Today’s Scripture comes rom Psalm 106:6-48. Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+106&version=NASB
I quote only the following verses.
“6 We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses,
But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known.
9 Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up,
And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
10 So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.
13 They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14 But craved intensely in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15 So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.
16 When they became envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.
18 And a fire blazed up in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
20 Thus they exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe in His word,
25 But grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He swore to them
That He would cast them down in the wilderness,
27 And that He would cast their seed among the nations
And scatter them in the lands.
…
43 Many times He would deliver them;
They, however, were rebellious in their counsel,
And so sank down in their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He looked upon their distress
When He heard their cry;
45 And He remembered His covenant for their sake,
And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.
46 He also made them objects of compassion
In the presence of all their captors.
47 Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name
And glory in Your praise.
48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord!” Psalm 106:6-27 and 43-48.
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Other doctrine wants its own wisdom, free-will, and/or works to save itself.
But, Reformed Doctrine recognizes the depth of sin that is in man by its teaching of “Total Depravity”, that is, man is dead in sin, hostile to God, and enslaved to sin and Satan. “Total Depravity” is the “T” in “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.
Today’s Scripture shows that Israel continually sinned, grumbled, and rebelled against God, despite God’s great works for them, His commandments and other guidance, and His repeated deliverances of them.
“We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.” Verse 6.
Yet, other doctrine claims that it is merely wounded and only wants “a second chance”.
But, Reformed Doctrine knows that there is no hope in itself and there is no hope in “second chances”; it is dead in sin.
Reformed Doctrine knows that its only hope is for God to make it an object of compassion.
“46 He also made them objects of compassion
In the presence of all their captors.
47 Save us, O Lord our God, …” Verses 46-47.
This hope is consistent with Romans 9:15-18.
“For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” Romans 9:15-18.
And, God did make us “objects of compassion” through God’s “Unconditional Election”, the “U” in “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord!” Verse 48.
