Welcome to Day 2777 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Day 2777 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 106:34-48 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2777 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day two thousand seven hundred seventy-seven of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The title for today’s Wisdom-Trek is: The Horror of Accommodation – When the Salt Loses Its Savor. Today, we reach the solemn conclusion of our journey through Psalm One Hundred Six. We are trekking through the final section, verses thirty-four through forty-eight, in the New Living Translation. This marks not only the end of this specific psalm but also the conclusion of Book Four of the Psalter. In our previous trek, we walked through the "Cycle of Amnesia" in the wilderness. We watched a generation that had been liberated by the mighty hand of God crumble into grumbling, envy, and idolatry. We saw them trade their glorious God for a grass-eating bull at Sinai. We saw them yoke themselves to the dead spirits at Baal-Peor. It was a tragic catalog of missed opportunities and hardened hearts. But as we turn to verse thirty-four, the scene shifts. The wilderness wanderings are over. Joshua has led the people across the Jordan. The walls of Jericho have fallen. The people are now living in the Promised Land—the "pleasant land" they once despised. You might think, "Finally! They made it! Now they will surely be faithful." Tragically, the change of geography did not create a change of heart. In this final section, we witness the slow, agonizing slide from Conquest to Compromise, and finally to Captivity. We will see what happens when the people of God stop fighting the culture and start becoming the culture. We will encounter the darkest verse in Israel’s history—the sacrifice of children to demons—and we will see how the land itself vomited them out. But, true to the character of Yahweh, we will also see that even in the darkest pit of exile, the ladder of Covenant Love still reaches down. So, let us brace ourselves for the hard truth of history, and the healing balm of God’s mercy. The first segment is: The Failure of Assimilation: Mingling with the Darkness. Psalm One Hundred Six: verses thirty-four through thirty-nine. Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them.  Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.  They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.  They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.  They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.  They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight. The psalmist begins by pinpointing the root of the disaster: Incomplete Obedience. "Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them." This refers to the command in Deuteronomy Chapter Seven. God ordered the removal of the Canaanite nations not because of ethnic hatred, but because of spiritual contamination. The Canaanites were deeply entrenched in the worship of the rebel gods of the Divine Council worldview. Their culture was built on depravity. God knew that if they remained, Israel would catch their spiritual disease. And that is exactly what happened. "Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs." The Hebrew word for "mingled" suggests braiding or interweaving. They didn't just live next door; they became culturally intertwined. They started to think like Canaanites. They started to look like Canaanites. "They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them." A snare is a trap. It looks enticing—perhaps a promise of better crops or fertility—but once you step in, the steel jaws snap shut. And now, we descend into the absolute nadir of the Old Testament. The trap snaps shut, and the price is paid in blood: "They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons." We must pause here to understand the gravity of this. The NLT translates the Hebrew word shedim as "demons." In the Ancient Near Eastern context, and specifically in the Divine Council worldview, shedim were territorial spirits—lesser divine beings that demanded blood. These were the entities behind the idols of Canaan, like Molech. Israel, the people chosen to be the light of the world, began taking the "seed of Abraham"—the children of the promise—and burning them alive as offerings to the forces of darkness. This is the ultimate reversal of the Abrahamic Covenant. God asked Abraham to spare Isaac; the demons asked Israel to slaughter their children. "They shed innocent blood... By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder." This concept of "polluting the land" (chaneph) is vital. In the Torah (Numbers Thirty-five), the shedding of innocent blood creates a physical and spiritual toxicity in the geography itself. The land becomes "profaned." It becomes sick. When the land is filled with innocent blood, it can no longer sustain the people living on it. It eventually vomits them out. "They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight." The spiritual verdict is Adultery (literally, "whoring"). Israel was married to Yahweh by covenant. By engaging in these rituals with the shedim, they were cheating on their Husband with His cosmic enemies. The second segment is: The Cycle of Judges: Rebellion, Ruin, and Rescue. Psalm One Hundred Six: verses forty through forty-three. That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.  He handed them over to pagan nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.  Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their absolute power.  Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin. Because of this horrific betrayal, God acted. "That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession." The word "abhorred" implies deep revulsion. God looked at His "special possession" (His nachalah—inheritance) and saw it covered in the blood of children and the filth of demons. He couldn't stand the sight of it. So, He enacted the curses of the Covenant: "He handed them over to pagan nations, and those who hated them ruled over them." If Israel wanted to act like the nations, God let them be ruled by the nations. If they wanted to serve the gods of the Philistines or the Moabites, they would serve the armies of the Philistines and Moabites. He gave them exactly what they chose. This section summarizes the Book of Judges. It was a washing machine cycle of history:

1. Sin: They rebelled.
2. Servitude: God handed them over.
3. Supplication: They cried out.
4. Salvation: God raised a Judge to save them.

