Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 106:13
They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel:
13. They soon forgat ] Lit., They made haste ( and) forgat. They had gone but three days journey from the Red Sea, when they murmured for water (Exo 15:22 ff.); only six weeks later they were murmuring for food (Exo 16:2 ff.); and in Rephidim again they murmured for water (Exo 17:2 ff.). In their faithless impatience they refused to wait for God’s plan of providing for their wants.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13 15. A second instance of Israel’s sin, in murmuring for flesh.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They soon forgat his works – On Psa 106:13-15, see the notes at Psa 78:17-22. Literally, here, as in the margin, They made haste, they forgat. They did it soon; did it without any delay. It was as if they were impatient to have it done.
They waited not for his counsel – For the fulfillment of his promise; or for his command in regard to their future conduct. They did not look to him, but they depended on themselves, and followed their own desires and wishes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 106:13-15
They soon forgat His works.
Gods praises sung; His works forgotten
The conduct of the Israelites, as here described, affords a striking exemplification of that spurious gratitude, which often bursts forth in a sudden flash, when dreaded evils are averted, or unexpected favours bestowed; but expires with the occasion that gave it birth; a gratitude resembling the joy excited in an infants breast by the gift of some glittering toy, which is received with rapture, and pleases for an hour; but when the charm of novelty vanishes, is thrown aside with indifference; and the hand that bestowed it is forgotten.
1. A person unacquainted with human nature, who should witness for the first time some striking exhibition of national gratitude, would not, indeed, suspect this to be its character. Such a person, while listening to the rapturous ascriptions of praise poured forth by the Israelites on the shore of the Red Sea, would have little expected to hear them, within three days, impiously murmuring against that God, whose goodness they had so recently experienced, and so loudly acknowledged. And as little, perhaps, would such a person be prepared to anticipate the scenes, which usually attend, and follow our days of public thanksgiving.
2. Some instances, in which the works and perfections of Jehovah engage our attention; excite our natural affections; and, perhaps, call forth expressions of praise; but produce no salutary effects upon our temper or conduct; and are soon forgotten.
(1) The first, which I shall notice, is furnished by the works of creation; or, as they are often, though not very properly called, the works of nature. In so impressive a manner do these works present themselves to our senses; so much of variety, and beauty, and sublimity do they exhibit; such power, and wisdom, and goodness do they display; that perhaps no man, certainly no man who possesses the smallest share of sensibility, taste, or mental cultivation, can, at all times, view them without emotion; without feelings of awe, or wonder, or admiration, or delight. But alas, how transient, how unproductive of salutary effects, have all these emotions proved!
(2) A second instance of a similar nature is afforded by the manner in which men are often affected by Gods works of providence. In these works His perfections are so constantly, and often so clearly displayed; our dependence on them is at all times so real, and, sometimes, so apparent; and they bear, in many cases, so directly and evidently upon our dearest temporal interests, that even the most insensible cannot, always, regard them with indifference. Here nations and individuals stand on precisely the same level. Both are equally, that is entirely, dependent on the providence of God; and both are occasionally constrained to feel and acknowledge their dependence. But the feeling is usually transient; and the acknowledgment is forgotten almost as soon as it is made. How often have we seen Christian nations, when scourged by war, pestilence, or famine, and when the help of man was evidently vain, addressing public and united supplications to Heaven for relief. And as often have we seen them, after relief was obtained, singing with apparent thankfulness, Te Deum laudamus,–Thee, O God, we praise; and then proceeding without delay to repeat those sins, the punishment of which had just been removed.
(3) But once more, let us turn, for further illustrations of this subject, to our families, and to ourselves. On reviewing our personal and domestic history we shall all find too many instances, in which, though we may have sung Gods praises, we have forgotten His works.
3. Men are willing to offer God praises and thanksgivings, because it is an offering which costs them nothing; and because, while it seems to shield them from the charge of ingratitude, it involves the renunciation of no favourite sin; the performance of no disagreeable duty; the practice of no self-denial. But they are not willing to make those constant returns for Gods goodness, which He deserves and requires, because this is, in their estimation, an expensive offering; because it implies sacrifices, which they are not disposed to make, and an attention to duties, which they dislike to perform. (E. Payson, D.D.)
Spiritual declension
We have here some of the greatest words in human history, and some of the most vivid experiences of human life. We have all believed, praised, forgotten, and tempted. What is now our duty? If that question can be answered directly and solemnly and with due effect in the life, this will be as a birthtime, memorable through all the ages that are yet to dawn upon our life. Then believed they His words. When He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up, etc. Any credit due to them? Not one whit. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. This brings us into the region of personal providential deliverances, and we have all been in that hallowed region. That such deliverances do occur every man who has read his life with any attention will instantly attest. Our whole life is a providential deliverance. So blind are we, so foolish, that we expect only to see God in the miracle that is occasional, rather than in the miracle that is constant. Now the tone changes, the wind goes round to a bitter quarter–they soon forgat His works. How easy it is to forget favours. How possible it is to give so many favours to an ungrateful person as to cause that person to imagine he has a right to claim them as his due. The giving of favours where gratitude is not kept up proportionately with the gift is a heart-hardening process. They soon forgat. Religious impression is most transitory. Beautiful as the morning dew while it lasts, it exhales, and we see no rainbow in the sky. It vanishes, it perishes, unless it be diligently seized and wisely deepened, yea, even cultured with all a husbandmans patient care, until it blooms into flower or develops into fruit, and is fit for the Masters plucking. Frail is the thread that binds us to heaven, mean and weak the threadlet that attaches us to the altar and the Church–a breath may break it, a little splutter of flame may crack it, and then our life may be lost. Perhaps the catastrophe ended at forgetfulness? No; further reading gives denial to that happy hope. The reading is black, and proceeds thus: They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. They believed, they lusted, they sang, they tempted. It is such swift oscillation that we find in our own consciousness and experience of religious things. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (J. Parker, D.D.)
Evanescent goodness and inveterate carnalism
I. Evanscent goodness (verses 12, 13; Exo 14:31; Exo 15:1-19).
1. It leaves the soul with increased guilt. It implies an abuse of the highest influences of God.
2. It leaves the soul with a decreased capability of improvement. The longer a man continues a mere hearer of the Gospel, the less likelihood is there that he will be saved by it. What effect can the beauties of the fair creation have on one whose eyes are sealed in blindness? Or the harmonies of the universe on one whose ears are deeply closed to every sound? And what effect can Christianity have on a soul whose sensibilities are gone?
