majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 136:1-3,
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever."
The structure of this psalm seems to indicate that it may have been
used as a responsive song. One group would advance the content of the
psalm while the other would answer back with the same refrain for each
of the 26 verses, "His love endures forever." It starts off with a
triple injunction to give thanks to God for his enduring love. The
psalm also ends with a further request for thanksgiving. In these
calls for thanksgiving, God is called the good Lord, the God of gods,
the Lord of lords and the God of heaven. Following the first three
calls for thanksgiving the psalmist directs the attention on why
thanksgiving should be made and what forms the basis for the worship
within the psalm: "to him who alone does great wonders." It is the
wonderful works of God that are in view in this psalm that bring to
mind that "His love endures forever." God's creative acts, his
deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt, providing Israel victory
over her enemies, and his provision for all creation are all recalled
of God's works.
These wonderful works of God are remembered to underscore the great
love of the Lord, and particularly the unchanging nature of that love
the Lord has for those who are his. John reminds us that God is love,
I John 4:8,16. God himself reveals this love in his kindness and mercy
in Exodus 34:6-7, where he reveals himself to Moses as "abounding in
love". He also discloses this in Jeremiah 9:24, where he says that if
anyone were to boast, it should be that he knows the Lord and knows of
his kindness.
What comes through loud and clear in this psalm to me is that as I
acknowledge the wonderful love the Lord has for me, I know I will
never wake one day to hear the Lord ever say, "You know, I know I told
you I love you but I have changed and I'm moving on." Never will those
words be uttered by our Lord to any of us! Where others may forsake
us, our loving Lord never, ever will! Nothing can separate us from the
love of Jesus Christ, Romans 8:31-39. The Lord's great love for us is
ours for all eternity! Here is something all of us can hang our hat
on: the certainty of God's great unchanging love for us!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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