Psalm 106:7

Psalm 106:7, in plain English

Your ancestors saw amazing miracles in Egypt but didn't really understand what they meant—and they actually rebelled against God right there at the Red Sea even though He was saving them.

Why it's here

The psalmist is now walking through specific historical examples. They start with Egypt and the exodus. The irony is biting: God performed wonder after wonder—the plagues, the protection of the Israelites' homes—yet the people still didn't grasp it. And their rebellion came at the very moment of salvation, at the Red Sea, probably referring to complaints and fear even as God was about to deliver them.

Who's speaking

The psalmist, recounting Israel's history

Where it sits in the story

This is the foundational story of Israel, told in Exodus. The plagues demonstrated God's power, yet the people's faith was fragile and quick to crumble. This history of short memory becomes the pattern the psalmist will trace throughout this psalm.

The scholarly reading

The recitation of Israel's rebellious history begins at Egypt: the ancestors failed to perceive God's miraculous works and soon thereafter rebelled at the Red Sea despite having witnessed His power.

Language and setting

The phrase 'did not grasp' (lo hisku) carries cognitive and moral weight—understanding divine action was not merely intellectual but volitional. The rebellion 'at the sea' references Numbers 14:1-4, where the people murmured against Moses and Aaron after hearing the spies' report, despite the Exodus deliverance. This establishes a pattern of amnesia: marvel followed immediately by doubt.

Voice

The psalmist, now functioning as historical reciter and communal confessor.

Significance

This recounts Exodus 14-15 and Numbers 13-14, establishing the foundational pattern of the wilderness narratives: God acts, Israel forgets, Israel rebels, God's patience is tested.

5that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, and give glory with Your inheritance.

6We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.

8Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.

9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

Read all of Psalm 106 — The other side of Psalm 105. Israel's history retold through the lens of rebellion — yet God saved them again and again for His name's sake.