Commonplace –
“Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever” (Psalm 106:1).
Matthew Henry’s comments regarding Psalm 106 are very helpful.
“We must give glory to God by making confession, not only of his goodness but our own badness, which serve as foils to each other. Our badness makes his goodness appear the more illustrious, as his goodness makes our badness the more heinous and scandalous. The foregoing psalm was a history of God’s goodness to Israel; this is a history of their rebellion and provocations, and yet it begins and ends with Hallelujah; for even sorrow for sin must not put us out of tune of praising God” (Henry 522).
The point that Matthew Henry makes is no small thing: we must begin and end with praising God. The focus should not be ourselves, whether we are outspoken over our own accomplishments or glorifying our guilt; in both of those situations, we put the focus on ourselves first. May we always begin and end with a Hallelujah. Amen.
Works Cited
Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 106.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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