The first lines of Psalm 106 are like a warm blanket for the believer’s soul. They are words that get made into memory verses and put on posters. It might even remind of you a popular worship song Forever. Those words are stirring and are absolutely worth celebrating, but if you leave the psalm after the first three verses you miss the depth in this declaration. You miss the worship of God in the midst of confession.
If you keep reading along in the psalm you see a summary of Israel’s rebellion, forgetfulness, and general lack of faith. In fact, the majority of Psalm 106 is depressing to read as we are reminded time and time again about how Israel’s failure to obey the Lord despite all he had done and promised.
In Christ, we are a new creation, yet we find ourselves living in a broken world, tempted in every fashion, and struggling with the weight of sin in our lives and the lives of those we are in relationship with (many theologians call this the “already but not yet”). If we think back in our own lives in the time since Christ rescued us, we probably also see a pattern of doubt, forgetfulness and outright disobedience similar to Israel. Maybe our story doesn’t have any events quite as dramatic as making metal images to worship or eating sacrifices to the dead but we can recognize the same motivators in our own lives.
The constant in this psalm is that despite Israel’s disobedience, God remains faithful to his people and his promises. The character of God does not change while the people of God are tossed to and fro. This is the power of the worship of God in the context of our confession.
We do not have to be afraid to be honest with ourselves or transparent in community because we are not earning the love of God nor have to try to shape his behavior. God is steadfast in his character, promises, essence, and love. God is the unshakable foundation of which we can stake our hope, life, and future and thus we are free to say, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Then even after evaluating ourselves at our worst, most retched, we can confidently say “Praise the Lord” without any pretense because our God is the one who saves us, not the other way around.
Selah
Billy Dechert