Psalm 106:37
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
Sermons
The Nevertheless of God's MercyS. Conway Psalm 106:1-48
A Good Man Suffering for a CommunityHomilistPsalm 106:32-40
Sins of Eminent MenE. Judson, D.D.Psalm 106:32-40














(See Numbers 25:11-13.) "Phinehas, himself perhaps a judge in authority, became the type of a righteous zeal, exercising summary vengeance, informal and unbidden, against outrage on decency and on reverence for God" (Dr. Barry). "It is a picture of the one zealous man rising up from the midst of the inactive multitude, who sit still and make no effort." The incident occurred toward the close of the wanderings, when the Israelites were in the neighbourhood of Moab. Unable to gain the right to curse Israel - as Balsam wished, and as it would have paid him well to do - Balsam persuaded King Balak to allow free intercourse between his people and them. "Let the Israelites fall into immorality and sin, and then their God will destroy them, and your end will be accomplished." The scheme succeeded. The vice and iniquity of Israel was full in God's sight, and the immediate execution of the Divine judgment was commanded. Some great public act of vindication was called for; such a manifest upholding of the Divine authority and holiness as would make a sin-cover, occupy the Divine attention, gain the Divine approval, and be a basis on which judgment might be stayed. Phinehas was the man to do it. A flagrant case of unlawful intercourse had occurred, and when he saw the wicked couple he "rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel."

I. PHINEHAS WAS ZEALOUS FOR THE HONOUR OF JEHOVAH.

II. HIS PUBLIC ACT OF VINDICATION MADE A SIN-COVER.

III. BECAUSE OF THAT SIN-COVER, JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENT MIGHT BE STAYED. See, then, what we must look for in the great atonement, made for us by the Son of God, is some fitting vindication of the outraged honour of God our Father, and so restored relations. Reconciliation can only come with solemn honouring of God's authority and claim by some public act of loyalty. Scripture presents to us different things that made atonement. A man's prayer made atonement (case of Moses). An act of official duty made atonement (case of Aaron). An act of judgment made atonement (case of Phinehas). We are left to think what act of Christ's made atonement for us all. - R.T.

They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes.
Homilist.
I. A GOOD MAN SUFFERING FOR THE WRONGS OF A COMMUNITY (vers. 32, 33; Numbers 20:3, 10, 13).

1. The conduct of bad men has a strong tendency to disturb the moral temper of the good.(1) By disgusting the moral tastes.(2) By shaking the faith.(3) By disturbing self-control.

2. God holds the best men responsible for the loss of their moral temper. "So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes." He lost by it. Difficult as it may be for a good man to keep his temper undisturbed, it is his duty to do so, and under God he can do so. "In patience he should possess his soul." He should "trust in Him that liveth for ever." "None of these things move me," said Paul.

II. A COMMUNITY PURSUING ITS COURSE TO DESTRUCTION.

1. Instead of destroying the peoples, as God commanded, they fraternized with them (vers. 34, 35).

2. Instead of serving the one true living God, they engaged in the worship of idols (vers. 36-38).

(Homilist.)

It was the sin of one occupying a high official position. You know how in armies a sentinel who sleeps on the post is shot, because great matters are weighed in the balance, great interests are at stake. Why, the ancients used to have a plan of taking a builder, and if his building crumbled and fell, they would take away the ruins and bury him there, and let the next builder put the building up upon him. They held him accountable. Persons that are in positions of authority and of office are held severely to account. Just the same way with a policeman, whose duty it is to see that the law is observed; if he violates the law, he is held to sharpest account. And so we have Moses, the great law-giver. There was an appropriateness in the fact that the great law-giver should himself be held to sharpest and closest account when he himself violated the law of God.

(E. Judson, D.D.)

People
Aaron, Abiram, Baalpeor, Dathan, Ham, Phinehas, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Daughters, Demons, Destroyers, Devils, Evil, Offerings, Sacrifice, Sacrificed, Sons, Spirits, Yea, Yes
Outline
1. The psalmist exhorts to praise God
4. He prays for pardon of sin, as God pardoned the fathers
7. The story of the people's rebellion, and God's mercy
47. He concludes with prayer and praise

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 106:37

     4131   demons, kinds of

Psalm 106:13-39

     8705   apostasy, in OT

Psalm 106:33-48

     3272   Holy Spirit, in OT

Psalm 106:34-39

     7348   defilement

Psalm 106:35-38

     7332   child sacrifice

Psalm 106:36-37

     8138   monotheism

Psalm 106:36-39

     4132   demons, malevolence
     8807   profanity

Psalm 106:37-39

     8748   false religion

Library
June the Twelfth Waiting for the Spectacular
"The waves covered their enemies.... Then believed they His words." --PSALM cvi. 1-12. Their faith was born in a great emergency. A spectacular deliverance was needed to implant their trust in the Lord. They found no witness in the quiet daily providence; the unobtrusive miracle of daily mercy did not awake their song. They dwelt upon the "special" blessing, when all the time the really special blessing was to be found in the sleepless care which watched over them in their ordinary and commonplace
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Israel at the Red Sea
"A few more rolling years at most, Will land me on fair Canaan's coast.' And then I shall have no more warfare, no more fighting, no more disturbance; but I shall be at peace." "Not quite as thou desirest," says God. "Oh! thou little one; I have more to teach thee ere thou art prepared for my palace." Then he commences to lead us about, and bring us into straits and perils. The sins which we thought had utterly left us are hunting us behind, while impassible floods block up the way. Even trembling
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