"Again and again he rescued them..." This highlights the incredible patience of Yahweh. He didn't just save them once; He saved them repeatedly. Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, Deborah—these were all rescue missions launched by a God who refused to quit on His people. "...but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin." Literally, "They sank low in their iniquity." The rescue was always temporary because the repentance was shallow. Eventually, the weight of their sin became too heavy to lift, and the bottom fell out. The third segment is: The Covenant Memory: Relenting in Exile. Psalm One Hundred Six: verses forty-four through forty-six. Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.  He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.  He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness. Here we find those two beautiful words again: "Even so..." After the child sacrifice, after the spiritual adultery, after centuries of spitting in His face—when the final judgment came and they were dragged off into Exile (Babylon)—God still looked at them. "Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries." Why? What could possibly motivate God to look at such a rebellious people again? "He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love." It all comes back to the Covenant (Berit) and the Unfailing Love (Hesed). God is bound by His own character. He promised Abraham an everlasting line. He cannot break His word, even when His people break theirs. The word "relented" (nacham) implies a deep emotional sigh of compassion. He looked at their suffering in Babylon, and His heart turned. And practically, how did this mercy look? "He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness." This is the story of Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah. God moved the hearts of the pagan kings—Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Artaxerxes—to show favor to the exiles. Even in the land of their punishment, God was working behind the scenes to preserve a remnant. The fourth segment is: The Final Prayer: Gather Us Home. Psalm One Hundred Six: verse forty-seven. Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you. This verse confirms the context of the psalm. It is a prayer from the Exile. The people are scattered. They are living "among the nations" (goyim). "Save us... Gather us back..." This is the ultimate cry of the Old Testament. It is the hope that the God who scattered them in judgment will gather them in mercy. And notice the purpose of the gathering: "...so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you." They want to come home not just to be comfortable, but to be worshippers again. They have learned, through the bitterness of Babylon, that the only thing worth living for is the praise of Yahweh. The "Golden Calves" and the "Demons of Canaan" offered them nothing but death. Now, they just want to be back in the presence of the Holy Name. The fifth segment is: The Doxology of Book Four: The Amen of Eternity. Psalm One Hundred Six: verse forty-eight. Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord! We arrive now at the grand finale. This verse is the Doxology that closes Book Four of the Psalms (Psalms Ninety through One Hundred Six). "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel..." "Blessed be Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel." Despite the tragic history we just read—a history of failure, blood, and exile—He is still the God of Israel. He has not abandoned the title. "...who lives from everlasting to everlasting!" This connects back to Psalm Ninety (the beginning of Book Four), which declared God as the one who is "from everlasting to everlasting." The generations of men rise and fall like grass. Nations rise and fall like the tide. But Yahweh remains. His timeline is infinite. He outlasts our rebellion. He outlasts our exile. "Let all the people say, 'Amen!'" Amen means "It is true" or "So be it." It is the community's signature on the truth of God’s character. "Praise the Lord!" (Hallelujah!) Psalm One Hundred Six is a hard mirror to look into. It forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth about human nature. We are not naturally faithful. Given enough time and comfort, we will mingle with the darkness. We will adopt the customs of the culture around us. We might not sacrifice children to Molech on a stone altar, but we sacrifice our children to the idols of success, popularity, and secularism. We pollute our own lives with compromise. But this psalm does not end in despair. It ends with "Amen." It ends with the assurance that God’s memory is better than ours. We forget His works; He remembers His covenant. We turn away; He relents. The message of Book Four of the Psalms is this: When the Kingdom of Israel fails, the King of the Universe reigns. Even when the throne of David sits empty in the dust of the exile, the throne of Yahweh is established in the heavens. And because He reigns "from everlasting to everlasting," there is always hope for a return from exile. So today, if you feel like you are in a "far country"—if you feel scattered or compromised—pray the prayer of verse forty-seven: "Save us... Gather us." He is listening. And His love is unfailing. If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of, ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’ Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.   As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly.   Love Unconditionally.   Listen Intentionally.   Learn Continuously.   Lend to others Generously.   Lead with Integrity.   Leave a Living Legacy Each Day. I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!  

Welcome to Day: 2777

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Day: 2777

dom-Trek Podcast Script - Day: 2777

 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day two thousand seven hundred seventy-seven of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.  

