Amazing Grace
Psalms 106
May 23, 2021
In the 9th, 10th, and 11th chapter of Romans
We have some of the most remarkable truths in all of Scripture.
• We learn of God’s sovereignty
• We learn of God’s salvation
• And we learn of God’s faithfulness
Primarily it is a section of Scripture that deals with the salvation of Israel.
• We learn that they are lost having stumbled over the stumbling stone.
• We learn that they can be saved if they will call on the name of the Lord.
• We learn that their rejection served a greater purpose; namely the salvation of the Gentiles.
And the section concludes with us learning about
The return of Israel to Christ and their future salvation.
Romans 11:25-29 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
God has promised that Israel will be saved.
And this is a very important text even for the Gentile church.
WHY?
Because it is the faithfulness of God that is on the line.
• God promised the salvation of Israel.
• God promised that one day they would “look on Him who they have pierced”
• God promised that they were His elect, chosen for salvation.
Now, we also know that Israel most certainly does not deserve it.
Just in reading Psalms 106 tonight you are aware of that.
• There has never been a more stubborn or obstinate people on the face of the planet than the Jewish people.
• Beyond that, these people rejected and ultimately murdered their King, the Messiah, the Son of God, their only hope for salvation.
• If ever there was a people who should just be cast aside it is those people.
BUT…
• God promised them salvation.
• Romans 11 tells us that God will fulfill that promise.
And that is important to us because it reassures our heart
That God is a faithful God who saves those whom He has chosen
Even if they don’t deserve it.
Isn’t that good news?
• I mean, if God all of a sudden decided to back out on His promises to
Israel…
• What hope do you have that you won’t offend Him in the same way and
He might back out on the promises He made to you?
Instead, God proves His faithfulness time and time again
Because the promises He made, He keeps.
And now we have confidence that God will be faithful to us
Because He has never failed to be faithful to them.
Well, that is a fitting backdrop to Psalms 106.
• We don’t know who wrote the Psalm,
• But it was clearly written by someone in affliction.
• It was written by someone who was under the punishment of God
• And who had been dispersed among the nations.
But the Psalmist here now wants mercy.
But the question is: ON WHAT GROUNDS DOES HE COME THINKING THAT GOD WOULD GIVE IT?
And the answer is that same faithfulness of God.
God’s proven Amazing Grace
Tonight we walk through what might be called “Israel’s Sin Hall of Fame”
• It is a quick read of some of the most arrogant blunders in their history,
• But even more than that, it is a testimony of God’s unmerited favor; His Amazing Grace.
3 main points
#1 HIS DISCERNMENT
Psalms 106:1-5
This is an important way to open this Psalm because it helps us realize
That the Psalmist is not coming in ignorance.
• Many people in our day lives in sin and genuinely think that God is cool with it.
• Many a person demand grace as though they are deserving of it and God is obligated to give it.
• But that is NOT at all the mindset of the Psalmist.
Let me show you 3 things he knows here.
THE GREATNESS OF GOD
(1-2) “Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD, Or can show forth all His praise?”
• You certainly see the themes of praise and gratitude.
• You certainly agree with the statement that “He is good”
• We have seen many times that “His lovingkindness is everlasting”
I really like that last question:
“Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD, Or can show forth all His praise?”
That’s a great question and the answer is obviously “no one”
We can’t even begin to fathom all that God deserves.
• All we know of Him is what He has chosen to allow us to know
• And that is far short of His full glory.
The Psalmist is certainly aware that God is deserving
Of much more honor than He ever receives.
He knows about the greatness of God.
THE VALUE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
“How blessed are those who keep justice, Who practice righteousness at all times!”
Well that is certainly a true statement.
Even based on a limited knowledge of God
We are certainly able to discern the simple truth
That God is Holy and that God demands Holiness.
The Mosaic Law has made it abundantly clear that
There is a tremendous blessing from God poured out upon those who are righteous.
Those who “keep justice” and who “practice righteousness at all times”
Can certainly expect a life full of wonderful blessing.
All you have to do is live perfectly
And God will most certainly be pleased with you and bless you.
Righteousness is that valuable.
It causes a man to be totally pleasing to God
And to obtain all of God’s blessings.
