Psalm 106:37 describes Israel’s shameful practice of offering their own children as sacrifices to false gods, which the psalmist names as demons. The verse is a confession within a longer review of Israel’s history, where the writer looks back at the nation’s repeated failures and the consequences that followed. It is spoken by the psalmist, a worshiper and poet who recounts Israel’s sins before God, and it is addressed to the people of Israel as a whole.
Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
Psalm 106:37 (WEB)
What Psalm 106:37 Means
The verse opens with “Yes,” which signals that the psalmist is adding a particularly grim example to the list of sins already named. The word “sacrificed” refers to offerings made to deities, and the sacrifice of “sons and daughters” points to the most painful possible cost a family could pay. The phrase “to demons” is the psalmist’s sharp judgment that the gods Israel served were not true gods at all, but powers that lead people into destruction.
The verse does not describe a single event, and it does not explain every detail of how such practices were carried out. It shows that Israel’s drift away from the LORD had reached a horrifying depth. Read in its place within the psalm, the verse is not offering a comfort or a promise. It is a confession that stands as a warning about where unfaithfulness can lead.
The Context of Psalm 106:37
Psalm 106 is a long historical psalm that retells Israel’s story from the Exodus onward, often describing how God acted faithfully while the people repeatedly turned away. The psalm is traditionally attributed to David or to a later writer in his tradition, and its audience is the worshiping community of Israel, who would have recited it as a reminder of their history. Verses 34 to 36 describe how Israel failed to drive out the nations as God commanded, mixed with them, and adopted their idols, which became a snare.
The verses that follow in 38 to 40 widen the picture, describing innocent blood spilled and the land polluted by it, and then the LORD’s anger rising against his people. Seen in this setting, Psalm 106:37 is the sharpest point in a sequence of compromise that ends in judgment. The verse is not a stray detail but the logical end of the path the psalm traces.
Key Phrases in Psalm 106:37
Deuteronomy 18:10
There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer…
(WEB)
This verse forbids Israel from letting a child pass through fire, a direct prohibition that stands behind the sin Psalm 106:37 confesses. Reading it alongside the psalm shows that the people had clear warning and still chose the practice anyway. It makes the psalmist’s grief sharper.
Psalm 106:38
They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
(WEB)
The verse that immediately follows names the innocent blood spilled through these sacrifices and the land polluted by it. Reading it with verse 37 shows how one act of idolatry spreads guilt beyond the family to the whole community and the land itself.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 106:37
Lord, you see the places in my life where I have set something above you, and you know how easily my loyalties drift. Forgive me for the idols I have served, whether they were obvious or quiet, and for the costs I have asked others to bear for them. Turn my heart back to you, and teach me to value what you value, especially the people you have entrusted to my care. Keep me from the compromise that leads to ruin. Amen.
