Day 181: Psalm 105, 106, 107 and 108

Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion (Psalm 106:43).

This is a perfect illustration of how we can receive great insight into the finished written product by defining the intended audience. Here are the events of the exodus portrayed for a much later audience, and for a very specific reason.

Notice in Psalms 105 and 106 how the exodus story is retold yet one more time. In Psalm 105 the writer recounts the incredible events of the exodus itself. Psalm 106 tells of Israel’s disobedience in both the wilderness and the Promised Land.

Why?

Could these psalms have been written to a nation in exile? Israel in Babylon? It is likely that the exodus story was a favorite of Jews relocated to the land of Persia. The exodus was a defining moment in the life of Israel. The exile would be another. It would have been a natural way for a disenfranchised people to remind themselves that their God had delivered them before, and that he would come through for them again.

Then Psalm 106 recounts Israel’s unfaithfulness. Could this perhaps be a warning to remember the lessons of the past once they were delivered from the Persians? The lesson: God freed our fathers from Egypt, but they soon forgot to be thankful. When God frees us from Babylon, let’s not make the same mistake.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Have you ever said, “Oh that could never happen to me”? Put on humility and learn from the exiled Israelites.