II. Inveterate carnalism (verses 14, 15). The more you pamper the body, the more you pauperize the soul. A sadder sight know I not than that of an individual, family, nation, surrounded with material abundance, and yet lean in soul, matter governing mind, plethoric bodies the residence of starving souls. Conclusion.
Take care of religious impressions. Do not trifle with them. Entertain them and cherish them into holy principles of action. Take care also of material prosperity. Labour not for the bread that perisheth. (Homilist.)
On speculative faith, and ingratitude to God in practice
The same wise and good Being, who hath fitted the whole frame of this world to the various wants of His creatures, hath fitted the events of things to our reformation and moral improvement. Were they to be considered as events only, it would be folly not to learn from them; but as they are lessons intended by Heaven for our instruction, it is impiety also. Now, the obvious method of securing events of importance, both from oblivion and misconstruction, is, by appointing stated and solemn commemorations of them. God Himself hath done this, to preserve a just sense of His works of creation and redemption; but the celebration of His providential goodness He hath left, as it was natural, to human care.
I. The nature of the blessing which we commemorate.
II. What behaviour the great event which we commemorate prescribes; what is the counsel which God hath given us by it. The greatest part of the instruction, indeed, must arise from our sufferings; but the whole power of making advantage of it arises from our deliverance. And our sufferings being caused by mutual vehemence, and our deliverance being effected in peace; both may well dispose us to a mild consideration of what they teach. (T. Secker.)
The unthankful heart
Dr. O. W. Holmes says, If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look with my eyes for them, and search for them with my clumsy fingers and be unable to find them: but let me take a magnet and sweep it, and how it would draw to itself the most invisible particles by the power of attraction. The unthankful heart, like my fingers in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find in every hour some heavenly blessings: only the iron in Gods sand is gold.
He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.—
Lust and leanness
This passage is not only a masterly interpretation of the motive and movement of certain chapters of undoubted history, but one of those characteristic accurate photographs of human nature with which the Scriptures abound. In the language of the stage here is a transformation scene, a quick transition from joy, hope, praise, to sadness, despair, and bitter complaining. We have no difficulty in discovering the wisdom and tenderness of the Divine dealing when it intervenes for our extrication or harmonizes with our wish; we are equally ready to denounce its injustice and pitilessness when it crosses our plan. The Christian mother, praying for the recovery of her sick child, adds, as she has been taught, Not my will, but Thine, be done. If the child recovers she devoutly gives God the praise; if it dies she says, I cannot understand this. Yet she believes the other life to be infinitely better than this, and humbly hopes that she and all her family may one day know its joy. I speak not now of sorrow, but of rebellion and bitterness. So is it with every inferior mystery–for every other is inferior to this mystery of death and bereavement–our praises depend upon compliance with our wishes. How small and foolish the petulance and resentments of your child appear when by some denial or exaction you have done what you knew to be best! Did you ever think how exceedingly childish your bitter thoughts and complainings must seem to the Father in heaven? But here is another pregnant suggestion: He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls. You have looked upon a withered and sunken human form in the coffin, from which disease and the agony of dissolution had driven out almost the last trace of resemblance to the same form in health. Is that the suggestion here?–a shrivelled and shrunken spiritual nature, lean and ghastly, atrophied through ill-usage and neglect, withered by worldliness? Mans darling desire is often such as to interfere with Gods purpose for him. We need constantly to have emphasized the truth that Gods anxiety is for mans spiritual fatness and prosperity; and when the human wish refuses to yield to the Divine purpose there can be but one result–leanness of soul. The time is to come when the supreme question concerning human pleasures and pursuits will be, Will they minister to the spiritual growth–that is, to the highest and best in man? rather than that most commonly heard query of this day, How will they affect the physical and material prosperity? The lesson of this incident in the record of Israel, as well as of the passing years, is, wait for God to prove Himself; see what He will do, His past dealings being an unimpeachable pledge for the future. If we could believe that He knows what is best and will do it, that His ideals are the true ones, and the spiritual is infinitely more to be valued than anything temporal, life would have a new meaning and beauty and richness for us, and out of it would come diviner influences to cheer our fellow-men. (W. L. Phillips, D. D.)
Realized desires often injurious to the soul
The inquiry, what is good for a man in this life? is not easily answered, because the answer must be determined by the social condition and material circumstances, by the mental capacity and physical state of those interested in the inquiry–that is to say, what is good for one man will be questionable, or, perhaps, injurious for another.
1. Even the best of men may and do sometimes desire that which is good in itself, but which is not really good for them to receive.
2. God sometimes grants our requests even when they are not in accordance with His will, nor for our good. He permits us to realize the things desired, allows us to climb the heights upon which we had fixed our gaze. He gives us our own way, but our success is no indication of His approval, or of our wisdom, nor is it a guarantee of present happiness or future well-being.
3. Whatever we realize, however good it may be in itself, in answer to desires which have not been submitted to the Divine will, is questionable if not injurious.
I. The operation of this law.
1. The spirit which prompts a desire which we are unwilling to submit to Gods wisdom and disposal, must be prejudicial to religion, whether it is entertained by an ungodly person, by one seeking to know the truth, or by one who has long known the way of righteousness, because the manifestation of such desire is expressed opposition to God, and must alienate the heart, more or less, from Him.
2. The efforts made by us to realize what we desire, but ought not to receive at the time and in the way we wish, are generally unfavourable to religion, if they do not undermine and dissipate it. That which is desired, when realized, being realized under such circumstances, must be injurious rather than helpful to a life of religion, because you have a wish fulfilled in opposition to Gods will–a good received which is not good for you, and this which you desired, and now possess, comes between your soul and God, between your spiritual need and your greatest good. No wonder, then, that you lose interest in religion, tire of the ways of piety, and that your zeal and love and devotion decline, your joys diminish, and your hopes become darkened.
II. The general application of this law. And here comes before us the appalling fact that the law is universal, unvarying and potent; and we can escape it only by submitting our desires and requests to God, and by acquiescing in all His arrangements.
1. This law applies to individuals, whatever be the positions they occupy, or the circumstances by which they are surrounded.
2. This law operates not only in individuals, but in communities, in nations. Let a people thirst for glory, for distinction, for conquest, let them desire to be in advance of all other nations, and all this without consulting Gods will or seeking His glory. Such a nation may realize their desires, but it is more than probable that the manners and lives of the people will be corrupted, and that religious life will sink to a low ebb or pass away altogether.
