Monday, August 18, 2014

Monday, August 18, 2014

Psalm 106:1-18

Well, if you’re going to sing the praises of God, it’s always good to include a story of what he has done for good people and remind your audience what he has done to bad people. In this psalm we hear how the Red Sea was parted for the faithful Children of Israel but the Earth was opened up to consume the followers of Dathan and Abiram who went down into a chasm of flames before everyone’s eyes.

v3 Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.

Both groups came from the Children of Israel. Both had been liberated from slavery in Egypt. Both had seen the power of God in action. But one group hungered for the good food they had back in Egypt. Under Dathan’s scheming, (portrayed so wonderfully by Edward G. Robinson in the movie The Ten Commandments) they rose up complaining. They lost their faith in Moses; and they lost their faith in God. All they saw ahead of them was hunger and the desert. They chose NOT to step out in faith – a path so many take to this day. Well God does not usually open the Earth up and swallow the faithless in chasms of flames. These days, God provides a Saviour to spare us from the flames of our own lack of faith … should we care to listen to him. 

In Psalm 106: 1-18 the singer will not let the audience rest on their so-called goodness. Yes, we hear great praise for God, but most of the verses describe how the People have sinned against him.

v6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

The singer reminds the audience that the ancestors sinned even as God was drying up the Red Sea for them to walk across to safety from the army of the Pharoah. They were saved, not for their sake, but for his name’s sake to make his mighty power known. He goes on to outline the cause of their sin.

V13 they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test.

In a rare description of God’s mercy, he gives the people what they want, but sends a wasting disease to balance against their selfishness and greed. The last verses in the passage tell of the consumption of Dathan and the wicked in flames. But the entire psalm continues for a full 48 verse litany of the people turning to the false gods in whatever land they came to, sacrificing their children on altars, making gold calf images, worshipping Baal, and on and on, concluding with a plea to God to spare the faithful.

I’m in great sympathy with our leaders, both secular and spiritual. On the one hand, scripture tells them to pray and wait upon the Lord in humility and faith. On the other hand, their leadership training, intense public visibility and the pressure of the media and their followers urges them to make their own plan and follow it, labeling it “God’s Will” for good measure. If they do not act, they are seen as weak and ineffectual. If they do act, they are likely following a man-made path that may not be close to what the Lord wants or needs in the situation. Which of them is like Moses and which of them is like Dathan?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that our leaders today deserve to be swallowed up in a chasm of fire. That would be irresponsible and unfair. But, like our Master I do say this: 

Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s. (Matt:22:21)

Realpolitik in our time is no more complex than it was in Moses time. Dathan lured the people with promises of what they wanted to hear, promises of immediate gratification. He exploited their fears to choose that which took them back to the slavery they had just left. Moses, Miriam and Aaron promised a hard path with the love and support of an invisible God to see the people through to a life as a free people in their own land. That took faith, trust and time. 

It is so clear in this Psalm that the singer acknowledges the reality of sin. We are weak. We can’t stop doing it. But he also realizes that God shows amazing mercy even to people in the middle of their sinning IF they will turn and be sorry for what they have done and call on his name. So it is fitting that the Psalm includes a line we hear in so many prayers …

v4 Remember me, Lord

Peter Mansell August 10, 2014