For better or worse, the songs that get stuck in your head have the catchiest choruses. Once you hear the hook repeatedly, it’s hard to go about your day without having it play in your head. It’s especially a curse if you have or are around children who love to listen to silly songs. Then any hope of getting that jingle out of your head is an act of futility. All kidding aside, hearing something repeated is an effective way to remember things. Thankfully, not all repetition is terrible or inconvenient. Some things are worth repeating, especially if they are based on truth. Psalm 136 contains one of those refrains worth remembering in your walk with Christ.
Out of all the 150 Psalms, you will not find another with this kind of repetition. This is what makes Psalm 136 unique. It was intended to be sung responsively. The priest would lead in singing the first part, and the congregation would respond in unison, “For His mercy endures forever.” This phrase is repeated in all 26 verses with one overarching message: Since God does everything motivated by His mercy, His people are never without reason to give Him thanks.
For context, Psalm 136 was written while Israel was in captivity. God’s people had become strangers in a strange land and could not wait to be free from their enemies. Until then, they repeat the stories about God displaying His power in creation and their redemption.
We are a forgetful people, and we are quick to allow our circumstances to determine who our God is. We often think, “How can God be good if He allows something bad to happen to me?” When we despair over what God has or hasn’t done for us, we limit His goodness. The assumption is that God is only good when He does good things for us. Or perhaps further than that, we think, “We are the judge of God; we determine whether or not He is good.”
Psalm 136 corrects this poor theology, reminding us to thank God because He is good. His goodness is not determined by our circumstances but is based on His unchanging character. All that He does is good. As the Belgic Confession rightly says, “He is the overflowing fountain of all good.” God is never obligated to do anything good for us. Instead, all He does for His creation, especially His redeemed people, is simply because He is good.
Verses 4-9 of Psalm 136 reflect how God deals generously with all His creation. By His wisdom, He created the heavens and the earth (v.5). He made the sun rule the day and the moon and stars rule the night (vv. 8,9). This poetic language describes God’s power and sovereign rule over all He has made. When you look up at the night sky for more than a few moments, you are immediately reminded of how grand God’s creation is and how small we are by comparison. While God created all of this for His glory, He also made it for our benefit. The Christian can genuinely say, “This belongs to my Heavenly Father.” As Christians, we can recognize the beauty, wisdom, and orderliness of the world in which we live. Our troubles are put in perspective when we are reminded of how God governs and sustains His creation. With this same wisdom and power, He governs our lives. As the Psalmist progresses, he demonstrates how God has been faithful in delivering His people in times past.
Verses 10-22 cover the events of the Exodus, the wilderness, and the kings who stood in their way to enter the Promised Land. Almost every line begins with an action God did for His people. He is the one who struck Egypt’s firstborn, who brought out Israel, who led His people through the wilderness, and slew famous kings. Our God does not only make promises; He acts upon them. While these moments of deliverance were worth remembering, they pointed to our greater and ultimate redemption found in Jesus Christ. The Gospel is defined by God’s actions on our behalf. God has sent His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners who deserve to be struck by His judgment. Jesus is the one who leads His church from death to life. Christ has slain our greatest enemy, death, through His resurrection. Verses 23-26 conclude the Psalm by summarizing the themes.
In verse 23, God knows about our lowly state. He knows how great our sins are. He knows how great our unfaithfulness is to Him. And he knows how great our enemies are. Our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. Any of those enemies is enough to bring us down and make us feel defeated.
Verse 25 says He will give food to all flesh, reminding us that He will use His creation to provide for our needs. The food in our refrigerators or pantries comes from the creation He sustains by His hand. Our Lord Jesus reminds us that our Heavenly Father feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field with beauty. If God gives food to all flesh, how much will He provide for His adopted children who have been bought at the price of His only begotten Son? We live in a challenging economy. Budgets may be tight, and we may have to adjust some things to get by. Yet the Lord always provides; but why?
If God is good to us through creation and if He is good to us in our redemption through Jesus, the question becomes, what have we done to deserve God’s goodness? Are there conditions that we must meet to earn God’s goodness? Thankfully the answer is no, and the reason is found in the repeated refrain of this Psalm, “For His mercy endures Forever.” Let me pause here to explain briefly what each word in this phrase means.
The word “for” describes the grounds for why God is doing something. What would motivate the creator of Heaven and Earth to do anything good? Especially when the Bible makes it clear that we are anything but good. He knows our lowly state. He remembers that we are dust.
The next word, “His,” reminds us that it is God’s mercy, not man’s. It’s not mercy that comes from the universe or the good vibes of a friend you may know. This mercy comes from the God who made you for His glory and redeemed you from sin. It is a mercy that is unique to Him.
The word for “mercy” in Hebrew is hesed. Defined, hesed refers to God’s covenant faithful love. This is not speaking of God’s benevolence, which He demonstrates to all creation. When God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, this is not a display of His saving love. In the context of Psalm 136, mercy is reserved exclusively for His
Church. Like a faithful husband, God has always maintained His covenant promises to His people throughout every generation, even when they did not deserve it. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people have grumbled, rebelled, and done everything to break their relationship with God. And yet God’s people have always been the apple of His eye, the object of His faithfulness. God doesn’t quit on His people. Everything that God does for His people is because of His covenant faithfulness. The reason why He is faithful is because He is faithful. The reason why He loves us is because He loves us. The Apostle Paul expresses this in Ephesians 2:5, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” We have never earned God’s mercy by our obedience. Therefore, His mercy is solely because we are in Christ.
This phrase ends with the words “endures forever.” Because God’s mercy or covenant faithfulness is not dependent on our faithfulness to him, His love will endure forever. For all of eternity, we will praise God for His faithfulness. In the hymn, Amazing Grace, we sing, “When we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise then when we’ve first begun.” And if that is true for us in glory, it is certainly true for us in this life.
God’s faithfulness will see you through every high and low. Whatever you see in politics or culture does not change or affect this truth. Your life circumstances do not alter or affect this truth. God has shown His covenant faithful love because He has given us Christ. He is our conqueror. He is our provider. He is our sustainer. If you are ever tempted to doubt God’s goodness, remember this refrain: “For His mercies endure forever.” If you ever wonder whether God is with you amid your trials, remember this: “For His mercies endure forever.” And if God’s love for you is ever in question, memorize this truth: “For His mercies endure forever.”
Rev. Jeff Munive
Rosamond CA