3. This law is true in respect to churches. Let a people desire a grand and imposing structure for its own sake, to gratify their vanity and pride, and to place them in advance of the churches in the locality, their ambition may be gratified, but it is more than probable that their religious life will wane, and it will be a great mercy if they have not to say in reference to their religion, The glory has departed.
III. The teaching of this law.
1. There is much in this world good in itself that we can well do without.
2. Every supposed good does not, when realized, answer all our expectations. All is not gold that glitters. Lot knew something of this by a prolonged sojourn in Sodom.
3. It is better to be without the seeming good and retain our piety and interest in religion than to realize that good and lose the freshness and vigour of spiritual things, and endanger our everlasting well-being.
4. We should learn to submit all our desires to God.
5. Let us remember that with an increase of material good we require a corresponding measure of Divine grace.
6. In how many the text has been or will be even everlastingly fulfilled. May our desires be controlled and sanctified by our Father in heaven, and we be ever able to say, Not my will, but Thine be done. (John James.)
Soul leanness
I. As existing in connection with material prosperity.
1. This combination is general. Everywhere we see great material prosperity associated with spiritual destitution–great physical feasting and spiritual starving, great material wealth and spiritual pauperism.
2. This combination is deplorable. A sadder sight to a holy eye there cannot be than an individual, family, nation, surrounded with material abundance, and yet lean in soul, matter governing mind–bodies living tombs of souls.
II. As existing because of material prosperity. Why should material prosperity bring spiritual leanness?
1. Not because it is Divinely designed to do so. God does not make a man materially rich in order spiritually to starve him. The design of all His goodness to man is to lead him to repentance.
2. Not because there is any inherent tendency to do so. A man in possession of an abundance of material good is supplied with abundance of motives and facilities that tend to spiritual excellence. A condition of material prosperity is, we think, more favourable in itself to a cultivation of spiritual goodness than that of material poverty. The man of a well-fed body is especially bound to have a well-fed soul; the man with material wealth is especially bound to secure spiritual treasures. But in the case before us the material prosperity was the cause of spiritual leanness, and why? Because the material good was sought as the chief end. How general this is here in our England in this age! Desire for wealth is the all-absorbing passion, and hence souls are morally lean and dwarfed. (Homilist.)
Short-sighted supplications
I. God has in all ages revealed Himself as the hearer and answerer of prayer. The Lord has not only heard the petitions of His people, and amply rewarded their faith in Him, but He has shown that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Just as the clouds of the skies which ascend from the earth in impalpable vapours, revisit the ground in rich and abundant showers, so prayer, which goes forth in weak and imperfect approaches to heaven, returns in full and enlarged answers. No human creature can believe, said Luther, how powerful is prayer, and what it is able to effect, except those who have learned by experience. Perhaps there is no one direction in which the fruit of successful prayer is so distinctly discernible as in the great sacred peace which it produces in the heart of the suppliant.
II. The wisdom and mercy of God are as real in the delays and even the denials of prayer as in the answers He graciously vouchsafes. Moses earnestly entreated that He might go into the good land, but it was denied him; yet the Lord showed him the earthly country, and then took him to the better land. David prayed for the life of Bathshebas child, but he prevailed not; yet his God heard his prayer, and gave him a son honourably born, and rarely endowed. As in the Saviours dealings with the Syrophoenician woman; beneath the Lords seeming, No, so to us often there is hidden a better Yes than we have dared to hope or to think. Paul prayed that the thorn in the flesh might be removed; but he had to learn that the all-sustaining support of Gods grace is better than exemption from suffering and trial. When our petitions seem changed in the answers we receive to them, it is for our good always. Leighton says, God regards our well more than our will.
III. We may well expend our chief importunity on the best gifts, since we have the promise that all other things shall be added thereunto. Covet earnestly the best gifts. These are enjoyments which are congenial to our spiritual nature: they afford real solid satisfaction, their possession is perpetual, they ennoble and dignify us, they make their subject a blessing to men and glorious to God. In their pursuit we cannot be too earnest, ambitious, or covetous.
IV. Worldly good is dearly purchased at the cost of spiritual gain. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls. Many a well-spread table has proved a snare, a trap, and a stumbling-block–often injury to health is the price paid for the poor gratification, or else satisfaction and delight in the enjoyment are removed. Worse still is the case of the unhappy victim who finds worldly enjoyments to be an oil feeding the fires of corruption, which might otherwise have been extinguished. It is natural to us to desire a large measure of worldly prosperity, the gratification of our wishes, and the increase of our possessions. It is gracious to be willing to defer all to the Divine disposal, in the conviction that nothing can be a blessing which is injurious to the soul. (W. G. Lewis.)
Our own way not the best way
It is an awful circumstance, and yet it is true, that our mercies may be our curses; that our desire may prove our ruin. It may strike some of you that it is a harsh, or at least a mysterious feature of the Divine dealings with us that tie may give us, or may permit us to acquire, what will work in us and for us sore mischief; and that it would be more merciful to withhold from us whatever will injure us. But let us see for a moment how far such a principle would carry us. It should be quite enough for us to know that whatsoever God doeth is right. This indeed is involved in our very conception of God, if we invest Him with the attributes of infinite wisdom, justice, and goodness. We can be more certain of the fact that God acts wisely and best, than we can be certain that our interpretations are right of any act of His that seems hard and cruel. Not to believe and trust Him where we cannot comprehend Him, is not to believe and trust Him at all, but to make our own reason the measure of our faith. If, then, we see His gifts becoming curses instead of blessings, let us not accuse Him because they are His gifts. As all mans toil is profitless without the blessing of God, so it may be said, when man succeeds in his labours and endeavours after any fancied good, God gives him his request. We have now to look at the other side of this picture. The man, you will say, who has obtained the object of his desire, whether through prayer or toil, ought to be happy. Who would not envy him? He sows and reaps abundantly; He casts his nets into the sea, and brings them up full of fish; all his bargains end in gain, he might have in his possession the philosophers stone which turns all it touches into gold. But there is a dark set-off against all this. When you come to look down through the mans circumstances into himself, you find what the psalmist here terms leanness; and by leanness he means waste, emaciation, loss of strength and beauty; the leanness you sometimes see in a body when there is some fatal mischief at work which prevents the assimilation of the food, and day by day reduces the man until the spirit seems ready to leave its frail tenement. What is this leanness of soul? How shall we discover its presence in ourselves or in others?
