerky, jerky, they’re making all of this stuff. And God says ‘You’re gonna eat it until it comes out of your nostrils, you’re gonna eat it until you’re sick of it.’ And it said many of them died there, and they buried them in the graves of Kibroth-hataavah, the graves of lust. We’ve buried some along the way there. They start to lust after things that God hadn’t provided for them. It says here, look at what it says in verse 13, “They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel.” Now listen, please, when we see this in Deuteronomy, we see here “ they forgot the works of the LORD” it doesn’t mean they got amnesia, ‘Boy, I forget, it’s May, in April, was it April Fools Day, something with the Red Sea, I can’t remember, the waves, the Egyptian army,’ that’s ridiculous, they didn’t forget in that sense. The word “forget” in the Hebrew means, “to set to the side.” In other words, it’s no longer the central thing, it becomes a secondary thing. “They soon forgat his works;” what he had done for them, their desire, their lust becomes stronger, they push that to the side. And look what it says, here’s the problem, you know, if we get involved with the lusts of our flesh, it says “they waited not for his counsel;” they didn’t want to hear what he had to say, “but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.” (verses 13-14) They were discontent with what God provided, they didn’t want to listen to his Word, to his counsel, and then he finally gave them, in verse 15, “And gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” And that’s the thing you have to watch out for. There are times when God finally says ‘OK.’ When you raise kids, ‘Don’t touch that, don’t touch that, don’t touch that,’ ‘I got burned!’ ‘OK, now you know, you’re smarter now.’ It says, finally, sometimes God says ‘Have it! this is what you want? Have it.’ And you can fill your fleshly desire with it, but you end up with leanness in your soul. So you can get your quail, you can get Ferrari quail, drive your Ferrari, drive your quail, but have leanness in your soul. You can have money falling out of your pockets, you can have your money-quail, ‘this is what I wanted,’ leanness in your soul. You can fulfill yourself with all the world, which says ‘if you had this, you’d be happy, and have leanness in your soul. God will not let you be satisfied with things that are against his counsel, because he loves you. And if he let you be satisfied with fleshly lusts, you and I would be gone. You’re his sons and his daughters, blood-bought, and he wants you to be miserable when you reject his counsel and indulge your flesh. And if you’re living in sin, I pray you don’t sleep, because I love you. I hope you get ulcers, because I care about you. I hope you’re miserable and you get the botch, whatever that is, until you turn back, insomnia. God loves us, and he will never bless us when we are rejecting his counsel, turning away.

Their Failings Under Korah, Dathan and Abiram

In verse 16, look what it says here, the next thing, “They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.” Aaron, note, the saint of the LORD, “And the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.” (verse 17) we finally got rid of Edward G. Robinson there, we don’t ever get rid of W.C. Fields, but…”the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And the fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.” (verses 17-18) that seems so simple. The deal was, they’re there in their journey, they’re having manna, they’re having the blessings of God, these things are going on, and all of a sudden Korah, and Dathan and Abiram, Numbers 16, decide ‘Moses, who do you think you are? You’re the hot-shot, you know, you’re the God-squad, you know, you think you’re the hot leader. Who do you think you are? You’re better than us? We can’t be priests? And besides that, you’re hiring your family, you got your father-in-law Jethro for the travel company you’re using now, and you got your brother Aaron, you’re making him your priest, and his kids, all your nephews are the priests, and you got your sister out there dancing around, leading songs. What is this, some kind of a family deal, Moses? Think you’re some hot-shot? We can all be priests too, we can do whatever we want to do too.’ And it says it’s envy, it’s envy. It gets into our being, and it’s willing to destroy others, so that we can have recognition or we can have something. And Moses says, ‘Well, you know, look, I didn’t want to do this, I tried to tell him at the burning bush, I couldn’t talk, don’t send me, you don’t understand, I did everything I could to get out of this. I never wanted to be in the movies, I never wanted to do any of these things, and now here I am. So, why don’t we let God decide who he likes. Let’s try this, tomorrow, you get all of your censors, you want to be priests, and you come here, and Aaron and I will come, and we’ll gather together, and we’ll say ‘God, pick the guys you like,’ and he said, How about this, God opens up the earth, and swallows up the bad guys tomorrow. How’s that sound?’ He never read the chapter, never tried, I can’t believe he said that. [he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to say that.] And of course, they come the next day, and it tells us here, as they’re there, the earth splits open, begins to shake, and Korah, Dathan and Abiram fall down, it says, into the pit, and it says they can hear them screaming, going ‘Aaaaaah!!! disappearing as they go down, and it says a fire was kindled in their company and flames burned up the wicked, it was just envy. Here they have a deliverer, somebody who brought them out of Egypt, here they have somebody lifting up his staff, the Red Sea parted, here they have somebody whose done nothing but care for them, leading them through the wilderness. Now they’re griping about that.

