Commentary - Psalm 106:40-46

Bird's-eye view

This section of Psalm 106 brings us to the predictable, yet still shocking, consequences of Israel's persistent idolatry and rebellion. It is a compact summary of the entire book of Judges, and for that matter, a summary of the human condition apart from Christ. The pattern is stark: sin leads to wrath, wrath leads to judgment, judgment leads to oppression, oppression leads to a cry of distress, and that cry leads to God's covenantal remembrance and deliverance. This is the great cycle of our sin and God's stubborn grace. God's anger is not a petty, human tantrum; it is the holy and just reaction of a spurned husband and king. He gives His people over to the very thing they chose over Him, which is to be ruled by pagan gods and the men who serve them. Yet, even in the depths of their self-inflicted misery, the story does not end. The final word is not their iniquity, but God's covenant. His memory is not faulty; He remembers His promises, not because they deserve it, but because He is faithful. This passage is a testament to the fact that our salvation rests not on the strength of our grip on God, but on the strength of His grip on us, a grip established in His covenant and secured by His lovingkindness.

The psalmist is not just recounting ancient history for its own sake. He is teaching Israel, and by extension the Church, how to think about their own sin and God's character. We are to see the direct line between our whoring after other gods, whatever they may be, and the miseries that befall us. But we are also to see that the way out is not through self-improvement, but through a desperate cry to the one who made a covenant with us. The ultimate ground of our hope is not our repentance, but God's character. His lovingkindness is abundant, and His covenant is everlasting. This entire section points us to the great "nevertheless" of the gospel.

Outline

Context In Psalm 106

Psalm 106 is a national confession of sin, a corporate history lesson in Israel's persistent failure to keep covenant with Yahweh. It begins and ends with a call to praise ("Hallelujah"), framing the ugly story of sin within the beautiful reality of God's goodness and enduring mercy. The psalm systematically recounts Israel's rebellions, starting from their time in Egypt, through the wilderness wanderings, and into the promised land. They forgot His works, lusted in the wilderness, envied Moses, built the golden calf, and mingled with the heathen, learning their wicked works. The immediate context for our passage is the horrific climax of their apostasy: the sacrifice of their own sons and daughters to the idols of Canaan (vv. 37-38). This ultimate act of depravity is what directly precedes the declaration of God's wrath in verse 40. The section we are examining, verses 40-46, is therefore the divine response to this long and sordid history of covenant-breaking. It is the summary of the consequences and the surprising, grace-filled turning point that defines God's relationship with His people.

Key Issues

The Great Nevertheless

At the heart of this passage, and indeed at the heart of the entire gospel, lies a great "nevertheless." The logic of sin is straightforward: rebellion earns wrath, and wrath earns destruction. If the story ended at verse 43, it would be a perfectly just and tragic tale. "They were rebellious... and so they sank down in their iniquity." That is the end we all deserve. But divine logic operates on a higher plane. Verse 44 begins with one of the most beautiful words in the Bible: Nevertheless. This is the hinge upon which all of redemptive history turns. Despite their sin, despite their rebellion, despite their utter lack of merit, God acted. Why? Not because of some newfound goodness in them, but because of an old, remembered goodness in Him. He looked, He heard, He remembered His covenant. Our hope is not found in our ability to stop sinning, but in God's inability to forget His promises. This "nevertheless" is the interruption of grace into the story of our deserved judgment. It is the gospel in miniature. We were dead in our sins, worthy of wrath, nevertheless, God, being rich in mercy, made us alive.

Verse by Verse Commentary

40 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled against His people And He abhorred His inheritance.

The word "so" or "therefore" connects this verse directly to the preceding catalogue of sins, especially the abomination of child sacrifice. God's anger is not an arbitrary mood swing. It is a holy, righteous, and necessary response to evil. It was kindled, like a fire being lit. When His own covenant people, His treasured possession, began to act like the most depraved pagans, His holiness demanded this response. The text says He abhorred His inheritance. This is a shocking statement. The word means to detest, to loathe. God's love for His people is a holy love, which means it is not a sentimental love that overlooks sin. It is a love that is fiercely jealous for the holiness and well-being of the beloved. When Israel defiled herself, she made herself loathsome, and God's reaction was to see her as she truly was in that moment. This is the judicial backdrop for the judgment that follows.