1. By its trust in outward things. Grace is needed by every man, but great grace is needed by the man who gets his request. It is not easy to carry a full cup, to walk with a steady head and unfaltering step on the high places of prosperity, to have many of Gods earthly blessings, and yet to trust in God alone. The eclipsing power of success is fearful.
2. Another symptom of spiritual leanness, and one of the results of having our request, is self-pleasing. How many men there are who have been earnest labourers in the vineyard of Christ during the early years of their life while they were comparatively poor, but who now are seen nowhere among the vines, who are digging nowhere, planting nowhere, pruning nowhere, training nowhere. And it is not that sickness has disabled them, it is not that old age has called them to enjoy its well-merited rest, it is not that the arrangements of providence have precluded all further active toil. It is nothing but the melancholy consequence of their having received their request. Their very success has been their snare.
3. I will mention but one more symptom, or rather class of symptoms, which may be all ranged under one head, loss of sympathy with all that helps to build up the spiritual life. Is it possible to lose this sympathy? Possible–do we need to ask it? Is it not our besetting danger? Are we not warned against it? Have we not known it? Our text speaks to us as with the voice of a trumpet, and rings out the great and impressive truth that we cannot be too guarded in our petitions, or in our desires for merely temporal things. It is certain that in Scripture we have no encouragement to ask for any great measure of them. The necessaries seem to define the limit, for in that Divine scheme of prayer our Saviour has left us we find the modest petition, Give us this day our daily bread. Beyond these necessaries all else should be sought in very humble and willing subordination to the will of God. For who of us knows what beyond these is good for us? (E. Mellor, D.D.)
Prayer for wrong things
Chactas, the blind old sachem in Chateaubriands Wertherion romance, is made to bring the story to an end by relating a parable to his woe-fraught young listener. It tells how the Meschacebe, soon after leaving its source among the hills, began to feel weary of being a simple brook, and so asked for snows from the mountains, water from the torrents, rain from the tempests, until, its petitions granted, it burst its bounds and ravaged its hitherto delightsome banks. At first the proud stream exulted in its force, but seeing ere long that it carried desolation in its flow, that its progress was now doomed to solitude, and that its waters were for ever turbid, it came to regret the humble bed hollowed out for it by nature, the birds, the flowers, the trees, and the brooks, hitherto the modest companions of its tranquil course. (F. Jacox.)
Prosperity and degeneration
A striking incident illustrating the liberty one feels when trusting Christ implicitly to supply all his needs is here related: A rich lady, when asked by her pastor to help a cause dear to her heart in her previous comparative poverty, and to which she gave one pound then, proffered him five shillings. Her pastor called her attention to the surprising and ominous change. Ah, said she, when day by day I had to look to God for my daily bread, I had enough and to spare; now I have to look to my ample income, and I am all the time haunted with the fear of losing it and coming to want. I had the guinea heart when I had the shilling means; now I have the guinea means and the shilling heart. (Christian Age.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. They soon forgat his works] Three days afterwards, at the waters of Marah, Ex 15:24.
They waited not for his counsel] They were impatient, and would not wait till God should in his own way fulfil his own designs.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Soon; even within three days, Exo 15:22,23.
They waited not for his counsel; they did not wait patiently and believingly upon God for supplies from his hand, in such manner and time as he in his own counsel had appointed and thought fit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13-15. The faith induced byGod’s display of power in their behalf was short lived, and their newrebellion and temptation was visited by God with fresh punishment,inflicted by leaving them to the result of their own gratifiedappetites, and sending on them spiritual poverty (Nu11:18).
They soon forgatliterally,”They hasted, they forgat” (compare Ex32:8). “They have turned aside quickly (or, hastily)out of the way.” The haste of our desires is such that we canscarcely allow God one day. Unless He immediately answers our call,instantly then arise impatience, and at length despair.
his works (Deu 11:3;Deu 11:4; Dan 9:14).
his counselThey waitednot for the development of God’s counsel, or plan for theirdeliverance, at His own time, and in His own way.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They soon forgat his works,…. The miracles he wrought in Egypt, the deliverance of them from thence with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, and the leading them through the Red sea as on dry land, and destroying all their enemies; all these they soon forgot, for they had gone but three days’ journey into the wilderness after this, ere they began to murmur and show distrust of the power and providence of God, Ex 15:22, it is in the Hebrew text, “they made haste, they forgat his works” o; as soon as they were out of Egypt, they were for entering into the land of Canaan at once, and were much displeased that they were not immediately led into it.
They waited not for his counsel; they did not ask counsel of God, though it belongs to him, and he is wonderful in it, and does all things after the counsel of his own will; nor would they take it when given by Moses and Joshua; they did not choose to wait his time and way of working; they were for limiting the Holy One of Israel to their time and way; they were for being in the land of Canaan before his time; and were for eating flesh, when it was his counsel to feed on manna he provided for them every day.
o “festinaverunt, obliti sunt”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The first of the principal sins on the other side of the Red Sea was the unthankful, impatient, unbelieving murmuring about their meat and drink, Psa 106:13-15. For what Psa 106:13 places foremost was the root of the whole evil, that, falling away from faith in God’s promise, they forgot the works of God which had been wrought in confirmation of it, and did not wait for the carrying out of His counsel. The poet has before his eye the murmuring for water on the third day after the miraculous deliverance (Exo 15:22-24) and in Rephidim (Exo 17:2). Then the murmuring for flesh in the first and second years of the exodus which was followed by the sending of the quails (Ex. 16 and Num. 11), together with the wrathful judgment by which the murmuring for the second time was punished ( Kibroth ha – Ta’avah , Num 11:33-35). This dispensation of wrath the poet calls (lxx, Vulgate, and Syriac erroneously , perhaps , nourishment), inasmuch as he interprets Num 11:33-35 of a wasting disease, which swept away the people in consequence of eating inordinately of the flesh, and in the expression (cf. Psa 78:31) he closely follows Isa 10:16. The “counsel” of God for which they would not wait, is His plan with respect to the time and manner of the help. , root Arab. hk , a weaker power of Arab. hq , whence also Arab. hkl , p. 111, hkm , p. 49 note 1, signifies prop. to make firm, e.g., a knot (cf. on Psa 33:20), and starting from this (without the intervention of the metaphor moras nectere , as Schultens thinks) is transferred to a firm bent of mind, and the tension of long expectation. The epigrammatic expression (plural of , Isa 45:12, for which codices, as also in Pro 23:3, Pro 23:6; Pro 24:1, the Complutensian, Venetian 1521, Elias Levita, and Baer have without the tonic lengthening) is taken from Num 11:4.