Their Failings With The Golden Calf

It says, look in verse 19, the next thing he brings up, “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.” this is after they had received the Law, which says ‘they should have no other gods before me, they shalt not make any graven images,’ that didn’t go very far. You’d think if you saw the mountain shake and you saw the pavement of sapphire, the feet of God, and you think of when God spoke out, there were two to three million Israelites. You have to understand, when the Commandments were given, it wasn’t Moses up there, like in the movie…and this little bolt of lightning comes down and carves out the 1^st Commandment, no, the way the Commandments were given, God put them on the tablets, but is says God spoke them out loud---what kind of PA system do you have to have, if there’s 3 million people, the city of Philadelphia is a million and a half, so double the city of Philadelphia, and have a Bose system that everybody can hear. Just imagine, God speaks, the Ten Commandments audibly, and when Moses comes down [the first time], they say, ‘Whatever he says we’ll do, but from now on, please, you go talk to him, let him tell you something, then you come and you tell us what he said, ‘cause if we get 11 Commandments, we’re all gonna have a cardiac arrest.’ So this is after that happens, the next thing you know they’re making a golden calf, after they heard ‘I AM THE LORD THY GOD, wake up, saw you sleeping there.’ [laughter] Just imagine 3 million people hearing that---‘THOU SHALT NOT MAKE ANY GRAVEN IMAGES,’ and then here they go. How much longer is this? It says, look what it says, “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.” look what it says in verse 20, it’s amazing, “Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.” (verses 19-20) look what he says, “that eateth grass” just so there’s no confusion here, ‘ya, I’m talking about one of those guys out there, one of them bad boys eatin’ the grass out there.’ “they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox” and he adds, ‘you know, one of the one’s that eats grass.’ That’s remarkable. “They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.” (verses 21-22) Ham was one of Noah’s sons, Mizraim his son was the father of the Egyptians, “Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.” (verse 23) Look, “had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,” very interesting, one man, standing there saying ‘LORD, if you’re going to kill them, kill me, LORD, if you let them perish now in the wilderness, your Rep is at stake, because people are going to say, ‘Ya, you could get them out of Egypt, but you couldn’t get them to where you wanted them to go, you couldn’t handle them once you got them out.’ LORD, your glory [k’vod] is at stake.’ He says, ‘If you’re going to strike them down now, strike me down.’ It says he would have destroyed them, “had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.” So, this remarkable scene, Moses, Joshua. ‘Hey Moses, it sounds like a war going on down there,’ ‘Eh, it ain’t a war, they’re partying, take my word for it.’ and they get down there and they’re worshipping this golden calf, dancing around. And this is the grand pooba of all lame excuses, Moses said to Aaron ‘What you do?’ Aaron said, ‘Look, Moe, there’s nobody more surprised than me, we were talking about different things, we throw the gold in the fire, and this calf came out, do you believe it, nobody could be more shocked than me.’ Moses said, ‘Stop right now, I just talked God outa killing everybody, but he’s going to kill you if you don’t stop, right now.’ This is the high priest, it’s his family that’s taking over the priestly line. What a measure of grace has to be extended to let Aaron and his lineage be this people that God has set apart to do this particular thing, after that story. They made this so, idolatry, you know, and how often we can lend ourselves to that, we make something higher in our life than the Lord, whatever that might be. I know it.

