Tehillim 106 | "We Have Sinned Like Our Ancestors"

The Book of Tehillim is the book of humanity, and as such, it naturally encompasses a range of perspectives and emotional responses to the same questions. These differences may stem from the variety of poets, each shaped by their own experiences (Like David, Heiman, Asaph, and others), or they may arise from the nature of the human soul, which is itself a turbulent mix of conflicting emotions: One day, a person may feel filled with hope and close to God, and the next, engulfed in despair. One day may be consumed by guilt, and the next, by anger, and there are also days when one feels all of these at once. The psalms reflect the full emotional spectrum — and all of these responses and prayers are given a place of honor within the Tanakh.

One of the most traumatic events in the Tanakh is the destruction of the Temple. The struggle to come to terms with the destruction of the Temple, with the despair of exile, and with the encounter with evil lies at the heart of many psalms. In a highly recommended shiur from Herzog's Yemei Iyun be'Tanakh, Dr. Yoshi Fargeon analyzes four psalms that each offer a radically different response to the destruction: whom they blame, what emotional tone they strike, and how they envision a path forward. (You are encouraged to compare these with psalms we’ve already studied: 44, 74, and 89, or listen to the full shiur here: https://shorturl.at/dhqwD.)

In this context, Psalm 106 sees the destruction as the sole fault of the people of Israel. It serves as a counterpart to the psalm that precedes it — Psalm 105. Whereas Psalm 105 recounts God’s great acts of kindness, Psalm 106 recounts the people’s great sins. From Yetziat Mitzrayim onward, Israel never ceased to sin, and the destruction and exile were an inevitable conclusion simply waiting to unfold.

The psalm includes many parallels to Yechezkel chapter 20 (see the attached “Tanakh Lab” link). There, too, Yechezkel recounts the sins of Israel beginning from the very first moment. The poet of Psalm 106 offers a more intuitive approach, he is a disciple of the prophetic books and fully embraces the theology of reward and punishment that led to the destruction, showing little sympathy for the people. Elsewhere in Tehillim, however, we find other voices. There are Psalms that question God’s ways, express despair, or even turn to God in anger and blame Him. There are moments in the life of the nation, and in our own lives, when those psalms give us language for our pain, enabling us to identify with the prayer. But even the more direct prophetic stance — if we suffer, it is because we have sinned — holds great significance. Perhaps the sequence of psalms is itself meaningful. The book begins with psalms expressing feelings of abandonment, confusion, and even rage. But as the book progresses, those emotions are processed, and ultimately, the recognition emerges that everything depends on us.