The title for today’s Wisdom-Trek is: The Horror of Accommodation – When the Salt Loses Its Savor.  

Today, we reach the solemn conclusion of our journey through Psalm One Hundred Six. We are trekking through the final section, verses thirty-four through forty-eight, in the New Living Translation.  

This marks not only the end of this specific psalm but also the conclusion of Book Four of the Psalter.  

In our previous trek, we walked through the "Cycle of Amnesia" in the wilderness. We watched a generation that had been liberated by the mighty hand of God crumble into grumbling, envy, and idolatry. We saw them trade their glorious God for a grass-eating bull at Sinai. We saw them yoke themselves to the dead spirits at Baal-Peor. It was a tragic catalog of missed opportunities and hardened hearts.  

But as we turn to verse thirty-four, the scene shifts. The wilderness wanderings are over. Joshua has led the people across the Jordan. The walls of Jericho have fallen. The people are now living in the Promised Land—the "pleasant land" they once despised.  

You might think, "Finally! They made it! Now they will surely be faithful."  

Tragically, the change of geography did not create a change of heart.  

In this final section, we witness the slow, agonizing slide from Conquest to Compromise, and finally to Captivity. We will see what happens when the people of God stop fighting the culture and start becoming the culture. We will encounter the darkest verse in Israel’s history—the sacrifice of children to demons—and we will see how the land itself vomited them out.  

But, true to the character of Yahweh, we will also see that even in the darkest pit of exile, the ladder of Covenant Love still reaches down.  

So, let us brace ourselves for the hard truth of history, and the healing balm of God’s mercy.  

The first segment is: The Failure of Assimilation: Mingling with the Darkness.  

Psalm One Hundred Six: verses thirty-four through thirty-nine.  

Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them.  Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.  They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.  They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.  They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.  They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

The psalmist begins by pinpointing the root of the disaster: Incomplete Obedience.  

"Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them."  

This refers to the command in Deuteronomy Chapter Seven. God ordered the removal of the Canaanite nations not because of ethnic hatred, but because of spiritual contamination. The Canaanites were deeply entrenched in the worship of the rebel gods of the Divine Council worldview. Their culture was built on depravity. God knew that if they remained, Israel would catch their spiritual disease.  

And that is exactly what happened.  

"Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs."  

The Hebrew word for "mingled" suggests braiding or interweaving. They didn't just live next door; they became culturally intertwined. They started to think like Canaanites. They started to look like Canaanites.  

"They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them."  

A snare is a trap. It looks enticing—perhaps a promise of better crops or fertility—but once you step in, the steel jaws snap shut.  

And now, we descend into the absolute nadir of the Old Testament. The trap snaps shut, and the price is paid in blood:  

"They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons."  

We must pause here to understand the gravity of this. The NLT translates the Hebrew word shedim as "demons." In the Ancient Near Eastern context, and specifically in the Divine Council worldview, shedim were territorial spirits—lesser divine beings that demanded blood. These were the entities behind the idols of Canaan, like Molech.  

Israel, the people chosen to be the light of the world, began taking the "seed of Abraham"—the children of the promise—and burning them alive as offerings to the forces of darkness.  

This is the ultimate reversal of the Abrahamic Covenant. God asked Abraham to spare Isaac; the demons asked Israel to slaughter their children.  

"They shed innocent blood... By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder."  

This concept of "polluting the land" (chaneph) is vital. In the Torah (Numbers Thirty-five), the shedding of innocent blood creates a physical and spiritual toxicity in the geography itself. The land becomes "profaned." It becomes sick. When the land is filled with innocent blood, it can no longer sustain the people living on it. It eventually vomits them out.  

"They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight."  

The spiritual verdict is Adultery (literally, "whoring"). Israel was married to Yahweh by covenant. By engaging in these rituals with the shedim, they were cheating on their Husband with His cosmic enemies.  

The second segment is: The Cycle of Judges: Rebellion, Ruin, and Rescue.  

Psalm One Hundred Six: verses forty through forty-three.  

That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.  He handed them over to pagan nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.  Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their absolute power.  Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.

Because of this horrific betrayal, God acted.  

"That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession."  

The word "abhorred" implies deep revulsion. God looked at His "special possession" (His nachalah—inheritance) and saw it covered in the blood of children and the filth of demons. He couldn't stand the sight of it.  

So, He enacted the curses of the Covenant: "He handed them over to pagan nations, and those who hated them ruled over them."  

If Israel wanted to act like the nations, God let them be ruled by the nations. If they wanted to serve the gods of the Philistines or the Moabites, they would serve the armies of the Philistines and Moabites. He gave them exactly what they chose.  