Their Failings In Not Going Into The Promised Land

“Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.” (verses 24-25) we’re now in Kedesh-Barnea, “but murmured in their tents” like God wouldn’t know. They watched porn in their tents, where God couldn’t see, you know, they were guzzling the booze in their tents, where God wouldn’t know, “but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.” (verses 25-27) they came to Kedesh-Barnea, God sends the twelve spies into the land, one of them is Hoshea, the son of Nun, and the other one is Caleb, whose a Kenesite, which is not an Israelite, by the way, it’s interesting, representing the Gentiles no doubt. And of the 12 spies, only Joshua and Caleb come back and say ‘Hey, lets go in there, we can wipe ‘em out.’ The rest of them are saying ‘Hey, the sons of Anak are in there, we look like grasshoppers in their sight, the giants are there, the mighty men of old,’ you know, they find some of the remains in some of these digs, you’re talking about guys, Aga-Bashan, they found his sarcophagus 13-feet long, or his bed, whatever it is. So you’re talking about something here. And Joshua and Caleb said ‘Let us go, what do you mean? We’ll go in there, they’re bread before us, we’ll eat them alive.’ And his name gets changed from Hoshea to “Ja, Jehovah, the LORD has become our salvation” or Jesus, same name as Joshua [Yahweh-shua, the LORD saves, contracted to Yeshua, Anglicized to Joshua]. And again, here’s rebellion, “they despised the pleasant land,” what God was giving to them. Again, look please in verse 24, “they believed not his word” how many times is that our problem, ‘If I listen to what he says, I’ll never get married. The only thing in the church is weird guys, the only normal guys are outside the church in the bar, and snortin’ coke. In the church it’s all weird guys.’ Or ‘There’s all weird girls,’ I mean, we do, I don’t know how many, 30 weddings at least a year, somebody’s meeting somebody somewhere. Wake up, you need to pray instead of hunting, you need to pray. Because they’re out there, and you single guys, pray that God will do for you what he did to Adam, he caused a deep sleep to fall on him until he brought his bride. That way everybody’s safer. [laughter] So, look, “they despised the pleasant land,” what God was giving to them, “they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents,” ‘Ya, ya, Christian, you Bible-thumpers, ya, ya, that’s what the Bible says, I know, it never works for me, if I listen to it, it’s not gonna happen.’ They murmured, it’s rebellion, and God heard them in their tents. He knew they didn’t want to hear his Word, he had promised them the land, he had promised to bless them, they don’t want to go in, they don’t want to put up with it.

