Why read Psalm 106?
Psalm 106 is a prayer of thanksgiving after danger and a source of encouragement in trouble. Its accounts of wandering, captivity, sickness and storms repeatedly call for gratitude for deliverance.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
“Praise the Lord, for He is good,...” — thus begins Psalm 106, a work of 43 verses from Kathisma 15. The Psalter is read in the Orthodox Church at every service, and this psalm has its place in the order of prayer.
Text of Psalm 106
1. Praise the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy is forever.
2. Let those delivered by the Lord say so, whom He delivered from the enemy's hand.
3. He gathered them from lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4. They wandered in the wilderness, in a land without water, and found no way to a city to dwell in.
5. They were hungry and thirsty; their soul within them was coming to an end;
6. But they cried to the Lord in their afflictions, and He delivered them from their distress
7. And guided them on a straight way to go to a city to dwell in.
8. Praised be the Lord for His mercies, for His wonders that He has done for the sons of men.
9. For He satisfied a thirsty soul and filled a hungry soul with good things.
10. They sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; they were bound by poverty and iron,
11. Because they had embittered the words of the Lord and provoked the counsel of the Most High.
12. He humbled their heart through toil; they weakened, and there was no one to help them;
13. But they cried to the Lord in their afflictions, and He delivered them from their distress.
14. And He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds.
15. Praised be the Lord for His mercies, for His wonders that He has done for the sons of men!
16. For He shattered gates of bronze and broke bars of iron
17. And helped them leave the way of their lawlessness, for they had been humbled because of their lawlessness.
18. Their soul loathed all food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
19. But they cried to the Lord in their afflictions, and He delivered them from their distress.
20. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their corruptions.
21. Praised be the Lord for His mercies, for His wonders that He has done for the sons of men!
22. And let them sacrifice to Him a sacrifice of praise and proclaim His works in joy.
23. Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do their work in many waters,
24. They saw the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
25. He spoke, and a stormy wind arose, and the waves of the sea rose high.
26. They rose to the heavens and went down to the depths, and their soul grew numb amid dangers.
27. They were troubled and swayed like a drunken man, and all their understanding perished.
28. But they cried to the Lord in their afflictions, and He delivered them from their distress
29. And commanded the storm, and it grew calm, and the waves of the sea fell silent.
30. And they rejoiced because the waves grew calm, and the Lord guided them to the haven they desired.
31. Praised be the Lord for His mercies, for His wonders that He has done for the sons of men!
32. Exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the seat of the elders,
33. He turned rivers into desert land, springs of water into thirsty land
34. And fruitful land into salty land because of those who dwell in it.
35. He turned the wilderness into a lake of waters, and land without water into springs of water,
36. And settled the hungry there, and they built a city to dwell in
37. And sowed fields and planted vineyards and gathered abundant fruit
38. And He blessed them, and they multiplied greatly, and He did not diminish their cattle.
39. And again they were diminished and tormented by the weight of afflictions and pain.
40. He cast contempt upon their leaders and made them wander in an untrodden place without a path.
41. But He delivered the poor man from poverty, and set them as sheep of an inheritance.
42. The righteous will see and rejoice, and all lawlessness will shut its mouth.
43. Whoever is wise will keep these things and understand the mercies of the Lord.
When Psalm 106 is read
- the thanksgiving of those delivered from dangers.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighboring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