This section summarizes the Book of Judges. It was a washing machine cycle of history:

Sin: They rebelled.

Servitude: God handed them over.

Supplication: They cried out.

Salvation: God raised a Judge to save them.

"Again and again he rescued them..."  

This highlights the incredible patience of Yahweh. He didn't just save them once; He saved them repeatedly. Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, Deborah—these were all rescue missions launched by a God who refused to quit on His people.  

"...but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin."  

Literally, "They sank low in their iniquity." The rescue was always temporary because the repentance was shallow. Eventually, the weight of their sin became too heavy to lift, and the bottom fell out.  

The third segment is: The Covenant Memory: Relenting in Exile.  

Psalm One Hundred Six: verses forty-four through forty-six.  

Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.  He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.  He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.

Here we find those two beautiful words again: "Even so..."  

After the child sacrifice, after the spiritual adultery, after centuries of spitting in His face—when the final judgment came and they were dragged off into Exile (Babylon)—God still looked at them.  

"Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries."  

Why? What could possibly motivate God to look at such a rebellious people again?  

"He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love."  

It all comes back to the Covenant (Berit) and the Unfailing Love (Hesed). God is bound by His own character. He promised Abraham an everlasting line. He cannot break His word, even when His people break theirs.  

The word "relented" (nacham) implies a deep emotional sigh of compassion. He looked at their suffering in Babylon, and His heart turned.  

And practically, how did this mercy look? "He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness."  

This is the story of Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah. God moved the hearts of the pagan kings—Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Artaxerxes—to show favor to the exiles. Even in the land of their punishment, God was working behind the scenes to preserve a remnant.  

The fourth segment is: The Final Prayer: Gather Us Home.  

Psalm One Hundred Six: verse forty-seven.  

Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.

This verse confirms the context of the psalm. It is a prayer from the Exile. The people are scattered. They are living "among the nations" (goyim).  

"Save us... Gather us back..."  

This is the ultimate cry of the Old Testament. It is the hope that the God who scattered them in judgment will gather them in mercy.  

And notice the purpose of the gathering: "...so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you."  

They want to come home not just to be comfortable, but to be worshippers again. They have learned, through the bitterness of Babylon, that the only thing worth living for is the praise of Yahweh. The "Golden Calves" and the "Demons of Canaan" offered them nothing but death. Now, they just want to be back in the presence of the Holy Name.  

The fifth segment is: The Doxology of Book Four: The Amen of Eternity.  

Psalm One Hundred Six: verse forty-eight.  

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord!

We arrive now at the grand finale. This verse is the Doxology that closes Book Four of the Psalms (Psalms Ninety through One Hundred Six).  

"Praise the Lord, the God of Israel..."  

"Blessed be Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel." Despite the tragic history we just read—a history of failure, blood, and exile—He is still the God of Israel. He has not abandoned the title.  

"...who lives from everlasting to everlasting!"  

This connects back to Psalm Ninety (the beginning of Book Four), which declared God as the one who is "from everlasting to everlasting." The generations of men rise and fall like grass. Nations rise and fall like the tide. But Yahweh remains. His timeline is infinite. He outlasts our rebellion. He outlasts our exile.  

"Let all the people say, 'Amen!'"  

Amen means "It is true" or "So be it." It is the community's signature on the truth of God’s character.  

"Praise the Lord!" (Hallelujah!)  

Psalm One Hundred Six is a hard mirror to look into.  

It forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth about human nature. We are not naturally faithful. Given enough time and comfort, we will mingle with the darkness. We will adopt the customs of the culture around us. We might not sacrifice children to Molech on a stone altar, but we sacrifice our children to the idols of success, popularity, and secularism. We pollute our own lives with compromise.  

But this psalm does not end in despair. It ends with "Amen."  

It ends with the assurance that God’s memory is better than ours. We forget His works; He remembers His covenant. We turn away; He relents.  

The message of Book Four of the Psalms is this: When the Kingdom of Israel fails, the King of the Universe reigns. Even when the throne of David sits empty in the dust of the exile, the throne of Yahweh is established in the heavens. And because He reigns "from everlasting to everlasting," there is always hope for a return from exile.  

So today, if you feel like you are in a "far country"—if you feel scattered or compromised—pray the prayer of verse forty-seven: "Save us... Gather us."  

He is listening. And His love is unfailing.  

If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of, ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’  

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.   As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly.   Love Unconditionally.   Listen Intentionally.   Learn Continuously.   Lend to others Generously.   Lead with Integrity.   Leave a Living Legacy Each Day.  

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!