The second principal sin was the insurrection against their superiors, Psa 106:16-18. The poet has Num 16:1 in his eye. The rebellious ones were swallowed up by the earth, and their two hundred and fifty noble, non-Levite partisans consumed by fire. The fact that the poet does not mention Korah among those who were swallowed up is in perfect harmony with Num 16:25., Deu 11:6; cf. however Num 26:10. The elliptical in Psa 106:17 is explained from Num 16:32; Num 26:10.
The third principal sin was the worship of the calf, Psa 106:19-23. The poet here glances back at Ex. 32, but not without at the same time having Deu 9:8-12 in his mind; for the expression “in Horeb” is Deuteronomic, e.g., Deu 4:15; Deu 5:2, and frequently. Psa 106:20 is also based upon the Book of Deuteronomy: they exchanged their glory, i.e., the God who was their distinction before all peoples according to Deu 4:6-8; Deu 10:21 (cf. also Jer 2:11), for the likeness ( ) of a plough-ox (for this is pre-eminently called , in the dialects ), contrary to the prohibition in Deu 4:17. On Psa 106:21 cf. the warning in Deu 6:12. “Land of Cham” = Egypt, as in Psa 78:51; Psa 105:23, Psa 105:27. With in Psa 106:23 the expression becomes again Deuteronomic: Deu 9:25, cf. Exo 32:10. God made and also expressed the resolve to destroy Israel. Then Moses stepped into the gap (before the gap), i.e., as it were covered the breach, inasmuch as he placed himself in it and exposed his own life; cf. on the fact, besides Ex. 32, also Deu 9:18., Psa 10:10, and on the expression, Eze 22:30 and also Jer 18:20.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Provocation of Israel in the Wilderness. | |
13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: 14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. 15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. 16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD. 17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. 18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. 19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. 20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. 21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; 22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. 23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. 24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: 25 But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD. 26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: 27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. 28 They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. 29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. 30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. 31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. 32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: 33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
This is an abridgment of the history of Israel’s provocations in the wilderness, and of the wrath of God against them for those provocations: and this abridgment is abridged by the apostle, with application to us Christians (1 Cor. x. 5, c.) for these things were written for our admonition, that we sin not like them, lest we suffer like them.
I. The cause of their sin was disregard to the works and word of God, v. 13. 1. They minded not what he had done for them: They soon forgot his works, and lost the impressions they had made upon them. Those that do not improve God’s mercies to them, nor endeavour in some measure to render according to the benefit done unto them, do indeed forget them. This people soon forgot them (God took notice of this, Exod. xxxii. 8, They have turned aside quickly): They made haste, they forgot his works (so it is in the margin), which some make to be two separate instances of their sin. They made haste; their expectations anticipated God’s promises; they expected to be in Canaan shortly, and because they were not they questioned whether they should ever be there and quarrelled with all the difficulties they met with in their way; whereas he that believeth does not make haste, Isa. xxviii. 16. And, withal, they forgot his works, which were the undeniable evidences of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and denied the conclusion as confidently as if they had never seen the premises proved. This is mentioned again (Psa 106:21; Psa 106:22): They forgot God their Saviour; that is, they forgot that he had been their Saviour. Those that forget the works of God forget God himself, who makes himself known by his works. They forgot what was done but a few days before, which we may suppose they could not but talk of, even then, when, because they did not make a good use of it, they are said to forget it: it was what God did for them in Egypt, in the land of Ham, and by the Red Sea, things which we at this distance cannot, or should not, be unmindful of. They are called great things (for, though the great God does nothing mean, yet he does some things that are in a special manner great), wondrous works, out of the common road of Providence, therefore observable, therefore memorable, and terrible things, awful to them, and dreadful to their enemies, and yet soon forgotten. Even miracles that were seen passed away with them as tales that are told. 2. They minded not what God had said to them nor would they depend upon it: They waited not for his counsel, did not attend his word, though they had Moses to be his mouth to them; they took up resolves about which they did not consult him and made demands without calling upon him. They would be in Canaan directly, and had not patience to tarry God’s time. The delay was intolerable, and therefore the difficulties were looked upon as insuperable. This is explained (v. 24): They believed not his word, his promise that he would make them masters of Canaan; and (v. 25), They hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, who gave them counsel which they would not wait for, not only by Moses and Aaron, but by Caleb and Joshua, Num 14:6; Num 14:7, c. Those that will not wait for God’s counsel shall justly be given up to their own hearts’ lusts, to walk in their own counsels.
II. Many of their sins are here mentioned, together with the tokens of God’s displeasure which they fell under for those sins.
1. They would have flesh, and yet would not believe that God could give it to them (<i>v. 14): They lusted a lust (so the word is) in the wilderness; there, where they had bread enough and to spare, yet nothing would serve them but they must have flesh to eat. They were now purely at God’s finding, being supported entirely by miracles, so that this was a reflection upon the wisdom and goodness of their Creator. They were also, in all probability, within a step of Canaan, yet had not patience to stay for dainties till they came thither. They had flocks and herds of their own, but they will not kill them; God must give them flesh as he gave them bread, or they will never give him credit, or their good word. They did not only wish for flesh, but they lusted exceedingly after it. A desire, even of lawful things, when it is inordinate and violent, becomes sinful; and therefore this is called lusting after evil things (1 Cor. x. 6), though the quails, as God’s gift, were good things, and were so spoken of, Ps. cv. 40. Yet this was not all: They tempted God in the desert, where they had had such experience of his goodness and power, and questioned whether he could and would gratify them herein. See Psa 78:19; Psa 78:20. Now how did God show his displeasure against them for this. We are told how (v. 15): He gave them their request, but gave it them in anger, and with a curse, for he sent leanness into their soul; he filled them with uneasiness of mind, and terror of conscience, and a self-reproach, occasioned by their bodies being sick with the surfeit, such as sometimes drunkards experience after a great debauch. Or this is put for that great plague with which the Lord smote them, while the flesh was yet between their teeth, as we read, Num. xi. 33. It was the consumption of the life. Note, (1.) What is asked in passion is often given in wrath. (2.) Many that fare deliciously every day, and whose bodies are healthful and fat, have, at the same time, leanness in their souls, no love to God, no thankfulness, no appetite to the bread of life, and then the soul must needs be lean. Those wretchedly forget themselves that feast their bodies and starve their souls. Then God gives the good things of this life in love, when with them he gives grace to glorify him in the use of them; for then the soul delights itself in fatness, Isa. lv. 2.
