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Psalm 106 Bible study: We have sinned with our fathers

Psalm 106 tells Israel's whole story as a confession, "We have sinned with our fathers" (106:6), in the three Hebrew verbs Solomon's prayer gives a captive people (1 Kings 8:47). Twice a man stands where wrath breaks in: Moses "in the breach" (106:23), and Phinehas (106:30). And it ends asking God to do what it began by telling: "he saved them" (106:8); "Save us" (106:47).

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“Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.”
Psalm 106:44 · World English Bible

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“Psalm 106 says that after the sea the people believed God's words and sang his praise.”

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What's really going on

A story told as a confession

In the text

Psalm 106 tells Israel's story, from Egypt to the nations, and it tells it as a confession. It opens in praise: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever" (106:1). Then one voice prays: "Remember me, LORD, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation" (106:4) (tap Remember). Then the voice becomes we: "We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly" (106:6). Only then does the story start: "Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt" (106:7). From there the fathers are they, all the way to 106:46, until the last prayer, when it is us again: "Save us, LORD, our God, gather us from among the nations" (106:47). The psalm has no title. It doesn't say who prays it or when, and these notes don't either. Psalm 105, just before it, tells Israel's story from Abraham to the land without one sin of Israel's, and Psalm 105's chapter sets the two tellings side by side; these notes don't repeat it.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Psalm 106

That was a taste

The rest of Psalm 106 is waiting in Favor

  • They didn't remember; he remembered
  • He saved them; save us
  • Two who stood
  • He rebuked the sea
  • The first line and the last, in 1 Chronicles 16 too
  • Where the rest of the Bible tells it
  • 18 questions as you read
  • 13 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

יָשַׁעyasha'say ya-SHA

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "deliver, save". Strong's: "to free or succor". The psalm has the verb four times. "Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake" (106:8), and "He saved them from the hand of him who hated them" (106:10). "They forgot God, their Savior" (106:21), where Savior is this verb. And the psalm's last prayer: "Save us, LORD, our God, gather us from among the nations" (106:47). The story opens with God saving, and the psalm closes by asking him to save. The Psalms have it 57 times in Hebrew; Psalm 44's chapter follows it in "neither did their own arm save them" (Psalm 44:3).

For your group

Psalm 106 Bible study questions

  1. 1The psalm says "We have sinned with our fathers" (106:6), not "they sinned". What changes when you speak to God about sin as *we* instead of *they*?
  2. 2"Then they believed his words. They sang his praise. They soon forgot his works" (106:12-13). What helps you keep remembering what God has done after the song is over?
  3. 3Moses "stood before him in the breach" for the people (106:23), and Exodus says he "begged the LORD his God" for them (Exodus 32:11). Who would you plead with God for this week?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 106 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.

Can I read Psalm 106 straight away?

Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 106 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.

Do I need a group?

No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.

I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?

Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.

Which Bible does Favor use?

The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home