Summer in the Psalms — PART 13
Psalm 106
August 03, 2025



INTRODUCTION

KEY VERSE
PSALM 106:3
How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.

FIRST MENTION OF JUSTICE/RIGHTEOUSNESS PAIRING IN SCRIPTURE

GENESIS 18:17-19
17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will certainly become a great and
[r]mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 19 For I have [s]chosen him, so that he may
command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that
the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?
Righteousness can be understood as a standard of right relationships. Right with God and therefore committed to
putting right all other relationships in life.

REFERENCES:
PSALM 106:28-31
28 They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.[e]
29 They angered the Lord with their deeds,
and a plague broke out against them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stopped.
31 It was credited to him as righteousness
throughout all generations to come.

NUMBERS 25:6-13
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of
Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron,
the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the
spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites
was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the
Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore
tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,
because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

WHAT IS JUSTICE?
Justice can be understood as the action of judging behavior fairly (like in a court of law) and the action of treating
people fairly and giving them what they are due.

REFERENCES:
PSALM 106:6
Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.

PSALM 106:37
They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.

PSALM 106:19-23
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped the cast metal image.
20 They exchanged their glory[a][b]
for the image of a grass-eating ox.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
who did great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,[c]
awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would have destroyed them—
if Moses his chosen one
had not stood before him in the breach
to turn his wrath away from destroying them.


EXODUS 32:11-14
11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God: “Lord, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of
the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil
intent to kill them in the mountains and eliminate them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger and relent
concerning this disaster planned for your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—you swore to
them by yourself and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all
this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’” 14 So the Lord relented concerning the disaster he had said
he would bring on his people.

MALACHAI 4:2
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like
well-fed calves.

THE SUPREME EXAMPLE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE

REFERENCES:
ROMANS 5:15-19
15 For if the many died by the trespass of the one man (meaning Adam), how much more did God’s grace and the gift that
came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the
result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses
and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will
those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man,
Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in
justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so
also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.


THE WORK OF JUSTICE FOR THE CHURCH TODAY

REFERENCES:
AMOS 5:24
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

MATTHEW 25:35-40
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger
and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something
to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you
sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me.’