2. They quarrelled with the government which God had set over them both in church and state (v. 16): They envied Moses his authority in the camp, as generalissimo of the armies of Israel and chief justice in all their courts; they envied Aaron his power, as saint of the Lord, consecrated to the office of high priest, and Korah would needs put in for the pontificate, while Dathan and Abiram, as princes of the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son, would claim to be chief magistrates, by the so-much-admired right of primogeniture. Note, Those are preparing ruin for themselves who envy those whom God has put honour upon and usurp the dignities they were never designed for. And justly will contempt be poured upon those who put contempt upon any of the saints of the Lord. How did God show his displeasure for this? We are told how, and it is enough to make us tremble (Psa 106:17; Psa 106:18); we have the story, Num 16:32; Num 16:35. (1.) Those that flew in the face of the civil authority were punished by the earth, which opened and swallowed them up, as not fit to go upon God’s ground, because they would not submit to God’s government. (2.) Those that would usurp the ecclesiastical authority in things pertaining to God suffered the vengeance of heaven, for fire came out from the Lord and consumed them, and the pretending sacrificers were themselves sacrificed to divine justice. The flame burnt up the wicked; for though they vied with Aaron, the saint of the Lord, for holiness (Num 16:3; Num 16:5), yet God adjudged them wicked, and as such cut them off, as in due time he will destroy the man of sin, that wicked one, notwithstanding his proud pretensions to holiness.
3. They made and worshipped the golden calf, and this in Horeb, where the law was given, and where God had expressly said, Thou shalt neither make any graven image nor bow down to it; they did both: They made a calf and worshipped it, v. 19.
(1.) Herein they bade defiance to, and put an affront upon, the two great lights which God has made to rule the moral world:– [1.] That of human reason; for they changed their glory, their God, at least the manifestation of him, which always had been in a cloud (either a dark cloud or a bright one), without any manner of visible similitude, into the similitude of Apis, one of the Egyptian idols, an ox that eateth grass, than which nothing could be more grossly and scandalously absurd, v. 20. Idolaters are perfectly besotted, and put the greatest disparagement possible both upon God, in representing him by the image of a beast, and upon themselves, in worshipping it when they have so done. That which is here said to be the changing of their glory is explained by St. Paul (Rom. i. 23) to be the changing of the glory of the incorruptible God. [2.] That of divine revelation, which was afforded to them, not only in the words God spoke to them, but in the works he wrought for them, wondrous works, which declared aloud that the Lord Jehovah is the only true and living God and is alone to be worshipped, Psa 106:21; Psa 106:22.
(2.) For this God showed his displeasure by declaring the decree that he would cut them off from being a people, as they had, as far as lay in their power, in effect cut him off from being a God; he spoke of destroying them (v. 23), and certainly he would have done it if Moses, his chosen, had not stood before him in the breach (v. 23), if he had not seasonably interposed to deal with God as an advocate about the breach or ruin God was about to devote them to and wonderfully prevailed to turn away his wrath. See here the mercy of God, and how easily his anger is turned away, even from a provoking people. See the power of prayer, and the interest which God’s chosen have in heaven. See a type of Christ, God’s chosen, his elect, in whom his soul delights, who stood before him in the breach to turn away his wrath from a provoking world, and ever lives, for this end, making intercession.
4. They gave credit to the report of the evil spies concerning the land of Canaan, in contradiction to the promise of God (v. 24): They despised the pleasant land. Canaan was a pleasant land, Deut. viii. 7. They undervalued it when they thought it not worth venturing for, no, not under the guidance of God himself, and therefore were for making a captain and returning to Egypt again. They believed not God’s word concerning it, but murmured in their tents, basely charging God with a design upon them in bringing them thither that they might become a prey to the Canaanites, Num 14:2; Num 14:3. And, when they were reminded of God’s power and promise, they were so far from hearkening to that voice of the Lord that they attempted to stone those who spoke to them, Num. xiv. 10. The heavenly Canaan is a pleasant land. A promise is left us of entering into it; but there are many that despise it, that neglect and refuse the offer of it, that prefer the wealth and pleasure of this world before it, and grudge the pains and hazards of this life to obtain that. This also was so displeasing to God that he lifted up his hand against them, in a way of threatening, to destroy them in the wilderness; nay, in a way of swearing, for he swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest (Psa 95:11; Num 14:28); nay, and he threatened that their children also should be overthrown and scattered (Psa 106:26; Psa 106:27), and the whole nation dispersed and disinherited; but Moses prevailed for mercy for their seed, that they might enter Canaan. Note, Those who despise God’s favours, and particularly the pleasant land, forfeit his favours, and will be shut out for ever from the pleasant land.
5. They were guilty of a great sin in the matter of Peor; and this was the sin of the new generation, when they were within a step of Canaan (v. 28): They joined themselves to Baal-peor, and so were entangled both in idolatry and in adultery, in corporeal and in spiritual whoredom, Num. xxv. 1-3. Those that did often partake of the altar of the living God now ate the sacrifices of the dead, of the idols of Moab (that were dead images, or dead men canonized or deified), or sacrifices to the infernal deities on the behalf of their dead friends. Thus they provoked God to anger with their inventions (v. 29), in contempt of him and his institutions, his commands, and his threatenings. The iniquity of Peor was so great that, long after, it is said, They were not cleansed from it, Josh. xxii. 17. God testified his displeasure at this, (1.) By sending a plague among them, which in a little time swept away 24,000 of those impudent sinners. (2.) By stirring up Phinehas to use his power as a magistrate for the suppressing of the sin and checking the contagion of it. He stood up in his zeal for the Lord of hosts, and executed judgment upon Zimri and Cozbi, sinners of the first rank, genteel sinners; he put the law in execution upon them, and this was a service so pleasing to God that upon it the plague was stayed, v. 30. By this, and some other similar acts of public justice on that occasion (Num 25:4; Num 25:5), the guilt ceased to be national, and the general controversy was let fall. When the proper officers did their duty God left it to them, and did not any longer keep the work in his own hands by the plague. Note, National justice prevents national judgments. But, Phinehas herein signalizing himself, a special mark of honour was put upon him, for what he did was counted to him for righteousness to all generations (v. 31), and, in recompence of it, the priesthood was entailed on his family. He shall make an atonement by offering up the sacrifices, who had so bravely made an atonement (so some read it, v. 30) by offering up the sinners. Note, It is the honour of saints to be zealous against sin.
