Week 25 Two Psalms
I read psalm 105 yesterday.
106 today.
Both are history-of-Israel psalms.
While I was reading 105 I started asking: where are all the delusional crazinesses that Abraham’s family got into (I spent ten weeks from January-to-March reading that story so I know the psalm-writer missed a bunch of negative content).
I counted 29 ways in 105 that the Lord helped Israel – 29 benefits. And what about the Abraham-Family-Reputation? Bright and shiny. What’s going on?
I reread the writer’s intro:
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness…
Tell everyone about his miracles…
Think of the wonderful works he has done…
Okay. So the writer is saying that this isn’t about Israel’s stunning imbecilities. It’s a subject-specific psalm and the specific-subject is that the Lord is good. Okay.
So then I came to 106 and my concern about 105’s limited selection criteria was answered in a different way: 106 fills in 105’s gaps.
I read through 106 then went back and start counting. There were 26 things Israel did to provoke the Lord. 26 provocations that 105 didn’t focus on.
So psalm 105 tells part of the story, and 106 tells another part.
Bible-reader’s reminder: I’ve gotta read the whole thing.
Note: Quote from Psalm 105:1-2 (NLT version). As weird as it might seem psalm 106 isn’t as much of a downer-psalm as you’d think. Marbled through the 26-item list of Israel’s eyes-wide-open stupidities are 15 good things the Lord did for them. As deep a hole as Israel digs, the Lord isn’t deterred by chasmic depth.