The last one week, I’ve been meditating on Psalm 106, and am very surprised with the so many lessons that I learnt. Below some of the lessons that I could remember:
When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. (v. 7)
It is something new to me. We used to tell our children the 10 Plagues God sent to Egypt, and then the Passover. That’s the story of Exodus, where God led the Israelites out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron.
But here in Psalm 106, God is showing us what went on in the hearts and minds of the Israelites. They all saw the miracles, but they gave no thought at all. It’s so scary to think we are capable of seeing such great things happened among us, and gave no thought. I shudder to think we are capable of such hardening of hearts.
They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. (v.20)
Again another shocking revelation to me, that we’re capable of doing such great depravity with our eyes open. I believe every religious person would agree that God is a Supreme being that Greater than anything. Yet, with the same breath, many religious person would make an image of his/her God. How can it be?
Do we then fall into the same folly?
So he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them. (v.23)
But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked. (v.30)
There is this pattern of righteous person who stood up before God and stopped God’s wrath.
Left on their own, their doom is guaranteed. For God is a Just God, and He would destroy those who rebels against Him. Yet again and again, Israel’s were spared because someone stood before God to appeal for His mercy.
So in the cycle of man’s sin & God’s righteous punishment, there’s place for intercession. Whenever there are wrongs (which I think all the time), and God’s angered being poured down (there’re times God witholding His anger and times when He pours His anger), stands in the middle is the intercessory role.
I see that as an invitation for us to stand up. Stand up among sinful people and stand up before God. A double position which extremely hard. Yet times and again, we must acknowledge there’s such place & time, because human’s nature & God’s nature.
When we see depravities of men escalates, it’s opportunity to stand up for God (declaring His righteousness against all corruptions), and stand up before God.
I pray for the Manly Seven who stood up for their faith against the pressure to adopt the values of this world. May the Lord keep their life to shine bright for Him and silent those who speak evil against them.
This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come. (v.31)
make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands. (v.27)
God is a Righteous Judge, and hence He punishes the wrongs and rewards the rights. Be assured that our righteousness would be credited into our account, and blessings to our descendants. Both sides, God’s wrath sometimes go down to generations of people that hate Him, and His love to generations of people that love Him.
Therefore our choices today matters. They affect not only ourselves, but our children’s children, be it good or bad.