6. They continued their murmurings to the very last of their wanderings; for in the fortieth year they angered God at the waters of strife (v. 32), which refers to that story, Num. xx. 3-5. And that which aggravated it now was that it went ill with Moses for their sakes; for, though he was the meekest of all the men in the earth, yet their clamours at that time were so peevish and provoking that they put him into a passion, and, having now grown very old and off his guard, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips (v. 33), and not as became him on that occasion; for he said in a heat, Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch water out of this rock for you? This was Moses’s infirmity, and is written for our admonition, that we may learn, when we are in the midst of provocation, to keep our mouth as with a bridle (Ps. xxxix. 1-3), and to take heed to our spirits, that they admit not resentments too much; for, when the spirit is provoked, it is much ado, even for those that have a great deal of wisdom and grace, not to speak unadvisedly. But it is charged upon the people as their sin: They provoked his spirit with that with which they angered God himself. Note, We must answer not only for our own passions, but for the provocation which by them we give to the passions of others, especially of those who, if not greatly provoked, would be meek and quiet. God shows his displeasure against this sin of theirs by shutting Moses and Aaron out of Canaan for their misconduct upon this occasion, by which, (1.) God discovered his resentment of all such intemperate heats, even in the dearest of his servants. If he deals thus severely with Moses for one unadvised word, what does their sin deserve who have spoken so many presumptuous wicked words? If this was done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (2.) God deprived them of the blessing of Moses’s guidance and government at a time when they most needed it, so that his death was more a punishment to them than to himself. It is just with God to remove those relations from us that are blessings to us, when we are peevish and provoking to them and grieve their spirits.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
In order to point out the inconstancy of the people, he says, they made haste Some explain this in the following manner, namely, that after they had set out on their journey, they hastened to come to the place called Marah. This, however, is to give a very tame representation of the emphatic style in which the prophet speaks, when severely reprehending their hasty and headlong departure from the way, in that they believed only for a very short time, and speedily forgot God’s works; for they had only journeyed three days from their passage through the sea till they came to Marah, and yet they began to murmur against God, because they could not procure pleasant waters. (245) Meantime, we must here observe what we have seen elsewhere, that the alone cause why men are so ungrateful towards God, is their despising of his benefits. Were the remembrance of these to take fast hold of our hearts, it would serve as a bridle to keep us in his fear. The prophet declares what their transgression was, namely, that they did not suspend their desires till a fitting opportunity occurred for granting them. The insatiable nature of our desires is astonishing, in that scarcely a single day is allowed to God to gratify them. For should he not immediately satisfy them, we at once become impatient, and are in danger of eventually falling into despair. This, then, was the fault of the people, that they did not cast all their cares upon God, did not calmly call upon him, nor wait patiently until he was pleased to answer their requests, but rushed forward with reckless precipitation, as if they would dictate to God what he was to do. And, therefore, to heighten the criminality of their rash course, he employs the term counsel; because men will neither allow God to be possessed of wisdom, nor do they deem it proper to depend upon his counsel, but are more provident than becomes them, and would rather rule God than allow themselves to be ruled by him according to his pleasure. That we may be preserved from provoking God, let us ever retain this principle, That it is our duty to let him provide for us such things as he knows will be for our advantage. And verily, faith divesting us of our own wisdom, enables us hopefully and quietly to wait until God accomplish his own work; whereas, on the contrary, our carnal desire always goes before the counsel of God, by its too great haste.
(245) The history to which reference is here made is recorded in Exo 15:0 We read in the 22 verse of that chapter, that the Israelites “went out into the wilderness of Shur, and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.” They then came to Marah, where there was abundance of water; but it was so bitter that they could not drink of it. Being thus disappointed in the hopes with which the first sight of these waters inspired them, they murmured against Moses, and said, “ What shall we drink ?” How rapid the transition from gratitude and praise to discontent and murmuring! No sooner did a new trouble befall that people, than they forthwith yielded to impatience, forgat the long series of miracles which had been wrought for their deliverance from Egypt, and distrusting God, appeared to be at once prepared to break out in rebellion against him and Moses their leader.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) They waited not . . .They could not wait for the natural and orderly outcome of the counsel of God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(13-33) These twenty verses cover the desert wanderings, beginning with the discontented spirit mentioned in Exo. 15:23.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. They soon forgat his works Three days’ march from their encampment on the east shore of the Red sea brought them to Marah, ( now Hawarah,) a distance of about thirty-six miles, where they murmured against Moses. Exo 15:22-24.
They waited not for his counsel Here lay their perpetual fault and folly. Unbelief assumed that God had no settled plan and foresight as to their wants, and viewed everything from the standpoint of human ignorance and selfishness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 106:13. They waited not for his counsel They did not wait his providence. Mudge. The LXX render it, They did not obey his counsel.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 106:13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
Ver. 13. They soon forgat his works ] Heb. They made haste, they forgat. This is an aggravating circumstance. See Gal 1:6 Exo 32:8 Deu 9:16 .
They waited not for his counsel
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 106:13-15
13They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14But craved intensely in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.
Psa 106:13-15 This strophe is theologically tied to the previous one (Psa 106:6-12). Israel’s repentance, confession, and belief did not last.
The structural features of Psa 106:6-12 are repeated.
1. their acts, Psa 106:13-14
a. they quickly forgot (often a warning, cf. Deu 4:9; Deu 6:12; Deu 8:14; Psa 103:2) His word (cf. Psa 106:24)
b. they did not wait for His counsel
c. they craved intensely (Num 11:4)
2. YHWH’s response
a. He gave them their evil desires (i.e., food, cf. Num 11:4-6; Num 11:31; Psa 78:29-31; also note Rom 1:24; Rom 1:26; Rom 1:28)
b. He sent a wasting disease (cf. Num 11:33; see a good brief discussion in Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, p. 136)
Psa 106:14 And tempted God in the desert This verb (BDB 650, KB 702, Piel imperfect with waw) is used to describe Israel’s unbelief during the exodus and wandering period (i.e., in the desert). This unbelief is expressed by their attacks on YHWH’s leadership team (i.e., Moses and Aaron, cf. Exo 5:21; Exo 14:11; Exo 15:24; Exo 16:2; Exo 17:2-3; Exo 32:1; Num 11:1; Num 11:4; Num 14:1-2; Num 21:5; Psa 106:16). This very verb is used in Exo 17:2; Exo 17:7; Num 14:22; Deu 6:16; Deu 33:8; Psa 78:18; Psa 78:41; Psa 78:56; Psa 95:9.
