Psalms 105 and 106 have been called the ‘non-identical twins’ which end the fourth book within the psaltery (there are five books altogether within the one book we call Psalms.)[1] Many of the psalms in this book (Ps 90-106) deal with historical events and these two psalms look again at Israel’s history from vastly different viewpoints. Ps 105 is largely positive, stressing God’s faithfulness, miraculous interventions and ongoing love, compassion and care for His people. Ps 106 resembles Ps 78 in acknowledging the disobedience and rebellion of God’s people, but both remind us that history is really His-story and that a proper response to history is praise and obedience.
Both psalms begin with a call to praise, to proclaim His name, tell others of His wonders and remember what He has done. (Ps 105:1-5, Ps 106:1-5) In this sense, they show us the proper response to God’s works: keeping His precepts and obeying His laws (Ps 105:45), giving thanks and acknowledging who He is (Ps 106:48).
The psalms are obviously selective in giving us a ‘streamlined review’ of God’s dealings with people (from Abraham to the Exodus in Psalm 105 and from the Exodus to Judges in Psalm 106), but they remind us that we too are part of this history (we are the descendants of Abraham as Gal 3:29 makes explicit and part of the ‘thousand generations’ mentioned in Ps 105:8.) We therefore have a responsibility to acknowledge our own sinful tendencies (Ps 106:6) and to learn from the waywardness of past generations. As the American spiritual song asks, ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’ All of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23), but we need to remember God’s sovereignty in history, something both psalms make very evident. God works despite our fallibility and sinfulness; His mercy and grace are more powerful still.
[1] Michael Wilcock, ‘The Message of Psalms 73-150’, P 128