Psalms 106 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Bible Comments
  • Psalms 106:1-46 open_in_new

    This Psalm relates the story of God's mercy to Israel, of the people's provocation of Jehovah, and of his great patience with them. It commences with an exhortation to praise the Lord.

    Psalms 106:1. Praise ye the LORD.

    Or, «Hallelujah.» I cannot help remarking here that this is one of the most sacred words in the whole Bible, and it ought always to be pronounced with the utmost reverence. I sometimes feel my blood chill when I hear of «hallelujah lasses» and «hallelujah bonnets.» If those who use such expressions rightly understood the meaning of the word, they would not thus take the name of the Lord in vain?

    Psalms 106:1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

    As long as you and I are sinners, this will be one of the sweetest notes in our song of thanksgiving unto Jehovah: «His mercy endureth for ever.»

    Psalms 106:2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?

    Neither the angels nor the perfect spirits who day without night circle his throne rejoicing can show forth all Jehovah's praise.

    Psalms 106:3. Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

    There is great comfort in walking near to God; the way of peace, the way of blessing, is the way of righteousness; but, alas I my brethren, we do not always keep in that way as we should. The psalmist himself felt that he did not, therefore he prayed,

    Psalms 106:4. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

    He felt that he needed God's grace in all its saving power.

    Psalms 106:5. That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

    He longs to get in among the people of God. He wants to share the favor which God bestows upon them, the free grace which he manifests to them. He wants to be included in their election, to rejoice in their gladness, and to glory in their inheritance.

    Psalms 106:6-19. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;

    Very great wonders were wrought there when God's time came to set his people free from their cruel bondage. There was a marvellous display of power on God's part; yet the psalmist had to say, «Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;»-

    Psalms 106:7. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

    They had hardly started out of Egypt before they provoked Jehovah. They had only just caught sight of the rolling waters of the Red sea, when they began to murmur against God and against his servant, Moses.

    Psalms 106:8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake,

    Oh, is not that a grand word? Well might Jehovah say, «Not for your sakes do I this, O house of Israel.» He saved them for his own sake,

    Psalms 106:8. That he might make his mighty power to be known.

    Free grace finds in itself, not in us, its own motive, and discovers its own reason for acting on our behalf. God's reason for mercy is found in his mercy.

    Psalms 106:9-13. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel:

    Ah, me! Even the divided sea is soon forgotten; enemies walled up by water speedily pass from remembrance: «They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel:»

    Psalms 106:14-15. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

    I do not know of anything more dreadful than that, to be fattened without, and to be starved within; to have everything that heart could wish for, and yet not to have the best thing that the heart ought to wish for. May God save us from that appearance of prosperity which is only a veiled desolation!

    Psalms 106:16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

    These two men had done everything for the children of Israel; they had been the instruments in the hand of God of innumerable blessings to them; yet they envied Moses and Aaron.

    Psalms 106:17-18. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

    Jehovah's mercy did not melt the people's hard hearts, so perhaps the fear of his judgment would. God tried both methods with them, as he has done with us, for sometimes he has been very gracious to us, and at other times he has chastened us very sorely. He has tried the kiss and he has tried the blow. Yet what happened in the case of Israel?

    Psalms 106:19-22. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgot God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

    What was to become of such a people, provoking him again and again?

    Psalms 106:23. 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.

    How often has our blessed Mediator, who is far greater than Moses, stood before the Lord in the breach! How often has the great Husbandman said, concerning the fruitless tree, «Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?» And then that Divine Dresser of the vineyard has pleaded, «Let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it.» And here we are, still spared, and still blessed, through the intercession of God's chosen Mediator.

    Psalms 106:24. Yea, they despised the pleasant land,

    They said that the Canaan towards which they were traveling was not worth the trouble of getting to it: «They despised the pleasant land,»

    Psalms 106:24-28. They believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

    They began to study necromancy and spiritualism, and to join in the abominations of the worship of Baal.

    Psalms 106:29. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

    Now notice how something always happened to spare them from the destruction which they deserved.

