Thy Strong Word – Psalm 106: Remember God by Giving Thanks in the Darkness

⁴ Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
    help me when you save them,^[a]
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
    that I may glory with your inheritance.

⁶ Both we and our fathers have sinned;
    we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
⁷ Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
    did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
    but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
⁸ Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
    that he might make known his mighty power.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
    and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
¹⁰ So he saved them from the hand of the foe
    and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
¹¹ And the waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them was left.
¹² Then they believed his words;
    they sang his praise.

¹³ But they soon forgot his works;
    they did not wait for his counsel.
¹⁴ But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
    and put God to the test in the desert;
¹⁵ he gave them what they asked,
    but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶ When men in the camp were jealous of Moses
    and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
¹⁷ the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
    and covered the company of Abiram.
¹⁸ Fire also broke out in their company;
    the flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb
    and worshiped a metal image.
²⁰ They exchanged the glory of God^[b]
    for the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their Savior,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wondrous works in the land of Ham,
    and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ Therefore he said he would destroy them—
    had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
    to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land,
    having no faith in his promise.
²⁵ They murmured in their tents,
    and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
²⁶ Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
²⁷ and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
    scattering them among the lands.

²⁸ Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,
    and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
²⁹ they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
    and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was stayed.
³¹ And that was counted to him as righteousness
    from generation to generation forever.

³² They angered him at the waters of Meribah,
    and it went ill with Moses on their account,
³³ for they made his spirit bitter,^[c]
    and he spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples,
    as the Lord commanded them,
³⁵ but they mixed with the nations
    and learned to do as they did.
³⁶ They served their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to the demons;
³⁸ they poured out innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus they became unclean by their acts,
    and played the whore in their deeds.

⁴⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he abhorred his heritage;
⁴¹ he gave them into the hand of the nations,
    so that those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them,
    and they were brought into subjection under their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,
    but they were rebellious in their purposes
    and were brought low through their iniquity.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
    when he heard their cry.
⁴⁵ For their sake he remembered his covenant,
    and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied
    by all those who held them captive.

⁴⁷ Save us, O Lord our God,
    and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
    Praise the Lord!