#1
I wonder if you ever feel like you’re living someone else’s life. In some way or other.
I’ve had an old friend staying this weekend, Chris. Actually he’s almost my oldest friend that I’m still in touch with. But it’s just very weird how everything I do, I just seem to be copying him. He always seems to have got their first.
• As a teenager, I went to school in Berkshire – quite a late decision to pick this particular one – only to discover he’d been planning to go that school for years.
• Then I became a Christian, only to discover he’d got there first on that too.
• In my 20s – having not seen him for a while, I moved down to Devon, only to discover he was already there – living just around the corner.
• In my 30s it happened again. Having been living in Australia for some years, I moved to Wimbledon in South West London, only to discover that he was already in the process of moving there – my house was literally a few hundred metres away from his.
• Before long we were going to the same church
• And then Libby my wife got a teaching job at a local school. And surprise surprise, it was the very school where he was already a teacher.
• I mean, this is getting a bit odd.
• And now in my 50s I find myself teaching the Bible to – among others – one particular marathon-running first-year student! And it turns out he’s been he’s been teaching the Bible to her since she was tiny!
I mean, that it quite weird, isn’t it?
I have this feeling that one day my family’s going to be picking out a casket for my funeral, and the undertaker will say: ‘Oh yes, good choice! We used the very same casket just last week, for another deceased – name of… Chris I think…
Living someone else’s life.
It’s a bit odd when the details seem to match up like that time and again.
But the truth is: finding ourselves in other people’s stories, being drawn into other people’s narratives, is something we do all the time, isn’t it? It’s second nature to us.
#2
It’s why TV shows – if they’re in any way engaging – can be so dangerous. We find ourselves drawn in to the aggression, or the deceit, or the discontentedness, or the sexual infidelities, or whatever it is. We start locating ourselves in this other story, and our hearts are deeply affected, aren’t they? Sometimes for the good. Often – not so much.
It’s why memes and movements and online campaigns and the like can go viral and become so powerful and effective. Remember #metoo? One woman after another saying: this story of sexual harassment is my story too. And it’s got to stop.
It’s why FOMO is a thing. When other people are going and sharing an experience, what they’re really doing is entering a story together, maybe even creating a story together, and when that’s happening, we want to be a part of it. So much so that the thought of missing out is horrible.
It’s also why Christian testimonies can be so affecting. We’re endlessly fascinated with other people’s stories, aren’t we? So if you’re a Christian believer and you share your spiritual story with someone else, there’s an invitation there – which often doesn’t even need to be spelt out. It just hangs in the air: this story of mine could be yours too! Would you like it to be?
Finding ourselves in other people’s stories is just what we do.
And it’s a big theme in Psalm 106 – this final Psalm of this little series of ours – with the way it draws on the story of the people of God and invites to share in it.
#3
Have a look at it now, and you’ll it starts in a familiar way. With a call to praise. Verse 1:
Praise the Lord.[a]
Give thanks to the Lord,
Why?
for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Standing together before God and singing his praises is maybe the purest expression of what it looks like to be part of God’s people.
It’s the climax of the story, you might say.
• In a typical romcom, the climax is? – what – when the couple finally get together.
• In an action movie, it’s – I guess – when disaster is averted or the baddie gets his comeuppance.
• In the story of God’s people - which is many of us in this room – the climax is standing together before God and singing his praises, glorifying his name, in the new creation. In many ways, our singing here on a Sunday evening is just a dress rehearsal for that day.
Hence this summons by the Psalmist here: ‘Praise the Lord’.
But you notice straight away, there is a question mark inserted. In verses 2 and 3. Who will actually get to do that? Be part of that scene? Verse 2.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
who always do what is right.
It’s just a general… anxiety – you might call it, at this point. But not for long. Now it gets more personal. It becomes about me. Will I get to be a part of that story? (wonders the Psalmist). Will I be included?
I long to be part of that ‘praising God together’ scene. But will I? God, please make it so!
Verse 4:
4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favour to your people,
come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may share in the joy of your nation
and join your inheritance in giving praise.