Their Failings Just Before They Entered The Promised Land, At Baal-peor

Look at verse 28, “They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.” that sounds encouraging, doesn’t it? “Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.” (verse 29) this is not the Patent Office now, this is lust and sexual sin. “Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.” (verse 30) one man again, standing up here, “And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.” (verse 31) So, this scene, they come, they’re in Moab, this is why this is important, this is at least 38 years into their wonderings, they’re closing in on the last days before they’re going to cross Jordan and come into the land, where we’re going to get into Deuteronomy, they come into the area of Moab [modern day Jordan]. As they come into the area of Moab, the king’s name is Balak. Balak is scared to death of them, because he knows what happened at the Red Sea [and also to king Og and Sihon], he knows the reputation of God’s people. He knows that there’s a pillar of cloud by day, keeping them in shade in the desert, and a pillar of fire at night, like headlights, lighting up the way before them, he knows all of this stuff. He knows that they’ve just slaughtered the Amorites, they killed Og of Bashan, who was 13-foot tall, and the tribes of giants there, they’ve had incredible victories, they’ve slaughtered everybody, and now Balak is scared to death because here they come into Moab. So what he does is he sends to Mesopotamia and he gets Balaam, this soothsayer, and you know the story, Balaam’s gonna come, and the LORD tells him, ‘Don’t you go.’ And Balak sends back and kind of jacks up the fee a little bit, and then Balaam worms his way around it, you know the deal, he’s coming on the donkey, the jack-ass, the burrow, sees the angel, Balaam’s beating the donkey, the donkey won’t go forward because the donkey sees, he sees an angel with a drawn sword, Balaam is beating the snot out of the donkey, the donkey gets on his knees and he finally, it says the LORD opens the donkey’s mouth, and the donkey turns around and looks at Balaam and says ‘Why are you beatin’ me? Have I not always been a good donkey? What is your problem, man?’ Now you would have a heart-attack and fall off the donkey. Balaam says, he says, ‘Ya, you do this one more time, I’m gonna kill you.’ He argues with him. He draws his sword, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ and Don McClure, he’s a Scotsman, he always says “Who would kill a talking donkey, you have any idea how much money that animal’s worth?” So he finally comes into the land of Moab, and Balak pays him to curse the children of Israel, and every times he goes to curse them, the Holy Spirit comes on him, and he blesses them, ‘How lovely are thy tents, O Jacob, there is no iniquity found in thee.’ Listen guys, very important lesson there as far I’m concerned. Because amongst God’s people we can gripe and complain sometimes, we cannot watch our mouths sometimes, we can get frustrated with God’s people, burn out, hurt, we murmur in our tents where we think nobody hears it. But here’s an adversary, Balaam wants to curse the children of Israel, I mean, the Lord had to reprove me and tell me this, and when the Holy Spirit came on him, he saw the beauty of God’s people. And I was griping and complaining one day about something, not you guys, another church far away somewhere, but I was griping and complaining, and the Lord said to me, ‘You know, you better get filled with the Holy Ghost, because when Balaam, who hated my people as an adversary was filled with the Holy Ghost, he could see the beauty of my people, and if you big-shot were filled with the Holy Ghost instead of griping and whining, you could see the beauty of my people too.’ And he couldn’t curse them, God wouldn’t let him. And Balak said ‘That’s it, I paid you good money, three times you open your mouth, you’re blessing them, you’re outa here.’ Balaam said, ‘I’ll go, but let me tell you one little thing here, you can’t remove God’s blessing from his people, but what you can do is get them to come out from under God’s blessing. God won’t remove his hand of blessing from them, but you can get them to blow it. Now this is what I want you to do, I want you to get some of your pretty Moabite girls, get ‘em all dressed up, kind of seductive, and I want you to send them down into the camp with the Israelite men, and say ‘Hey boys, come with us, we’ll show you how to worship our idols, and you’ll really have a good time.’’ And it says they’d take the Israelite men into sexual sin. And God allows a plague to come into the camp, and 24,000 of them die. What no army could have destroyed, compromise took out. No army could have had victory over these people, the pillar of cloud was in front of them by day, the fire by night, they were slaughtering giants, they had defeated Egypt, no army could have destroyed this people at all. But because they willingly came out from under the place of God’s covering in compromise, 24,000 of them ended up dead. And if that wasn’t bad enough, this one guy in the camp, Zimri, goes and gets a Moabite woman named Cozbi, and he brings her into the tent and he starts to have sex with her, right in the middle of defying Moses, and Phinehas opens his can of spinach and says ‘That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!’I think it said that, and he gets his javelin, and they’re in sexual intimacy on the ground in the tent, and he takes his javelin and he pins, puts it through both of them and pins ‘em to the ground and kills them both, and the plague was stopped. And it says ‘God then blessed the line of Phinehas,’ one man, willing to put a javelin on that and saying ‘This ain’t happening here, this is wrong, this shouldn’t go down, no compromise.’ One man, interesting pictures.