41 Then He gave them into the hand of the nations, And those who hated them ruled over them.

God's judgment here is a classic example of poetic justice. Since Israel wanted to be like the nations, God said, in effect, "Fine, you can be ruled by them." He gave them over. This is not passive permission; it is an active, sovereign judgment. God is the one who hands them over. The surrounding nations did not conquer Israel because they were stronger or because Yahweh was weaker. They conquered Israel because Yahweh used them as His rod of discipline. And notice who ruled them: "those who hated them." This is what sin always does. It promises freedom and friendship with the world, but it delivers slavery and subjugation to those who despise you. Israel traded the loving rule of their covenant Lord for the hateful rule of their pagan enemies.

42 Their enemies oppressed them, And they were subdued under their hand.

This verse elaborates on the nature of that rule. It was not a benign foreign administration. It was oppression. They were crushed, humiliated, and brought low. The word "subdued" means to be humbled. God had intended to exalt them above all nations, but their sin brought them down into the dust. This is the outworking of the covenant curses promised in Deuteronomy 28. When you abandon God, you don't become your own master. You simply get a new master, and the new one is always a cruel tyrant.

43 Many times He would deliver them; But they were rebellious in their counsel, And so they sank down in their iniquity.

This verse summarizes the entire period of the Judges. It shows the persistence of both God's grace and man's sin. "Many times" God delivered them. Think of Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon. Over and over, God raised up a deliverer. But as soon as the deliverer died, the people went right back to their old ways. They were "rebellious in their counsel." This means their rebellion was not accidental; it was deliberate. It was their chosen strategy, their plan. They counseled one another to rebel. The result was that they "sank down" in their iniquity. Sin is not a static state; it is a downward spiral. It is like quicksand. The more you struggle in your own strength, the deeper you sink.

44 Nevertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry of lamentation;

Here is the great turning point. After the relentless cycle of sin and judgment, God intervenes. And He does so not because they had cleaned up their act, but because they were in distress and they cried out. God looked and He heard. This is the language of a personal, attentive God. He is not a distant deity, indifferent to the suffering of His people. Their cry was not a cry of sophisticated theological repentance. It was a cry of lamentation, a howl of pain. And yet, God heard it. This should be a profound encouragement to us. When we are at the bottom, when all we can muster is a cry of desperation, that is enough to get the attention of our merciful God.

45 And He remembered for them His covenant, And relented according to the abundance of His lovingkindness.

Why did God look and hear? This verse gives us the ultimate reason. He remembered for them His covenant. God's memory is not like ours. He doesn't forget and then suddenly recall. To "remember" in this covenantal sense means to act on the basis of a prior commitment. He looked at His own promises, the covenant He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His actions are grounded in His own faithfulness, not theirs. And because He remembered His covenant, He "relented." This does not mean God changed His eternal decrees. It means He changed His course of action toward them, turning from judgment to mercy. And He did this "according to the abundance of His lovingkindness." The word is hesed, that great covenantal term for loyal, steadfast, unbreakable love. God's mercy is not a trickle; it is an abundant, overflowing flood.

46 He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.

This is a remarkable display of God's sovereignty. Not only did He deliver them, but He had the power to change the hearts of their enemies. He caused their captors to show them compassion. The very ones who had hated and oppressed them were moved to pity. This demonstrates that God's rule extends even to the hearts of pagan kings and slave drivers. He can turn the heart of a king wherever He wishes (Prov 21:1). This was a sign to Israel, and to the nations, that Yahweh was the one true God, who could not only rescue His people from their enemies, but could make their enemies serve His purposes of grace.

Application

The story of Israel in Psalm 106 is our story. We are a people prone to wander, prone to forget God's mighty works, and prone to exchange the glory of God for cheap idols. We must learn from this psalm to connect the dots between our sin and our miseries. When our lives, our families, or our nations begin to sink down into iniquity, we should not be surprised to find ourselves oppressed and subdued. God is a jealous God, and He will not bless our flirtations with the world.

But the greater application is found in the "nevertheless." Our hope does not lie in our ability to maintain a perfect record. Our hope lies in a God who hears the cry of the desperate and remembers His covenant. For us, that covenant has been sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ. When we cry out, God does not remember a covenant based on our obedience, but a covenant fulfilled completely by His Son. He remembers the cross. He remembers the empty tomb. It is there that the abundance of His lovingkindness was put on ultimate display.

Therefore, when we find ourselves sinking, the path forward is not to pretend we are strong, but to cry out from the depths. We must confess our rebellion and cast ourselves entirely on the mercy of a covenant-keeping God. He is faithful. He will look, He will hear, and He will relent, not because we are worthy, but because Christ is. And He is able to not only deliver us from our troubles, but to make even our captivities occasions for His compassion to be shown.