Bible Strands
Psalms 106:24
They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist recounts Israel’s wilderness rebellion immediately after God declared He would destroy the congregation. This historical review occurs in a corporate worship setting where the community confesses past unfaithfulness.
The words — The Hebrew verb יִמְאֲסוּ (yim’asu) literally means "they despised" or "they rejected," paired with חֶמְדָּה (chemdah), meaning "desire" or "pleasantness." This is contrasted with הֶאֱמִינוּ (he’emínu), "they believed," which the text explicitly negates regarding God’s word.
The thread — This pattern of rejecting the promised land while doubting God’s word appears in Deuteronomy 1:32 and Numbers 14:31. Ezekiel 20:6 similarly records God’s oath to bring Israel into the land He had searched out for them.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that unbelief in God’s specific promises leads to forfeiting the blessings He provides. It calls readers to examine their own trust in divine word against the temptation to despise what God has appointed.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 1:32 But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
- Numbers 14:31 But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
- Ezekiel 20:6 On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.
- Hebrews 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
- Hebrews 4:6 Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience,
- Deuteronomy 8:7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;
- Deuteronomy 11:11 But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
- Jeremiah 3:19 Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.
- Matthew 22:5 But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business.
- Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.