Go to Related Reading
About this book

Psalms

About this book
Psalm 106

1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his loyal love endures. 2 Who can adequately recount the Lord’s mighty acts or relate all his praiseworthy deeds? 3 How blessed are those who promote justice and do what is right all the time.⁠ 4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people. Pay attention to me, when you deliver, 5 so I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice along with your nation, and boast along with the people who belong to you. 6 We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong, we have done evil.⁠ 7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds. They failed to remember your many acts of loyal love, and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea. 8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation that he might reveal his power.⁠ 9 He shouted at the Red Sea and it dried up;⁠ he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.⁠ 10 He delivered them from the power of the one who hated them and rescued them from the power of the enemy. 11 The water covered their enemies; not even one of them survived. 12 They believed his promises; they sang praises to him. 13 They quickly forgot what he had done; they did not wait for his instructions. 14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving for meat; they challenged God in the wastelands. 15 He granted their request, then struck them with a disease. 16 In the camp they resented Moses and Aaron the Lord’s holy priest. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it engulfed the group led by Abiram. 18 Fire burned their group; the flames scorched the wicked. 19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb and worshiped a metal idol.⁠ 20 They traded their majestic God for the image of an ox that eats grass.⁠ 21 They rejected the God who delivered them, the one who performed great deeds in Egypt, 22 amazing feats in the land of Ham, mighty acts by the Red Sea. 23 He threatened to destroy them, but Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him and turned back his destructive anger. 24 They rejected the fruitful land; they did not believe his promise. 25 They grumbled in their tents; they did not obey the Lord. 26 So he made a solemn vow that he would make them die in the wilderness, 27 make their descendants die among the nations, and scatter them among foreign lands. 28 They worshiped Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.⁠ 29 They made the Lord angry by their actions, and a plague broke out among them. 30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened, and the plague subsided. 31 This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act⁠ for all generations to come.⁠ 32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them, 33 for they aroused his temper, and he spoke rashly. 34 They did not destroy the nations, as the Lord had commanded them to do. 35 They mixed in with the nations and learned their ways. 36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. 38 They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted by bloodshed. 39 They were defiled by their deeds and unfaithful in their actions. 40 So the Lord was angry with his people and despised the people who belonged to him. 41 He handed them over to the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies oppressed them; they were subject to their authority. 43 Many times he delivered them, but they had a rebellious attitude and degraded themselves by their sin. 44 Yet he took notice of their distress, when he heard their cry for help. 45 He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his great loyal love. 46 He caused all their conquerors to have pity on them. 47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God. Gather us from among the nations. Then we will give thanks to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. 48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise, in the future and forevermore. Let all the people say, “We agree! Praise the Lord!”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 41:13 and Psalm 72:18 and Psalm 89:52 and Psalm 106:48

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Several psalms end with the same praise formula that marks clear divisions, used at the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, and 106. These recurring lines help shape the Psalms into five sections, a structure that mirrors the five books of the Torah.

Passages

Psalm 41:13

Hebrew Bible
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. 12 As for me, you uphold me because of my integrity; you allow me permanent access to your presence. 13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise in the future and forevermore. We agree! We agree!
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Psalm 72:18

Hebrew Bible
17 May his fame endure. May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky. May they use his name when they formulate their blessings. May all nations consider him to be favored by God. 18 The Lord God, the God of Israel, deserves praise. He alone accomplishes amazing things. 19 His glorious name deserves praise forevermore. May his majestic splendor fill the whole earth. We agree! We agree!
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Psalm 89:52

Hebrew Bible
50 Take note, O Lord, of the way your servants are taunted and of how I must bear so many insults from people. 51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults; they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps. 52 The Lord deserves praise forevermore! We agree! We agree!
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Psalm 106:48

Hebrew Bible
46 He caused all their conquerors to have pity on them. 47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God. Gather us from among the nations. Then we will give thanks to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. 48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise, in the future and forevermore. Let all the people say, “We agree! Praise the Lord!”
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... In the course of its literary history, the Psalms underwent various stages of formation. Its present shape is marked by a division into five parts—it is probable that the Psalter is seen in analogy to the Torah. The five-part structure is established by the four doxologies in Psalm 41:14; 72:18–19; 89:53; 106:48. This “Torah shape” of the Psalter is also underlined by the introductory Psalm 1, which qualifies the study of the Psalter as Torah study, as well as Psalm 119. In light of the strongly divergent order of the Psalter in Qumran and the theological similarity of the framework of the Psalter as a whole in Psalms 1–2 and 146–50 with the contemporary non-Essene wisdom texts (Book of Mysteries [1Q27; 4Q299–301]; 1Q/4QInstruction), this five-part division hardly arose before the second century B.C.E. It is striking that the liturgical tradition in the Psalter was aligned with the form and content of the Torah ..."
Konrad Schmid, Is There Theology in the Hebrew Bible?, CSHB 4 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 97.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Psalm 41:13 and Psalm 72:18 and Psalm 89:52 and Psalm 106:48

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library