Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good

The chapter begins with hallelujah and thanksgiving for the LORD's enduring goodness, then acknowledges that no one can fully recount his mighty acts. The singer blesses those who do righteousness and asks personally to be remembered in the favor shown to God's people, so that he may share their prosperity, joy, and praise.

H¹allelujah! ²Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORD ³Blessed are those who uphold justice, ⁴Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people; ⁵that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,

Israel confesses solidarity with the sins of its fathers, who failed to understand God's wonders in Egypt, forgot his works after the sea, craved in the wilderness, envied Moses and Aaron, and made a calf at Horeb. Again and again the people forget, but again and again the LORD acts for his name's sake, even when judgment is deserved and only intercession stands in the breach.

⁶We have sinned like our fathers; ⁷Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders ⁸Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, ⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; ¹⁰He saved them from the hand that hated them; ¹¹The waters covered their foes; ¹²Then they believed His promises ¹³Yet they soon forgot His works ¹⁴They craved intensely in the wilderness ¹⁵So He granted their request, ¹⁶In the camp they envied Moses, ¹⁷The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; ¹⁸Then fire blazed through their company; ¹⁹At Horeb they made a calf ²⁰They exchanged their Glory ²¹They forgot God their Savior, ²²wondrous works in the land of Ham, ²³So He said He would destroy them—

The people despised the pleasant land, grumbled in their tents, and drew down the oath of judgment that their generation and offspring would fall and be scattered. Later they yoked themselves to Baal of Peor, were checked only by Phinehas's intervention, and even at Meribah provoked the LORD so that Moses himself spoke rashly.

²⁴They despised the pleasant land; ²⁵They grumbled in their tents ²⁶So He raised His hand and swore ²⁷to disperse their offspring among the nations ²⁸They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor ²⁹So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, ³⁰But Phinehas stood and intervened, ³¹It was credited to him as righteousness ³²At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, ³³For they rebelled against His Spirit,

In the land, Israel failed to remove the nations, learned their practices, served their idols, and descended even into the shedding of innocent blood. The LORD therefore handed them over to the nations, yet when they were crushed and cried out, he still saw their distress, remembered his covenant, and moved their captors to pity them.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples ³⁵but they mingled with the nations ³⁶They worshiped their idols, ³⁷They sacrificed their sons ³⁸They shed innocent blood— ³⁹They defiled themselves by their actions ⁴⁰So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, ⁴¹He delivered them into the hand of the nations, ⁴²Their enemies oppressed them ⁴³Many times He rescued them, ⁴⁴Nevertheless He heard their cry; ⁴⁵And He remembered His covenant with them, ⁴⁶He made them objects of compassion

The psalm ends by asking the LORD to save and gather his people from among the nations so that they may give thanks to his holy name and glory in his praise. A final blessing is pronounced on the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, and all the people answer, 'Amen,' before hallelujah returns.

⁴⁷Save us, O LORD our God, ⁴⁸Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,