You see what I mean here about that yearning finding one’s own story in the story of others. That yearning to be included in that scene of praising God together’. That hint of insecurity. That spiritual FOMO, you might call it. It’s where the psalmist seems to be – at least at this point.
And in some ways, I expect it’s where some of us are.
I mean we’re here at church together. We’re maybe regulars here. We’re surrounded by other people, physically. To all appearances, we’re all sharing the same story. But let’s get real for a moment. For a number of us, there will be something of that anxiety deep down inside.
• A nagging question within: Is my heart actually where other people’s hearts are?
• Spiritually speaking, am I living the same story as these people?
• Am I on the same journey as them?
• Will I have reached the same destination as them by the time the credits roll?
Well, what do you think? Are there questions like that in your mind? It’d be far from unusual.
Now, I suppose I could give you some of my own thoughts on those kinds of questions. I may or may not have some helpful wisdom. But what be more helpful is to look where the psalmist goes with those questions.
Because what he does at this point is – instead of looking around him and wondering whether he’ll get to be a part of this story other people are living – he heads in another direction. He looks backwards, backwards in time, that is, to the story of God’s people down the ages before him. To see if he can find assurance for himself, and in fact for his whole generation, from the way God has worked in the past.
So he mentally digs out some of the Horrible Histories. He goes over some of the great episodes in the national life of God’s people. In some ways it’s very like last week’s psalm. Psalm 105. Do you remember that picture of classic family stories from the past being told around the camp fire, to keep the memory alive?
It’s a bit like that.
Except that the moments of tension this time, the moments of standing on thin ice, come not from circumstances in which God’s people find themselves. Situations that come from outside. But from failure within. Their own sinful hearts.
These are not just horrible histories; they’re humiliating histories.
There are three episodes from the past that the Psalmist looks back to: the exodus of Israel, their wanderings in the desert, and their life in the land. Each of the episodes has the same general shape. In a way they’re all just the same story with the details changed. But actually each shines a spotlight on one particular aspect of that common story.
Let’s dig in, and you’ll see what I mean.
First, we’re taken back to the exodus, the departure of the slave nation of Israel from their slave-masters Egypt.
#4
And here is where we’re encouraged to remember particularly the basic plotline of the story of God’s people. In a nutshell, they’re taken from being sinners… to singers.
This is verses 6 to 12.
And if you look at the top and bottom of that section, you can see that plotline straight away.
Verse 6.
‘We have sinned’ – says the psalmist. But in doing so, we’re only repeating the age-old story of the people of God.
6 We have sinned… even as our ancestors did;
And with that, we’re into the old story. We’ll come back to the details. But just see where the story ends. Verse 12.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
From sinners to singers – you see?
What was their sin?
Well as they camped by the Red Sea after leaving Egypt, the sin was ignoring God’s acts and failing to trust him. God had just performed that whole sequence of plagues, culminating with the plague on the firstborn which finally convinced Pharaoh to cut them loose. When he changes his mind and chases after them and catches up with them by the Red Sea, they act as though he is neither powerful nor concerned about them.
Verse 7:
They did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled
It’s pretty ungrateful, isn’t it? It’s like they’ve suddenly woken up with some kind of amnesia. ‘Oh how did we come to be here? How did we escape Egypt? Hmmm can’t remember. I know it was only a couple of days ago, but it’s gone from my mind. All I know is that we’re in a bit a of tight spot now. God’s really let us down, hasn’t he?’
!!
What?
But God isn’t done with them. However ungrateful they are to him, he’s committed to finishing the job with them.
Verse 8:
8 Yet he saved them
Verse 10
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
You remember the story: he dried the sea so they could pass through, and then when the Egyptian army pursued, he drowned them.
So Israel reached safety. And you might think that’s the end of the story. It’s certainly true: we Christians do talk sometimes as if that’s the end of the story. We were in trouble, but now we’re saved. Job done.