    Psalms 106:30-31. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.

    Yet still they went on sinning against the Most High.

    Psalms 106:32-33. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

    Does it not seem remarkable that Moses, the true servant of God, was not spared from punishment when it was but a word that he spoke unadvisedly, yet still the mercy of God was continued to that provoking generation? Ah! that is always the way with our jealous God; those whom he loves best will be sure to feel his chastising rod, whatever happens to others. At last, the Israelites reached Canaan, they entered into the land that flowed with milk and honey; did that change their character? No; not in the least.

    Psalms 106:34-38. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

    Just think how low they had sunk; God's own people had come down to this, that they actually offered their own children in sacrifice to Moloch.

    Psalms 106:39-43. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them;

    You would not have expected to find such a sentence as that here; yet there it stands. Notwithstanding all that these people did, «many times did he deliver them;»

    Psalms 106:43-45. But they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

    Was there ever so strange a story as this, a story of provocation continued almost beyond belief, and yet of mercy which would not be overcome, of persevering love that would not turn aside?

    Psalms 106:46-48. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

    So the Psalm ends upon its key-note, «Hallehjah,» «Praise ye Jehovah.»

  • Psalms 106:1-47 open_in_new

    In this Psalm we have the story of God's ancient covenant people, and as we read it, we may read our own history in it if we also are his people. It is a looking-glass, in which the beholder may see himself.

    Psalms 106:1. Praise ye the LORD.

    The Psalm begins with Hallelujah, and the story of the Church is a succession of Hallelujahs; and the story of every Christian man's life concerning the wonderful forbearance of God to him is a series of Hallelujahs.

    Psalms 106:1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

    That is the text, and this Psalm is the sermon upon it, an exhibition of the goodness and ever-enduring mercy of God.

    Psalms 106:2-19. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

    These are the really blessed people, and we shall see, in this Psalm, how God's ancient people so often missed that blessing by their sin, as I doubt not that we also miss much of the sacred, sweet blessedness which would be ours if we walked more closely with God, and were more obedient to him.

    Psalms 106:4-19. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

    This is a suitable prayer for each one of us to pray before we go any further. May God hear the vies of his people as we each one seek the fivefold blessing!

    Psalms 106:6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

    God has dealt kindly and graciously with us, yet here is an all too true description of what we have done: «We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.»

    Psalms 106:7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt.

    Yet they were very plain, easy to understand, for they were the wonders of power that were wrought by God on behalf of his people; but they understood them not.

    Psalms 106:7. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies;

    They had bad memories as well as bad understandings, and it is so often with us, we remember not the multitude of God's mercies to us.

    Psalms 106:7. But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

    That was a bad beginning; they were only just out of Egypt, and they had not yet crossed the Red sea, but they provoked the Lord even there. Oh, how soon after our first joy does our evil nature betray itself!

    Psalms 106:8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

    He saved them, not for their own sakes, but for his name's sake, for the manifestation of his own power and glory. This is how God still deals with his children; not on the ground of their merits, but for the manifestation of his own mercy and grace toward them.

    Psalms 106:9-12. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

    I should think they did believe God's words when they could see his wonderful works, but it is a poor faith that needs prodigies to be wrought each hour or else it fails. No wonder they sang God's praise at the Red sea, but, exultant as the songs of Moses and Miriam were, even better is that praise which rises from a broken and contrite heart which the Lord has delivered out of its trouble.

    Psalms 106:13-15. 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.

    So it always is with us when we begin to let our desires outrun the will of God. He will sometimes let us discover our own folly by granting us our desires. The answer to some prayers would be a dire calamity. Some pray for riches, and they get them; but they also get leanness in their soul. Some ask for earthly honours and success, and get them, but with then they also get leanness in their soul; and if a man is lean in his soul, it is not much good being fat anywhere else.

    Psalms 106:16. They envied Moses also in the camp,

    Envy is a gaunt, lean, spectral thing; and when a soul is lean, it soon gets to be envious of others who are better than itself.