It is interesting to note that several times this verb is used of God testing His people (cf. Gen 22:1; Exo 15:25; Exo 16:4; Exo 20:20; Deu 8:2; Deu 8:16; Deu 13:3; Jdg 2:22; Jdg 3:1; Jdg 3:4; see SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD TESTS HIS PEOPLE .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
soon forgat. Characteristic of human nature.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 106:13-15
Psa 106:13-15
SIN NO. 2
This was the first of the sins of Israel on the eastward side of the Red Sea. “It was their ungrateful, unthankful, impatient, unbelieving murmuring about their food and drink.
“They soon forgat his works;
They waited not for his counsel.
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
And he gave them their request;
But sent leanness into their soul.”
There is a reference here to the murmuring and complaining of Israel regarding food and drink.
“He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul” (Psa 106:15). As Barnes noted, a similar thing can happen today in individuals and churches who, “In the gratification of their desires for temporal success, may forget their dependence upon God. When the prayers of God’s saints are answered, and material prosperity comes to them, they should also pray that God will enable them properly to use such blessings, “That they may not be a curse but a blessing.
E.M. Zerr
Psa 106:13. Scarcely had they reached the east shore of the sea when they forgot the wonderful works of God. They murmured because of the unsavory taste of the water. Waited not for his counsel means they “jumped to the conclusion” that they were to suffer for want of drinking water, without waiting to seek counsel or instruction from God.
Psa 106:14. Even after this emergency was met, the people continued to complain and call for further things of life that they claimed they needed to preserve themselves.
Psa 106:15. God gave the Israelites the quail for flesh because of their murmuring. Sent leanness refers to the sickness that came upon them even while they were eating the food. See the account of this in Num 11:31-33.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
They soon forgat: Heb. They made haste, they forgat, Three days afterwards, at the waters of Marah. Psa 78:11, Exo 15:17, Exo 15:24, Exo 16:2, Exo 17:7
waited: Pro 1:25, Pro 1:30, Isa 48:17, Isa 48:18
Reciprocal: Exo 4:31 – believed Exo 14:31 – believed Exo 16:28 – General Num 16:41 – all the 1Sa 12:18 – feared 1Sa 14:19 – Withdraw 2Ch 24:2 – Joash Neh 9:17 – mindful Psa 9:17 – forget Psa 78:17 – General Psa 78:35 – remembered Psa 78:36 – Nevertheless Psa 81:11 – people Psa 106:21 – forgat Isa 17:10 – thou hast Jer 7:25 – the day Eze 16:43 – thou hast Eze 20:13 – rebelled Hos 2:13 – forgat Hos 6:4 – for Mat 13:20 – anon Mar 6:20 – and heard Luk 17:17 – but Luk 17:18 – to give Luk 19:37 – the whole Act 8:13 – believed Act 13:18 – about 1Co 15:2 – unless Gal 1:6 – so
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 106:13-15. They soon forgat his works Even within three days, Exo 15:22, and lost the impressions those works had made upon them. They that do not improve Gods mercies to them, nor endeavour, in some measure, to render to him according to the benefits done unto them, do indeed forget them. Hebrew, , meharu shachechu, they made haste, they forgat. So the margin. They turned aside quickly, as it is said Exo 32:8. Or the words may be meant to signify two instances of their sin. 1st, They made haste So as to anticipate Gods promises in their expectations; they expected to be in Canaan presently, and, because they were not, they questioned whether they should ever be there; grew impatient, looked upon themselves as neglected, and given over to destruction, forgetting those works which were undeniable evidences of Gods wisdom, power, and goodness: and hence they quarrelled with all the difficulties which they met with in their way: they waited not for his counsel They did not wait patiently and believingly upon God for such supplies from his hand, and in such manner and time as he, in his counsel, had appointed. But lusted exceedingly Namely, for flesh. And he gave them their request But gave it them in anger, and with a curse, for he sent leanness into their souls Or, into their bodies; as many commentators understand the expression. Their inordinate desire of pampering their bodies was the occasion of their being destroyed. This may refer to that great plague with which the Lord smote them while the flesh was yet within their teeth. Some translate the clause, He thinned their numbers, namely, by death. The word , nephesh, however, may be understood of the soul, properly so called; for their inordinate desire of flesh, and their eating to excess, were of course followed with uneasiness of mind, terror of conscience, and self-reproach, destructive of all confidence toward God, love to him, thankfulness for his mercies, and appetite for the bread of life; the consequence of which must, figuratively speaking, be leanness of soul.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
106:13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his {g} counsel:
(g) The would prevent his wisdom and providence.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The writer did not recount Israel’s rebellions in the wilderness in strict chronological sequence. His concern was to build from less serious acts of rebellion to greater ones, evidently for the emotional effect this would produce in the reader.
Psa 106:13-15 describe the rebellion at Kibroth-hattaavah when the Israelites demanded meat and God sent them quails (Num 11:4-34; cf. Lot, and the Prodigal Son). Psa 106:16-18 recall the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram against Moses (Numbers 16). Psa 106:19-23 refer to the golden calf incident at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32). "Their glory" (Psa 106:20) refers to Yahweh.
"The first failure involved the lusts of the flesh and the second involved the pride of life (see 1Jn 2:15-17). The third failure, the worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32; Deu 9:8-29), involved the lust of the eyes." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 285.]
Psa 106:24-27 speak of Israel’s refusal to enter the Promised Land from Kadesh Barnea when the spies returned and gave their discouraging report (Num 13:26-33). Psa 106:28-31 refer to Israel’s participation in the pagan worship feast of the Moabites, another flagrant departure from faithful allegiance to Yahweh (Numbers 25). Psa 106:32-33 describe the rebellion at Meribah Kadesh when the people so aggravated Moses that he struck the rock rather than just speaking to it (Num 20:2-13).
"In summary, except for Phinehas’s action and God’s patience and grace, the wilderness era, as the psalmists recall it, has few pleasant memories. Yet, it was a time from which Israel could receive much instruction, even from their ancestors’ disobedience, for their ongoing history and relationship to God." [Note: Bullock, p. 112.]
"As George Morrison wrote, ’The Lord took Israel out of Egypt in one night, but it took Him forty years to take Egypt out of Israel.’" [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 285.]