Why are Men Saved?
"The hand that made us is Divine." If we listen to the rippling of the freshet at the mountain side, to the tumbling of the avalanche, to the lowing of the cattle, to the singing of the birds, to every voice and sound of nature, we shall hear this answer to the question, "God is our maker; he hath made us, and not we ourselves." The next question, as to design--Why were these things made?--is not so easy to answer, apart from Scripture; but when we look at Scripture we discover this fact--that as
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Sin: Its Spring-Head, Stream, and Sea
It may help us to escape out of the meshes of our natural depravity, if we look back and see the causes of our fathers' sins. To confess our personal sin will tend to keep us humble; and in view of the Lord's mercy, which has spared and pardoned us, a sense of our guilt will make us grateful. The less we think of ourselves the more we shall think of him whose "mercy endureth for ever"; and if we see where our fathers' sins began, and how they grew, and what they came to, we may hope that the Spirit
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

The Waters of Meribah
'Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4. And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Fourteenth Day. The Holy one of God.
Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.'--Luke i. 35. 'We have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.'--John vi. 69. 'The holy one of the Lord'--only once (Ps. cvi. 16) the expression is found in the Old Testament. It is spoken of Aaron, in whom holiness, as far as it could then be revealed, had found its most complete embodiment. The title waited for its fulfilment in Him who alone, in His own person, could perfectly show forth
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Man's Misery by the Fall
Q-19: WHAT IS THE MISERY OF THAT ESTATE WHEREINTO MAN FELL? A: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. 'And were by nature children of wrath.' Eph 2:2. Adam left an unhappy portion to his posterity, Sin and Misery. Having considered the first of these, original sin, we shall now advert to the misery of that state. In the first, we have seen mankind offending;
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Our Status.
"And he believed in the Lord: and he counted it to him for righteousness." --Gen. xv. 6. The right touches a man's status. So long as the law has not proven him guilty, has not convicted and sentenced him, his legal status is that of a free and law-abiding citizen. But as soon as his guilt is proven in court and the jury has convicted him, he passes from that into the status of the bound and law-breaking citizen. The same applies to our relation to God. Our status before God is that either of the
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Twenty Second Sunday after Trinity Paul's Thanks and Prayers for Churches.
Text: Philippians 1, 3-11. 3 I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy, 5 for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now; 6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my bonds
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Elucidations.
I. (Deadly Sins, cap. ix., p. 356.) To maintain a modern and wholly uncatholic system of Penitence, the schoolmen invented a technical scheme of sins mortal and sins venial, which must not be read into the Fathers, who had no such technicalities in mind. By "deadly sins" they meant all such as St. John recognizes (1 John v. 16-17) and none other; that is to say sins of surprise and infirmity, sins having in them no malice or wilful disobedience, such as an impatient word, or a momentary neglect of
Tertullian—The Five Books Against Marcion

Rest for the Weary
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. W hich shall we admire most -- the majesty, or the grace, conspicuous in this invitation? How soon would the greatest earthly monarch be impoverished, and his treasures utterly exhausted, if all, that are poor and miserable, had encouragement to apply freely to him, with a promise of relief, fully answerable to their wants and wishes! But the riches of Christ are unsearchable and inexhaustible. If millions and millions
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners:
A BRIEF AND FAITHFUL RELATION OF THE EXCEEDING MERCY OF GOD IN CHRIST TO HIS POOR SERVANT, JOHN BUNYAN; WHEREIN IS PARTICULARLY SHOWED THE MANNER OF HIS CONVERSION, HIS SIGHT AND TROUBLE FOR SIN, HIS DREADFUL TEMPTATIONS, ALSO HOW HE DESPAIRED OF GOD'S MERCY, AND HOW THE LORD AT LENGTH THROUGH CHRIST DID DELIVER HIM FROM ALL THE GUILT AND TERROR THAT LAY UPON HIM. Whereunto is added a brief relation of his call to the work of the ministry, of his temptations therein, as also what he hath met with
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Obedience
Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments.' Deut 27: 9, 10. What is the duty which God requireth of man? Obedience to his revealed will. It is not enough to hear God's voice, but we must obey. Obedience is a part of the honour we owe to God. If then I be a Father, where is my honour?' Mal 1: 6. Obedience carries in it the life-blood of religion. Obey the voice of the Lord
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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