But of course, that is not job done. Why are we saved? We’re saved – as Paul puts it in Ephesians 1 ‘to the praise of his glory’. We’re saved as trophies of God’s grace. We’re saved to sing his praises.
Verse 12:
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
In other words, the exodus narrative ends not in Exodus 14, but in Exodus 15 – that great chapter-long song of praise after being delivered.
So that’s their story: from sinners to singers.
That’s the plotline of the story of God’s dealings with his people. That’s the journey he takes them on.
And really that’s the kind of ChatGPT summary of the whole Bible’s story, isn’t it? What’s almost the first man and woman do back in Genesis? Rebel against God.
But what do we find men and women doing in those gatherings described in Revelation?
#5
Again and again, they’re singing God’s praises, and of course directing those praises specifically to the saviour.
Revelation 5v13
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
Revelation 7v10.
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
And here is the Psalmist saying: if that’s the big story, then God please: make it my story; make it our story. Bring us all the way to that final scene.
Remember that idea of spiritual insecurity I mentioned earlier? ‘Will I really make it to the same destination as those around me.’
#6
Well, I was talking to someone just the other day who grew up in a Roman Catholic setting. And like so many Catholics, that insecurity is just hard-wired in. There’s talk of God’s grace. But it’s a take on grace that’s nothing like what the Bible teaches. It’s more just a helping hand along the way, then over to you to complete the job. Which is bound to lead to anxiety, insecurity, fear.
It’s a far cry from the ‘confidence’ the apostle Paul describes in Philippians.
#7
I’m…
confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
No ifs. No buts. Ultimately God is the author of your spiritual story and mine. And as such, he’s on it to make sure it ends the right way.
#8
Please know that confidence, if you’ve placed your life in the hands of Jesus. Because that confidence in making it to that singing-praises-together ending is your birthright as a child of God.
The plotline of the story, then.
But as the psalmist looks to the next Horrible History, the era of Israel’s desert wanderings, we see something else come to the fore: the turning point in the story. Which is – spoiler alert – the intervention of an intercessor. This is verses 13-23 of the psalm. (Sorry for the typo on your sheets there.)
#9
You look at verse 13.
And you see there: it’s exactly the same issue again. Another attack of spiritual amnesia.
Woody Allen famously said: ‘History repeats itself. It has to. Nobody listened the first time around’.
Well, here is history repeating itself, in verse 13.
13 But they soon forgot what he (God) had done
And not just that. Forgetfulness turns to impatience: they – what is it? -
did not wait for his plan to unfold.
And impatience turns to a lack of trust.
Verse 14:
they put God to the test.
This, by the way, is the incident when Israel were complaining about the manna they were given. They got… hangry (as we’d say) and they let their stomachs do the talking. You can read more about what happened in Numbers 11.
But that wasn’t the only shameful incident in the desert wanderings – far from it.
There was the incident of mutiny in Numbers 16. The rebellion of Korah and Dathan and Abiram.
Verse 16 tells us the real issue: it was an issue of the heart.
‘They grew envious’ of the leaders God had appointed.
And to crown it all, there was that terrible behaviour while Moses was getting the 10 commandments. When Israel again forget what God had done for them and swapped in an alternative object of worship. Verse 19.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,God: Phil 1 – carry on to completion
Time after time, it’s the same, thing, isn’t it?
But I suppose that is the shape sin often takes, isn’t it? Don’t you find yourself returning to the same old sin time after time? Here I am, yet again!
It’s just so frustrating! We resolved that would be the last time. And sin has made liars of us once more. Please tell me I’m not the only one who finds this?!
Repeated sin.
And of course at this point, God would have been totally within his rights to finish off Israel straight away.
• I mean his anger burned to some extent at the manna incident. That’s the v15 ‘wasting disease’ moment.
• And again at the rebellion Verse 17 – the earth opened up. Verse 18 a flame consumed the wicked
But at the golden calf incident, it was different. The Lord came within a whisker of total destruction of his people.
Except – what?
Except that an intervention happened. Verse 23.
