What is the doxology of verse 48?
It is a blessing that closes each of the five books of the Psalms. It says: blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, and let all the people say amen. In this case it closes Book IV.
Psalms · psalm 106 of 150
Psalm 106: Summary, Key Verses and Study Questions
Updated on
What happens in Psalm 106?
Psalm 106 is a confession of sin by God's people that reviews their history of rebellion: at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, with the golden calf, at Peor and at Meribah, and later in the land with idols. Each time the Lord punished, but he remembered his covenant and showed compassion. The psalm ends asking to be gathered from among the nations and with the doxology that closes Book IV.
Psalm 106 completes Psalm 105: there God's faithfulness is told, here the people's unfaithfulness. It is a prayer of confession that says we have sinned, even as our fathers did. The ending, which asks to be gathered from among the nations, suggests that the people were scattered when it was composed, in the exile or later. It closes Book IV of the Psalms (90-106) with a doxology.
Psalm 106 summary
The psalm opens with hallelujah, gives thanks to the Lord and declares blessed those who observe justice. In verses 4 and 5 the psalmist begs the Lord to remember him and visit him with his salvation so that he may see the prosperity of his chosen ones. Then he confesses: we have sinned with our fathers.
The history begins in Egypt, where the fathers did not understand his wonders and rebelled at the Red Sea. Even so God saved them for his name's sake, dried up the sea, and they believed his words and sang his praise. Soon they forgot his works and craved in the wilderness; God gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. They were jealous of Moses and Aaron, and the earth opened and swallowed Dathan and Abiram. At Horeb they made a calf and exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass; Moses stood in the breach to turn away God's wrath. They despised the pleasant land and grumbled in their tents, and the Lord swore that they would fall in the wilderness. They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to the dead, and a plague broke out until Phinehas stood up and the plague was stayed. At the waters of Meribah they provoked God, and Moses spoke rashly.
In the land they did not destroy the peoples, they mixed with them, served their idols and sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. God gave them into the hand of the nations, yet many times he delivered them, remembered his covenant and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. The psalm ends with a plea for salvation and the doxology.
Chapter outline
- vv. 1-5: Hallelujah, thanks and a plea to be remembered by the Lord.
- vv. 6-12: Confession: rebellion at the Red Sea and salvation for the Lord's name's sake.
- vv. 13-23: Craving in the wilderness, jealousy of Moses and Aaron and the golden calf at Horeb.
- vv. 24-33: Despising the land, Baal of Peor, Phinehas and the waters of Meribah.
- vv. 34-46: Unfaithfulness in Canaan, idols and sacrifices; punishment and the Lord's repeated mercy.
- vv. 47-48: Plea to be gathered from among the nations and the closing doxology.
Key verses in Psalm 106
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Psalm 106:6
The people confess that they have sinned like their fathers, committed iniquity and done wickedly. The confession assumes a shared history: it does not blame only the ancestors but acknowledges its own part.
Psalm 106:23
God spoke of destroying them, but Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to turn away his wrath. It is a picture of intercession: someone who steps between the people and judgment.
Psalm 106:30-31
Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. An act of faithfulness to the Lord in the midst of common unfaithfulness was recognized by God.
Psalm 106:44-46
God looked on their distress, remembered his covenant and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love, and caused their captors to show mercy. The history culminates in the Lord's mercy, not in punishment.
Main themes
- Confession of sin
- Forgetting God's works
- The intercession of Moses and Phinehas
- Idolatry and its consequences
- Steadfast love that remembers the covenant
People and places
- The people of Israel
- The Lord
- Moses and Aaron
- Dathan and Abiram
- Phinehas
Psalm 106 study questions and answers
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
1. What do the people confess in verse 6?
Answer: That they have sinned like their fathers, committing iniquity and doing wickedly. — Psalm 106:6
2. Why did God save them at the Red Sea?
Answer: For his name's sake, to make known his mighty power. — Psalm 106:8
3. What did they do at Horeb?
Answer: They made a calf and worshiped a metal image, exchanging God's glory for the image of an ox. — Psalm 106:19-20
4. What did Moses do when God spoke of destroying the people?
Answer: He stood in the breach before God to turn away his wrath. — Psalm 106:23
5. What did Phinehas do?
Answer: He stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed; it was counted to him as righteousness. — Psalm 106:30-31
6. What did the Lord remember when he saw their distress?
Answer: His covenant, and he relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. — Psalm 106:44-45
Application for today
Psalm 106 teaches us to confess honestly. It does not excuse the present generation by the faults of its fathers but says: we have sinned. In a church or small group it can be a model for a prayer of confession that acknowledges the shared failures of the community and not only individual ones.
It also encourages. The history repeats the pattern of sin, punishment and cry for help, and each time God responds with mercy. That is not an excuse to sin but a reason to return. Christians see in Christ the mediator who stood in the breach once for all, and can confess their sins trusting that God is faithful and just to forgive, as 1 John 1:9 says.
Psalm 106 closes Book IV with a plea to be gathered from among the nations and a doxology. Psalm 107 opens Book V (107-150) with the call for the Lord's redeemed to say that his steadfast love endures forever, and tells four scenes of rescue.
Frequently asked questions about Psalm 106
Who was Phinehas?
He was a grandson of Aaron and a priest. His act appears in Numbers 25, when Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor and a plague broke out. His intervention stopped the plague, and God promised him a covenant of peace and a perpetual priesthood.
What does it mean that God relented in verse 45?
The text uses the verb relent in the sense of changing his stance in view of his people's suffering, not of admitting a mistake. God acts by his covenant and steadfast love, and so responds to the cry of those who turn back to him.