The Psalmist also discerns
THE BLESSING OF SALVATION
(4-5) “Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor toward Your people; Visit me with Your salvation, That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.”
This would be the blessing of being one who is in God’s good favor.
This would be one who God has delivered.
And you see the benefits of such a salvation.
• PROSPERITY – “That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones”
• JOY – “That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation”
• SATISFACTION – “That I may glory with Your in inheritance”
Those are the blessings that are upon the man
Who has obtained God’s favor.
Those are the blessings that are upon the man
Who practices righteousness at all times.
• God will deliver that man
• God will prosper that man
• God will cause that man to rejoice
• God will satisfy that man
The Psalmist knows that.
God is more than good to the righteous.
And that is actually even found in the preaching of Jesus.
Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler that if he would simply “keep the commandments” then he would have treasure in heaven.
In John 5 Jesus preached to the Pharisees:
John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
Paul reminded us of the same thing:
Romans 2:9-11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”
That is fact.
• If you “keep justice”
• If you “practice righteousness at all times”
Then you also can expect from God to see prosperity,
To rejoice in gladness and to glory in His inheritance.
That is absolutely true.
And the Psalmist knows that.
But there is a problem.
#2 HIS DILEMMA
Psalms 106:6-46
(6) “We have sinned”
Well that just throws the whole offer into the trash then.
• That blessing and prosperity and rejoicing and satisfaction all hinged upon you keeping justice and practicing righteousness at all times.
But what about when you blow your end of the deal?
(And you already know you have.)
Well then you are at the mercy of God.
Then you’re only hope of salvation
Rests upon God being merciful and gracious.
Obtaining salvation is now totally out of your hands.
You will merely have to accept the ruling that comes down from on high.
And that is where the Psalmist finds himself.
Well, why would this Psalmist think that God
Would be willing to save and bless a man
Who has not upheld his end of the deal?
And the answer is because of who God is.
Now the Psalmist is about to go on a long journey through history.
And his journey actually builds for us the backdrop
Through which we better see the grace of God.
The Psalmist says:
“We have sinned like our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.”
• Well what do you mean?
• What kind of sin did your fathers commit?
He lists 8 of them here.
It is quite an embarrassing journey of failure and rebellion.
I DON’T THINK it’s the intent of the Psalmist TO DIVE DEEPLY into every one of these stories, rather it is more important to hit them all back to back in sort of rapid fire pace in order to feel the legacy of their sin.
So that’s how we’ll hit them.
THE SIN OF DISREGARD (7-12)
I would point out to you an obvious problem,
Especially based upon the last three Psalms we’ve studied.
In Psalms 103-105 we found out
The importance of remembering God’s benefits and goodness.
Well clearly one of the problems of Israel is that they did not.
• (7) “They did not remember…”
• (13) “They quickly forgot…”
• (21) “They forgot God…”
That again is a strong incentive not to forget the goodness of God in your life.
Well here we read:
(7) “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.”
The “abundant kindnesses” here would be a reference to
God’s plagues and His great deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
• Do we not remember how the plundered the Egyptians?
• Do we not remember how God carried them out with a mighty hand?
Sure, but it didn’t take long for them to turn on God.
They left Egypt, went straight for the Red Sea
And immediately turned on God.
Exodus 14:11-12 “Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
• They totally disregarded the power of God to save.
• At the first sign of trouble they turned on God and opted to go back to their slavery.
And yet, God saved those fickle people.
(8-11) “Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, That He might make His power known. Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness. So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their adversaries; Not one of them was left.”
• Certainly you remember the story of how God parted the Red Sea
• And how the Israelites crossed on dry ground
• And how God drowned the Egyptians in that same sea.
God saved them anyway.
Now, their response to this newest salvation was certainly great.
(12) “Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.”
All of a sudden they were believers and singers.
All of a sudden they were filled with praise.
Exodus 14:31 “When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.”
• And if you read Exodus 15:1-21 (we won’t) then you’ll find what is called “The Song of Moses” which is a great song of praise to God for His deliverance.
Yep Israel was sold on their great God.
But then came the next sin.