23 So he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.
Standing in the breach is an allusion to the idea of a battle to protect a city from attack. If the city wall is breached – the enemy manage to make a hole in it – brave soldiers will throw themselves into that spot to keep the city safe.
That is what Moses did when the Lord threatened to destroy Israel. And it worked. Only that intervention of Moses interceding for the people stopped them from being destroyed totally.
And of course, that sets something of a pattern. This kind of intervention is referred to again even in this psalm, with Phinehas in verse 30. But in the big picture, of course, the pattern being set finds its ultimate fulfilment in Jesus himself.
He is the one who stands in the breach. He is the one who intervenes to prevent destruction.
#10
He is the one – Hebrews 7:25 – who ‘is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to make intercession for them.’
And that, you see, is the turning point in the story of God’s people. It’s the moment when the whole momentum of the story is stopped in its tracks and made to pivot in a totally different direction.
#11
But notice what the turning point isn’t.
It’s not a spurt of moral energy. That’s the mistake we keep making, isn’t it?
It’s not a heroic resolution to change.
It’s not a newly discovered spiritual technique that we learned from a book or a conference or a podcast. That’s not what will change the story of individuals like you and me today.
No. The only thing that will change our story is the same thing as ever - submitting to the one who is prepared to stand in the breach for us.
Yes, it’s humbling to have to rely on someone else like that. But it is the only way. To come back to Jesus.
Well, just briefly, one more aspect of the story that we’re shown in a third of Israel’s horrible histories.
#12
As Israel approaches the promised land, we’re reminded afresh of the main character in the story: it is of course the Lord himself as he shows himself to us – a Lord of love.
The problems actually start even before they enter the land:
• The failure of trust in verses 24 and 25 is a reference to Israel in Numbers 14 listening to the majority report of the spies – remember that? – and fearing they’d not be able to conquer the land. ‘They’re too big for us!’ And so they refuse to take go in and take it as the Lord instructed them.
they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
• The ‘yoking’ of verse 28 is about Israel throwing their lot in with the Moabites. Numbers 25. Having sex with their women and worshipping their gods.
• The Meribah incident is when Moses (verse 32) is when Moses was provoked into striking the rock twice for water.
• But then in verses 34-39 it’s all about life in the land itself: and the way Israel just kept failing to keep themselves distinct from the people in the land – in all sorts of different ways. Just mingling with the crowd. They were meant to be chalk and choose. Instead, they just went with the flow.
And so again and again they provoked God to judgement. Verse 40.
40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people
But one thing held him back from simply giving up on them. What was it?
Back in verse 8, it was ‘for his name’s sake’ that he saved his people.
Now in 44, that’s expanded a bit.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.
That is, it’s the Lord of the covenant – the God of faithfulness and love, the God who was totally and utterly committed to his people – who stands behind the whole history of Israel.
He is the one in whose hands their future lies.
And it’s the same with the psalmist as he sits apparently by the rivers of Babylon in exile.
Once again, he longs that this story of yesteryear would become his own story and the story of his generation. He cries out to God on the basis of all these episodes from Israel’s horrible histories, in the words of verse 47
47 Save us, Lord our God,
and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
That is: we are in a pickle. But on the basis of your track record of turning sinners into singers, and on the basis of the intervention of this interceder, and on the basis of your covenant love and faithfulness, we ask you to bring us from pickle to praise.
And he is confident of the answer. So confident that in the final verse of the psalm, he has begun his praise already.
At the start, he seemed insecure. But no longer. The camp-fire stories of Israel have emboldened him. They’ve given him confidence. It turns out
#13
that a great story makes for great security.
And in many ways, that is for me the standout truth of this psalm.
There are certainly some questions to ponder as we reflect on this psalm:
#14
• Am I self-aware enough to see my sin for what it is?
• Am I humble enough to see singing God’s praises as the very thing I’m saved for?
• Am I community-minded enough to make being a part of God’s people what I care deeply about?
• Am I trusting enough to take my troubles to God in prayer?
But here’s the big one for me:
• Am I secure enough to anticipate sharing in the praises of heaven with relish?