Their Failings In The Promised Land, With Baal Worship

The Most Dangerous Place For An American Is In His Mother’s Womb

It says in verse 34, now from verse 34 down to verse 45, we have a picture of them coming into the land, they crossed over Jordan, they’re in the land, God gave them certain challenges about the land, and now it’s even telling us, these were the, you know, they’re in the land now, the generation that didn’t believe has passed on, and now he says “They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.” (verses 34-45) “and learned their works,” a lack of separation. And look, compromise is contagious, it says “they served their idols, which were a snare unto them, yea they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood” and I don’t know what God thinks when he looks at our nation, when we hear these things. [Comment: A “high place,” temple of Baal, was discovered in New Salem, New Hampshire. Log onto this link and scroll to the section of photo’s and text describing this archeological discovery, http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html] God told them to wipe out the Canaanites. You know, he had said to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, ‘I’m gonna take you into Egypt [your descendents, children] for 400 years, you and your descendants, and in the 4^th generation, 400 years from now, I’m going to bring you out, and I’m going to use you to judge the Canaanites, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet come to a full.’ God is saying, ‘Look, I don’t measure time with a clock and a calendar like you, I measure time morally. And the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to its full, it hasn’t blossomed, it hasn’t come to the point where there’s no more redemption.’ So in 400 years that will happen, God measuring the history of a nation morally. He says it’s like wherever the body, the corpse is rotting, that’s where the eagles [vultures, my turkey vultures] are gathered together, when you see the birds of prey gather, you know something’s rotten there, there’s carrion their. And God says he judges time that way, ‘when something morally has failed to the point where there’s no more redemption, then I’ll bring judgment.’ And even in that there’s mercy, because a prostitute on the wall [of Jericho] named Rahab is spared, not only spared, marries into the family of David, not only marries into the family of David, into the lineage of the Messiah in Matthew chapter 1, Rahab’s name is in there. Because she said ‘I heard of you people, I heard of your God, I heard what he did to the Egyptians, I heard what he did to the Amorite kings, surely the fear of you is on the land, I’m here to help you, your God is a real God,’ God spares her [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/rahab/Rahab.htm] So even then. But look, again, you go down to the University of Pennsylvania to their museum, to their library down there, bookstore, and you can get books on the Canaanites, the way they sacrificed their children, the sexual things they did, the insanity. And it had come to a point where God said, ‘there’s no more redemption, when you come into the land you need to destroy this, you need to wipe it out, you need to shut it down.’ If you have a dog in your yard that had rabies, you know, it’s time to put that animal down. If he bites one of the kids, it’s gonna kill them. And it was that in God’s judgment. And he sent them into the land to do that, the Nephilim where in there, these deformities of fallen angels and women, the giants are there, there’s things that should never have taken place. But instead of cleaning it out and doing what God said, it says ‘they were mingled among the heathen.’ And then they learned their ways, because they didn’t take a stand, they didn’t maintain separation. And because of that it ended up costing them their sons and their daughters. I mean, how many million abortions since Roe v. Wade? We’re over 50 million now [closer to 65,000,000]. You know that if you’re 18 years old and you’re sitting in this room, half your generation did not make it out of the womb. One out of every two of you died in your mother’s womb, if you’re 18 years old or younger here. The most dangerous place for an American, think of how crazy this is, the most dangerous place for an American is in his mother’s womb. You take, and let me say this, if you’ve had an abortion I’m not condemning you, you know the blood of Christ washes everything away, all things are become new, we’re righteous before him. Paul wants to present the Corinthian church as a chaste virgin before Christ [and if you knew anything about that church, well read 1^st Corinthians, Corinth was a sailor-town], so there’s no condemnation in this, forgiveness. But understand, nationally what God thinks when he looks at this. The Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. with 52,000 names on it, 500 feet long, is black marble, these names etched in it, if you would take a wall the same size and etch the names of over 50,000,000 children the same size, that wall would be 80-miles-long. Imagine that memorial. And it’s because, it says here, it’s because God’s people don’t remain separate. It says ‘If my people, who are called by my name, turn from their wicked ways, and seek my face, then I’ll hear from heaven and heal their land.’ We’re supposed to be light and salt here, we’re not supposed to be mingling in and becoming so slick and cool, so we can reach the next generation through slickness and coolness and edginess, no we should be the people of God. We should have hold of something that amazes them, something that they have nothing of in this world. We should have, because of hope that we have, we should give an answer to every man who asks us. And it says here, because they mingled in, they didn’t maintain separation, it even got to the point where it cost them their sons and their daughters. Verse 39, “Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.” Look what it says, “with their own works,” it wasn’t anybody else’s fault. “they were defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.” their own behaviour, “Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. He gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.” (verses 40-41) probably looking now, more, they’re already in the Land, the Babylonian Captivity [and the Assyrian Captivity 100 years before that], “Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.” (verses 42-43) again, refusing to listen to his Word. The word “brought low” is the Hebrew word that means “that they were impoverished, or weakened” it speaks of them as human beings, because they wouldn’t listen to the Word of God, because they wouldn’t yield to his way, they’re impoverished as a human being. You know the way a compromised Christian is, they’re miserable. Christians in compromise are the most miserable people in the world. You know, Chuck Smith used to tell us, when he grew up, there was this apple tree, and he said that apple tree was down the road from his house had the best apples in the area. And he said the apple tree would hang over the fence onto the street side, and all the kids would be watching that apple tree. Because once it got to a certain peak, the farmer would be picking the apples, and he said we were watching it every day, because to get the outside apples before the farmer got there. And he said, and they were high, so we would take bamboo poles and we would hit the tree, and he said the farmer would be hitting the tree from the other side, most of them would be falling into his yard, but he said, when I became a Christian I realized that compromised Christians are like that apple tree, they’re getting beat from both sides. They’re too much in Christ to be happy in the world, and they’re too much in the world to be happy in Christ, so they get beat from both sides. Somebody whose just a pagan is happier than a compromised Christian, a compromised Christian is miserable, and I’m glad. He should be.

