A Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Psalm 105 — A Confession of the Manifold Sins and Ingratitudes of the Israelites
28–31 David now alludes to another sin committed by the Jews, the history of which is to be found in Numbers 25. We read there that the children of Israel, seduced by the daughters of Moab, began to commit fornication with them, and to worship an idol of theirs, called Beelphegor, which incensed God so much that he ordered all the princes of the people to be hanged on gibbets; but when Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, in his zeal slew an Israelite in the act of fornication with a Madianite woman, God was so pleased with his zeal, that he forgave the whole people for it. “They also were initiated to Beelphegor;” to their other sins the Israelites added that of becoming disciples of Beelphegor, the idol of the Madianites; “and ate the sacrifice of the dead;” the sacrifices that were offered to their dead gods, such as Apis and Serapis with the Egyptians, Jupiter and Apollo with the Greeks, instead of sacrificing to the one, true, and living God. “And they provoked him with their inventions.” They naturally provoked God by the worship of new gods invented by them; not that they were the first to set up Beelphegor, but that they were the first to learn his worship from the Moabites, and introduce it to the Israelites. “And destruction was multiplied among them,” in consequence of that sin destruction set in upon them, numbers of them having miserably perished. “Then Phinees stood up, and pacified him; and the slaughter ceased.” Phinees, full of zeal for the glory of God, stood up courageously against the impious deserters of the old religion, and by his zeal so appeased God, that “the slaughter ceased.” “And it was reputed to him unto justice.” God, who searcheth the heart, and well knew the good dispositions of Phinees, did not look upon such slaughter as a sinful act, or one worthy of punishment, but, on the contrary, as a good and a meritorious act, “and that to generation and generation forevermore;” in allusion to the promise made by God to Phinees, that in consideration of what he did so nobly, the priesthood should remain in his family as long as the Jewish dynasty should hold.
32–33 He now passes to another sin of the Jews, recorded in Numbers 20. The people, suffering from want of water, began to wrangle with Moses, who was so frightened that he seemed to have some hesitation, and said, “Can we bring you forth water from this rock?” However, on striking the rock twice, water poured forth in the greatest abundance. God, however, half in anger with Moses for his hesitation, in punishment of it did not allow him to introduce the people to the land of promise, and he died on the way to it. “They provoked him;” the Jews provoked God “at the waters of contradiction;” the place where they upbraided and wrangled with Moses, by reason of their want of water. “And Moses was quieted, for their sakes,” troubled and grieved in his mind at the unreasonableness of the people. “Because they exasperated his spirit.” By their murmurs and reproaches they made Moses, who, at all times was most alive and ready to carry out all God’s commands, now truly downcast and disheartened. “And he distinguished with his lips;” they so confused him, that when God ordered him to bring the water from the rock, he did not put full faith in God, or give him that implicit obedience he required; for God said to him, “Speak to the rock before thee, and it shall yield waters,” instead of doing which he said, “Can we bring forth water from this rock?” and thus, “he distinguished with his lips.”
34–36 He now records another grievous transgression of the Jews, who, instead of banishing all the idolaters from the land of promise, as they had been ordered by God, began to cohabit with them, and to adopt their superstitions and sacrileges. Herein he alludes to the words of the Angel, who, in the person of God, thus addresses them, Judges 2, “I made you go out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land for which I swore to your fathers; and I promised that I would not make void any covenant forever, on condition that you should not make a league with the inhabitants of this land, but should throw down their altars; and you would not hear my voice. Why have you done this?”—“And they were mingled among the heathens, and learned their works, and served their idols,” as the whole book of Judges testifies; “and it became a stumbling block to them;” proved their ruin; for it caused God to give them up to various idolatrous kings, as we read in the same book; and it was only meet that they who preferred the devil to God, should be handed over to the devil’s servants.
37–39 There is no record of all this in the book of Judges, but it must, of necessity be true, as the Holy Ghost inspired the prophet to record it, who possibly had it also by tradition. God once commanded Abraham to slay his son, yet he would not allow him to do it, being satisfied with his readiness to obey; but the false gods, the demons, envying God for such obedience in Abraham, not satisfied with the same readiness on the part of their dupes, actually required of them to sacrifice and spill the blood of their own children. And such was the blindness of man then, that they did not feel such tyranny on the part of the demons, nor perceive the difference between the sweet yoke of their Maker, and the severe and bitter fetters of the destroyer. “And they went aside after their own intentions;” that synagogue of the Jews that was betrothed to God left him, abandoned him, and went in pursuit of idols, to worship them; idols of their own invention, for they learned no such worship from Moses, but rather from the idolaters about them that they thus chose to follow.
40–46 These seven verses are a sort of abridgment of the book of Judges, where we read of God having been so provoked by the sins of the Jews that he frequently allowed them to fall into the hands of their enemies the Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, and others; but when they would return to penance he was wont to raise up some brave leader, such as Jepthe, Gedeon, Samson, and others, to deliver them. The only verse of those seven requiring an explanation is the last. “And he gave them unto mercies in the sight of all those that had made them captives.” God so placed them in the bosom of his mercy, to the utter astonishment of those who made them captives, that their very enemies could not deny but that God was fighting for his own people.
47–48 The conclusion of the Psalm, in which the prophet prays to God to gather all his faithful from the nations; that is, to bring back all the strayed ones to the assembly of the pious, that all may together give thanks to God, and praise him, and also glory in praising him. Some think that herein he alludes to the dispersion in the Babylonian captivity, which he foresaw in spirit; but it is more likely that he alludes to the dispersion among the gentiles that were still in the land of promise, and against whom David had waged several wars. He concludes by praising God, saying “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel” at all times, or rather forever, and let all the people confirm his prayer by saying, “So be it, so be it.” And this is the end of the fourth book, according to the Hebrews.