Psalm 106:6–27

^6–12We’ve sinned a lot, both we and our parents;

We’ve fallen short, hurt a lot of people.

After our parents left Egypt,

they took your wonders for granted,

forgot your great and wonderful love.

They were barely beyond the Red Sea

when they defied the High God

—the very place he saved them!

—the place he revealed his amazing power!

He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot

—he paraded them right through!

—no one so much as got wet feet!

He saved them from a life of oppression,

pried them loose from the grip of the enemy.

Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors;

there wasn’t a single survivor.

Then they believed his words were true

and broke out in songs of praise.

^13–18But it wasn’t long before they forgot the whole thing,

wouldn’t wait to be told what to do.

They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert,

provoked God with their insistent demands.

He gave them exactly what they asked for—

but along with it they got an empty heart.

One day in camp some grew jealous of Moses,

also of Aaron, holy priest of God.

The ground opened and swallowed Dathan,

then buried Abiram’s gang.

Fire flared against that rebel crew

and torched them to a cinder.

^19–22They cast in metal a bull calf at Horeb

and worshiped the statue they’d made.

They traded the Glory

for a cheap piece of sculpture—a grass-chewing bull!

They forgot God, their very own Savior,

who turned things around in Egypt,

Who created a world of wonders in the Land of Ham,

who gave that stunning performance at the Red Sea.

^23–27Fed up, God decided to get rid of them—

and except for Moses, his chosen, he would have.

But Moses stood in the gap and deflected God’s anger,

prevented it from destroying them utterly.

They went on to reject the Blessed Land,

didn’t believe a word of what God promised.

They found fault with the life they had

and turned a deaf ear to God’s voice.

Exasperated, God swore

that he’d lay them low in the desert,

Scattering their children hither and yon,

strewing them all over the earth.