    Psalms 106:16-20. And Aaron the saint of the LORD. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

    What a descent it was to come down from worshipping the spiritual God who had wrought such wonders for them, to the adoration of «an ox that eateth grass.» When we put our trust in men, instead of in God, we might have the same sort of ironical description applied to us, «They trusted in a man that must die, and in the son of man that is but dust.» Whenever we forsake the Lord, and put our confidence in anyone else, we are fools indeed.

    Psalms 106:21-23. They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. 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.

    You remember the intercession of Moses with the Lord, how he cried, «If thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.» And, beloved friends, what should you and I have done if it had not been for the Mediator, far greater than Moses, who has stood in the breach very often when we have provoked the Lord, and who has so stood in the breach that he has borne the wrath of God which else must have destroyed us?

    Psalms 106:24. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:

    They said that the land that flowed with milk and honey was a land that did eat up the inhabitants thereof, and that was full of giants, and they could not drive them out.

    Psalms 106:25. But murmured in their hearts, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

    Do we ever fall into this sin of murmuring in the family, murmuring in the counting-house, murmuring against men, and murmuring against God, as they murmured in their tents?

    Psalms 106:26-28. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

    They turned aside from the pure worship of the living God to hold communion with departed spirits; they fell into all the horrible abominations of the heathen among whom they dwelt.

    Psalms 106:29-30. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

    God always has somebody to stand up for him, it is Moses one day, and Phinehas another day. He will not permit his people utterly to quit their faith and to be destroyed.

    Psalms 106:31-33. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

    It is not surprising that Moses should have spoken as he did to people who so worried and wearied him with their rebellions and murmurings. Yet you see that God dealt sternly with his servant because of his sin, and he will do the same with those of us who bear the vessels of the Lord. The higher our office, the greater our responsibility. One slip of temper in the meek Moses shuts him out of the Promised Land; so see what sin will do, and see how one who sins in a smaller degree than others may be made a scapegoat for them.

    Psalms 106:34-36. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their work. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

    God warned them that it would be so, and that they must drive out those Canaanites, and not make a league with them, or else they would be sure to be led astray by them.

    Psalms 106:37-38. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

    Yet these were God's people, whom he brought out of Egypt, whom he tutored in the wilderness, whom he fed with manna, and to whom he gave miraculous streams from the rock; these were the only people in the world whom God had chosen as his own, the rest were sitting in darkness, yet see to what degradation they had fallen.

    Psalms 106:39. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

    They were not true to God; but they plunged into every kind of uncleanness.

    Psalms 106:40-41. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them.

    Read the history of God's ancient people, and see how often this occurred.

    Psalms 106:42-44. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

    Nevertheless Oh, that wonderful «nevertheless»

    Psalms 106:44-48. He regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

    And well we may.

  • Psalms 106:1-48 open_in_new

    Psalms 106:1. Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

    In this Psalm we have the history of God's people turned to practical account. I have heard of some very unwise persons, who have said, «I do not care about the histories of Scripture. I do not profit by them.» Tell me, dear friends, what other Bible had David but the history the first five books? And what more wonderful teaching can there be than is contained in this Psalm, which is the essence of the history, «Praise ye the Lord» or Hallelujah to Jah? Hallelujah is praise to God.

    Psalms 106:2-19. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

    If I may fare as God's people fared, I will be well content, and if God himself will come and bring me salvation, I shall have all that I want. Is that your thought now, dear hearer? Then utter the prayer, and may the Lord answer it while you are yet in your seat.

    Psalms 106:6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

    Three time is the confession of sin here made. It is a good beginning when we can begin with confessing sin. I wish that some people had begun there, when they took up with religion; but they too often jump into it, and I am afraid that they will jump out of it again. That harvest which does not come of ploughing is one which will never fill a barn, and that salvation which does not come from a sense of sin will never come to much.

    Psalms 106:7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;

    They saw them; they were surprised by them; but they could not make them out, could not tell what God was at when he smote the Egyptians. A want of understanding of divine truth is a very fatal want.