“Nevertheless He Regarded Their Affliction, He heard Their Cry, He Remembered For Them His Covenant”

He says “Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.” (verse 43) they were impoverished, they were beat from both sides, they were weakened, because of their iniquity, here we go, thank you LORD, “Nevertheless” that’s a great word, “Never-the-less, nevertheless” he didn’t take away, look what it says, in my Bible in verses 44, 45, and 46, I have the word “he” circled. “Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.” (verses 44-45) they were rebellious, they did all this stuff, look before, verse 43, ‘they provoked him by their own counsel,’ “Nevertheless” even though they provoked him, “he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant,” that he had made with Abraham and with Moses, “and he repented” changed his treatment towards them, “according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.” (verses 44-46) Cyrus the Persian would finally be moved by the LORD and grant mercy unto them in captivity and allow them to return to their own Homeland. Look at this wonderful picture, you and I, the things that we went through here, may not listen to his Word, we may provoke the Lord, unbelief, lust, envy, you look through all these things, and it says, and in those things, those are things that would provoke any parent, because they impoverish your child, they bring him to a place that you never wanted to see him in, ‘nevertheless, as a loving Father, he regarded their affliction. He had regard, he felt bad.’ Any parent in this room that has a prodigal, will follow them out onto the streets if they’re scoring heroine, will follow them and try to get them back home, will challenge them, I’ve seen it over and over, guys here in church. He says “Nevertheless he regarded their affliction,” they were afflicted, “he heard their cry, he remembered for them his covenant,” and in Jesus Christ he does, “he repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.” (verses 44-46) those who had authority over them, he made those people that had their hands on them feel sorry for them. [A modern example of that is seen in Oscar Schindler toward those who became known as “Schindler Jews.”]

In Closing

Look at the prayer now, “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say. Amen. Praise ye the LORD.” (verses 47-48) and the last word their [in Hebrew] is, Hallelujah! weren’t you listening in the beginning? What are you doing here? The last word [in Hebrew] is hallelujah, Amen, Hallelujah, great way to end, the Lord is the one, for his own name’s sake, that takes heart, thought of us in our affliction, he sees us, he hears our cry, he delivers us, he remembers his covenant, he restores. You know, the Psalmist at the beginning said ‘Nobody can speak of all your wondrous works, who can say all those things [just read Rachel Carson’s books about all the oceanic wondrous works, intricacies of lifeforms, it blows the mind]. And yet, Lord, I understand if somebody does what’s right all the time, every minute, every day, that’s cool, I can’t do that. I want you to remember me in your mercy, I want you to think of me the way you did your covenant people, your land, your inheritance, your covenant people.’ he says, ‘I want you to relate to me that way, because, he says, I want to know, I want to see what you can do, I want to rejoice, I want to glory in you. But we sin, we messed up, how can we learn of these things, LORD? Because this is who you are, but this is what your people do, this is how they treat you. This is what you do for them, this is how they treat you, this is what you do for them, this is how they treat you, this is what you do for them, this is how they treat you…over and over and over, but he says, I want to see, I want to learn of you,’ and he finally goes, ‘Ahhh, nevertheless, nevertheless, you love them, you hear them in their brokenness, you hear the cry of their heart, not only do you hear their murmuring, you hear them in their affliction, you hear them when the words can’t get out their throat because there’s a lump, when the brokenness is deep in their being LORD, you hear. When it’s genuine, you know it right away, and you stoop down, and you care for them, and you handle them in your covenant.’ I think we should praise the Lord because of that. ‘Let all of his people say, Amen, Hallelujah!’ [whole audience said it out loud] Amen, everybody gets 100. Let’s have the musicians come, we’ll sing the last song, let’s stand, let’s pray together…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Psalm 106:1-48, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]