Psalm
106 Prayed
The people of God confessing their unfaithfulness
Learning from Israel’s
mistakes
We praise you, O Lord.
We give thanks to you Lord, for you are good;
your
love endures forever.
Who can proclaim your mighty acts, O Lord
or
fully declare your praise?
Blessed are they who maintain
justice,
who
constantly do what is right.
Remember us, O Lord,
when
you show favour to your people,
come
to our aid when you save us,
that we may enjoy the
prosperity of your chosen
ones,
that
we may share in the joy of your nation
and
join your inheritance in giving praise.
For you qualified us to share
in the inheritance of
the
saints
in
the kingdom of light.
For you rescued us from the
dominion of darkness
and
brought us into the kingdom of your Son,
whom
you love.
In him we have redemption,
the
forgiveness of sins.
Yet we have sinned, even as our
fathers did;
we
have done wrong and acted wickedly.
We are no different from
ancient Israel,
we,
the Church, have been rebellious too.
When Israel's fathers were in
Egypt,
they
gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many
kindnesses,
and
they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
Yet you saved them for your
name’s sake,
just
as you saved us,
to
make your mighty power known.
You rebuked the Red Sea, and it
dried up;
you
led them through the depths as through a
desert.
You saved them from the hand of
the foe;
from
the hand of the enemy you redeemed
them.
The waters covered their
adversaries;
not
one of them survived.
Then they believed you promises
and
sang your praise.
But ancient Israel soon forgot
what you had done
and
did not wait for your counsel.
In the desert they gave in to
their craving;
in
the wasteland they put you, O God, to the
test.
So you gave them what they
asked for,
but
sent a wasting disease upon them.
In the camp they grew envious
of Moses
and
of Aaron, who was consecrated you.
The earth opened up and
swallowed Dathan;
it
buried the company of Abiram.
Fire blazed among their
followers;
a
flame consumed the wicked.
At Horeb they made a calf
and
worshiped an idol cast from metal.
They exchanged their Glory
for
an image of a bull, which eats grass.
Just like the rest of humanity,
although they knew you,
they
neither glorified you as God
nor
gave thanks to you,
but their thinking became
futile
and
their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be
wise,
they
became fools
and exchanged the glory of the
immortal God
for
images made to look like mortal man
and
birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore you gave them over in
the sinful desires
of
their hearts
to
sexual impurity for the degrading of their
bodies
with one another.
They exchanged the truth of God
for a lie,
and
worshiped and served created things
rather
than the Creator—
who
is forever praised. Amen.
They forgot the God who saved
them,
who
had done great things in Egypt,
miracles in the land of Ham
and
awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
So you said you would destroy
them—
had
not Moses, your chosen one,
stood in the breach before you
to
keep your wrath from destroying them.
How much more do we need one
who speaks to
you, O Father, in our defence—
Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins,
and
not only for ours
but
also for the sins of the whole world.
And he is able to save us
completely
those
of us who come to you through him,
because
he always lives to intercede for us.
Then ancient Israel despised
the pleasant land;
they
did not believe your promise.
They grumbled in their tents
and
did not obey you O Lord.
They were not able to enter,
because
of their unbelief.
So you swore to them with
uplifted hand
that
you would make them fall in the desert,
make their descendants fall
among the nations
and
scatter them throughout the lands.
They yoked themselves to the
Baal of Peor
and
ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
they provoked the you to anger
by their wicked
deeds,
and
a plague broke out among them.
But Phinehas stood up and
intervened,
he
took a spear in his hand.
He drove the spear through both
of them,
through
the Israelite and the Moabite woman’s
body,
and
the plague was checked.
This was credited to him as
righteousness
when
you made a covenant of peace with him,
for
endless generations to come.
And also for us,
you
have credited righteousness,
for we believe in you,
who
raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Because the ministry Jesus has
received
is
as superior to theirs
as the covenant of which he is
mediator
is
superior to the old one,
and
it is founded on better promises.
By calling this covenant “new,”
you
have made the first one obsolete.
Confessing our common need
of God’s grace
By the waters of Meribah they
angered you, O
Lord,
and
trouble came to Moses because of them;
for they rebelled against the
Holy Spirit of God,
and
rash words came from Moses’ lips.
They did not destroy the
peoples
as
you had commanded them,
but they mingled with the
nations
and
adopted their customs.
Just as we, your Church can be
conformed
to the pattern of this world,
rather
than being transformed
by the renewing of our minds.
Just as we can be an adulterous
people,
forgetting
that friendship with the world
is
hatred towards you, O God.
They worshiped their idols,
which
became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
and
their daughters to demons.
They shed innocent blood,
the
blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the
idols of Canaan,
and
the land was desecrated by their blood.
They defiled themselves by what
they did;
by
their deeds they prostituted themselves.
Therefore you were angry with
your people
and
abhorred your inheritance.
You handed them over to the
nations,
and
their foes ruled over them.
Their enemies oppressed them
and
subjected them to their power.
Many times you delivered them,
but
they were bent on rebellion
and
they wasted away in their sin.
But you took note of their
distress
when
you heard their cry;
for their sake you remembered
your covenant
and
out of your great love you relented.
You caused them to be pitied
by
all who held them captive.
Now these things occurred as
examples
to
keep us from setting our hearts on evil
things
as they did.
Keep us from being idolaters, O
Lord,
as
some of them were.
Help us not commit sexual
immorality,
as
some of them did
and
in one day twenty-three thousand of them
died.
We
do not want to test you, O Lord,
as
some of them did—
and
were killed by snakes.
We do not want to grumble,
as
some of them did—
and
were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them
as examples
and
were written down as warnings for us,
on
whom the fulfilment of the ages has come.
So
give us humility,
so
that if we think we are standing firm,
we
are careful that we don’t fall!
Help
us remember that no temptation has seized us
except what is common to humanity.
And help us always remember
that you are faithful;
you
will not let us be tempted beyond what we
can
bear.
But when we are tempted, you
will also provide a
way
out
so
that you can stand up under it.
Therefore save us, O Lord our
God,
and
gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your
holy name
and
glory in your praise.
Praise be to the Lord, the God
of Israel.
Praise be to the Lord, the God
of the Church,
from
everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise
the Lord Jesus.
Praise
the LORD.
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Psalm 106 Prayed
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