    Psalms 106:7. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies;

    What we do not understand we soon forget.

    Psalms 106:7. But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

    They had not been long out of Egypt; they had scarcely eaten the bread that they brought out of their ovens, but they began to doubt God. They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

    Psalms 106:8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

    He could not save them for their own sake, but he saved them for his own name's sake.

    Psalms 106:9. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through depths, as through the wilderness.

    The bottom of the sea was made as dry and as easy for their feet as the plains of the wilderness, and God led them through.

    Psalms 106:10-12. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

    It is almost a sarcasm. They believed when they saw. When the promise was fulfilled, then they believed it. Ah! my dear hearers, are there not some of you of whom the same might be said I mean some people of God? You believe as far as you can see; and that is not believing at all. Let us trust God, whether or no. Red Sea or no Red Sea, let us believe the promise of God, and make sure that it will be true. Then believed they his words; they sung his praise.

    Psalms 106:13. They soon forgat his works:

    They were in a hurry to forget.

    Psalms 106:13-15. 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.

    They had quails to eat. They had the food that they begged for, but their hearts were starved; their souls were famished. Ah! me, what people they were!

    Psalms 106:16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

    They began to pick holes in their character. Good men that lived for them, and were ready to die for them they began to spit upon them.

    Psalms 106:17-20. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burnt up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

    See! they had been in Egypt. They had seen the Egyptians worship the god Apis in the form of a bull, so that they must needs have a bull too. I daresay that they said, «The bull is an emblem of strength. We do not worship the image; the image is only used to help us to think of the power of God.» But God forbids us to worship him under any image of any sort. «Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, nor in the earth beneath. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them.» All images, pictures, crucifixes the whole (rut) of them are abhorrent and abominable to God. We must have nothing to do with them as helps to worship, for they are not helps. They are destroyers of the worship of God. But, you say to me, «You tell us that it was a bull.» Yes, and, in contempt, the man of God here calls it a calf. You cannot be too disrespectful to objects of idolatrous worship. They may be esteemed by others, but do not show any kind of respect to them yourself; but if there be a name that you can give them that is full of sarcasm, let them have it.

    Psalms 106:21-23. They forgot God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. 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.

    They had found fault with Moses, yet Moses stood forward as intercessor, and through his pleading their lives were preserved. You see, again, what a sinful people they were. Ah! indeed they were! Look in this looking-glass and see yourself.

    Psalms 106:24-25. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and harkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

    This murmuring in your tents is a very obnoxious thing to God. Always grumbling and complaining. «It is an Englishman's privilege,» says one. Mind it does not turn out to be an Englishman's ruin, for God cannot endure that we should be always murmuring at his providence.

    Psalms 106:26-28. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifice of the dead.

    They tried to practice necromancy to have communion with spirits; they tried to learn the dark science and the black art; and this also God abhors.

    Psalms 106:29-30. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

    In his hot zeal he ran the spear through two who were rebelling against God. He did it with all his might, and sometimes it is a kindness to a people to deal severely with them. Sin is not to be treated with white kid gloves. It has to be dealt with sometimes with a heavy hand. Phineas did this.

    Psalms 106:31-32. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

    Poor Moses who loved them, and lived with them, yet lost his temper.

    Psalms 106:33. Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips

    What a people to have to do with! Who would wish to be Moses, and who would wish to be a minister?

    Psalms 106:34-35. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

    They did not keep themselves separate. They would go and join this lot and that lot. They mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

    Psalms 106:36-39. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

    «What a dreadful people,» say you. These were God's chosen people, Israel; the best people in the world at that time; and yet how could they be much worse? Oh! what a God of mercy God is to deal with such people at all!

    Psalms 106:40-43. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen: and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

    Listen to this.

    Psalms 106:44-45. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

    You would have thought that he would have been provoked beyond endurance, but, after all he had smitten, he still had a tender heart towards them.

    Psalms 106:46-48. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.