THE SIN OF DISCONTENTMENT (13-15)
(13-15) “They quickly forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But craved intensely in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert. So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them.”
The Psalmist says “They quickly forgot”
How quickly?
TURN TO: EXODUS 15.
• You see there in the first 21 verses that song of praise for deliverance that I just told you about.
Now look at verses 22-24.
“Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
THREE DAYS!
• It only took 3 days for the children of Israel to completely forget about the great miracle of God to part the Red Sea.
• It only took 3 days to turn on God.
• It only took 3 days to turn on Moses.
The Bible says the problem was “They did not wait for His counsel”
That is to say, God was at work in their lives
But they wouldn’t wait on Him.
Remember what Moses would tell them later:
Deuteronomy 8:1-5 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. “Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.”
• Part of letting Israel get hungry and thirsty was so that God could teach them about His provision.
• But they wouldn’t even give Him time to complete the lesson before they turned on Him.
They “craved intensely in the wilderness”
Numbers 11:4 “The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?”
• Remember God gave them quale until it came out their nose.
(15) “So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them.”
These were sinful people who just offended God every chance they got.
Their Disregard, Their Discontentment
THE SIN OF DEFIANCE (16-18)
(16-18) “When they became envious of Moses in the camp, And of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD, The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And engulfed the company of Abiram. And a fire blazed up in their company; The flame consumed the wicked.”
Here they simply rebelled against Moses,
Which was a rebellion against God.
• God had appointed Moses.
• All authority comes from Him.
• So to reject God’s leader is to reject God.
You remember the attack:
Numbers 16:1-3 “Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action, and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
They challenged God and Moses and ultimately “The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And engulfed the company of Abiram.”
They dropped alive into hell.
Ouch!
Disregard, Discontentment, Defiance
THE SIN OF DEFAMATION (19-23)
(19-23) “They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wonders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them.”
This was the glorious event when they made the golden calf and said:
Exodus 32:4 “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
• It was idolatry.
• It was a graven image.
• It is an extreme insult to God.
It was Isaiah who asked,
“To whom would you liken Me, declares the LORD”
Any representation of God
Is an insult to His nature and to defame His character.
But the children of Israel did it and then they worshiped it.
And God would have destroyed them if Moses hadn’t interceded on their behalf.
But that’s still not all.
THE SIN OF DERISION (24-27)
(24-27) “Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe in His word, But grumbled in their tents; They did not listen to the voice of the LORD. Therefore He swore to them That He would cast them down in the wilderness, And that He would cast their seed among the nations And scatter them in the lands.”
Then we find that glorious event
When God took them to the border of the land of promise
And they refused to go in.
Remember the spies brought back a negative report:
Numbers 14:1-2 “Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!”
• They hated the land that God had chosen to give them.
• The Psalmist says “they despised” it.
• The same language that is used regarding Esau and how he despised his birthright.
Esau chose a bowl of pea soup over his birthright.
The children of Israel preferred slavery in Egypt over the land of God.
WHAT A SIN.
Disregard, Discontentment, Defiance, Defamation,
THE SIN OF DEFECTION (28-31)
(28-31) “They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, To all generations forever.”
Remember when they abandoned God altogether
To go and marry those Moabite women?
• Even after God’s anger broke out against the Israelites one man was so bold so as to bring a Moabite woman right into camp; into his tent to marry her.
• That is when “Phinehas” went in and stabbed them both through to the ground.
• And God was so pleased that He “reckoned to him for righteousness”
Amazing that these totally dependent people
Would so quickly abandon God for false gods.
Disregard, Discontentment, Defiance, Defamation, Defection
THE SIN OF DISSENSION (32-33)
(32-33) “They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account; Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.”
Here they were rebellious again.
Again they grumbled about water.
Only this time
• Instead of defending the LORD, Moses sought to defend himself.
• Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck the rock and “it went hard with Moses on their account”
• Moses didn’t get to enter the Promised Land.
But again we see people rebelling against God.
THE SIN OF DEPRAVITY (34-39)
(34-39) “They did not destroy the peoples, As the LORD commanded them, But they mingled with the nations And learned their practices, And served their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices, And played the harlot in their deeds.”
It was just more unthinkable rebellion against God.
