Psalm 106 · a question people ask
"We have sinned with our fathers" (106:6). How can people confess what their fathers did?
Here is what the verse says: "We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly" (106:6). Each of its three verbs has we as the one who did it. The psalm doesn't only say the fathers sinned; it says we sinned, with them. Then it tells the fathers' story (106:7-46), and at the end it prays for us (106:47). Others in Scripture pray the same way. Nehemiah: "Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned" (Nehemiah 1:6). Daniel: "we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly" (Daniel 9:5). The question comes because of verses like "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father" (Ezekiel 18:20). The psalm doesn't ask to bear the fathers' iniquity; it says what we have done. It doesn't say more about how the two belong together, and these notes don't either.
The verses
“We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.”
“Save us, LORD, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!”
“let your ear now be attentive and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned.”
“we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances.”