• Every time He said to go right they went left.
• Every time He said to go left they went right.
• He told them to clear out the Promised Land
• Instead they assimilated with them.
• He told them not to conform to the sinful practices of the world
• Instead they copied them.
They fell right into the same sin of the people
They were supposed to destroy.
“they mingled with the nations”
Judges 3:5-6 “The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.”
And those people “became a snare to them”
Deuteronomy 7:16 “You shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God will deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.”
Numbers 33:55-56 “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. ‘And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.'”
It brings to mind Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” statement
But these people simply rebelled against God repeatedly.
• They weren’t grateful for God’s deliverance
• They weren’t patient for God’s provision
• They weren’t submissive to God’s leaders
• They weren’t satisfied with God’s Promised Land
• They weren’t loyal to God alone
• They weren’t committed to being separate from the nations
It’s just one thing after another.
Sin after sin after sin after sin
And God was rightly angry.
(40-43) “Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people And He abhorred His inheritance. Then He gave them into the hand of the nations, And those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were subdued under their power. Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, And so sank down in their iniquity.”
And certainly you’ve read the book of Judges.
It is a painful cycle.
• Sin, punishment, crying out, deliverance, prosperity, sin, punishment, crying out, deliverance prosperity, sin, punishment…
• It’s over and over and over.
• The reason is because they fell short of the glory of God.
God demanded righteousness and justice
And they didn’t uphold their end of the deal.
And that’s exactly the dilemma the Psalmist is in.
• He said right off the bat that he was well-aware that the path to blessing is
found in justice and righteousness.
• The man that does those things can expect good from the LORD.
But his problem, if you will remember:
(6) “We have sinned like our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.”
• We are just like our fathers.
• We are chip right off the old block.
• We sinned like they sinned.
And so we don’t deserve the blessing we desire.
We have not earned it.
HOWEVER, that has not stopped this Psalmist from coming to God.
• Even though he knows about God’s holiness
• Even though he knows about his own sin
• Even though he knows God’s propensity and right to punish sinners
HE STILL COMES TO GOD.
WHY?
Because he also knows that God’s grace is amazing.
(44-46) “Nevertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry; And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.”
That is the Ephesians 2:4 of the Old Testament.
Ephesians 2:1-4 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God…”
That is what you read here.
“Nevertheless…”
• “He looked”
• “He heard”
• “He remembered”
• “He relented”
• “He made them objects of compassion”
They did not deserve it, but God did it.
Over and over and over.
That is the Amazing Grace of God!
He gave those people what they did not deserve
And He did it over and over again.
Now, that fact is the driving fact behind this Psalm.
Because here we have a Psalmist who has offended God
Just as badly as they offended God.
Here we have a Psalmist who also DESERVES God’s wrath.
But here we have a Psalmist who WANTS God’s mercy.
And based upon what he knows about God, He is now going to cry out for it.
#3 HIS DESIRE
Psalms 106:47-48
Isn’t that great!
“Save us”
Do we deserve it? No
But You are the God who saves people who don’t deserve it.
“Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name And glory in Your praise.”
Save us like You saved them.
• Not because we deserve it, but because you are gracious.
• Save us and we will give thanks
• Save us and we will glory in Your praise
• Save us so that we can be yet another chapter in the book of Your great grace.
Have you considered your life as a chapter in that book?
“The book of God’s amazing grace.”
We sped through 8 chapters of it this evening,
But if we read far enough
We would get to the chapter with your name.
It could talk about your sin and failures and how you offended God.
• Mine would be about teenage years of terrible hypocrisy,
• Pretending to be a Christian but with a heart filled with adultery and cruelty.
And yet God saved me.
But even after being saved, I still have entries in that book
• Because I have often failed to keep promises
• And often done that which He commanded me not to do,
• And often fallen short.
And my life just becomes another chapter
In the book of God’s Amazing Grace.
YOURS DOES TOO.
Now, it is not my desire to keep making entries into that book.
• I certainly do not wish to sin so that grace may increase.
• But, I will join the Psalmist in praising God for His unmerited favor.
• I will join in praising God for His Amazing Grace.
• And I will continue to trust in it even when I fail.
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!”
