Look again at your past and discover the enduring love of God
By Dean Collins
Maybe the psalmist knew our tendency to forget. Three times at the beginning of Psalm 136 and once at the end of the psalm we are told to give thanks. You would think at some point in life we wouldn’t need to be reminded. But sometimes our busyness, our grief, and our current challenges can cause us to freeze up. In these moments saying anything is hard.
Psalm 136 gives us a way forward. And the secret is in reviewing the past. The psalmist is using a broad brush as he recalls hundreds of years of God’s provision, protection, and deliverance. We are reminded 22 times that God showed not just his power but always his never-ending and consistent, even expansive, love for us.
Enduring forever
After each line in Psalm 136, the psalmist gives a refrain. The first time he simply reminds the reader that God is good. The next 25 times he reminds us why God created us and has consistently provided for us. The reason? “For his steadfast love endures forever!” This is critically important to remember when facing current challenges. Not only has God repeated his rescue plan over and over again. The recollection of so many times of deliverance assures us that he will not and simply cannot leave us unattended and stuck. The fact that his steadfast love endures forever means he will take care of tomorrow just as he took care of yesterday.
Today’s Scripture reading contains the psalmist’s recollections. But here’s my challenge to you. Come up with 22 of your own examples of what God has done for you and your loved ones in the past. I’m sure if we put some effort into it we could think of one a day for a month. In fact, if we worked at it I think we might remember one new thing to be thankful for each day for a year.
If we worked at it I think we might remember one new thing to be thankful for each day for a year.
In my version of these verses, below, I’ve taken the liberty of separating the works of God from each refrain and then repeating all those refrains one after the other, at the end. For me, reading the psalm this way shows me there is absolutely no way God will ever hold back his care for us in any circumstance.
I am confident that if we will start thanking God for at least one thing every day, we will eventually begin to understand Paul’s instruction to us in 1 Thessalonians: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It’s not only a good spiritual discipline to give thanks. Ultimately it’s God’s will that we do so!
Your time with God’s Word
“Give thanks to the Lord;
Give thanks to the God of gods,
Give thanks to the Lord of Lords,
to him who alone does great wonders,
to him who by understanding made the heavens,
to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
to him who made the great lights,
the sun to rule over the day,
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
and brought Israel out from among them,
with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
to him who led his people through the wilderness,
and killed mighty kings,
to him who struck down great kings,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and gave their land as a heritage,
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
a heritage to Israel his servant,
It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
and rescued us from our foes,
he who gives food to all flesh,
Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. for his steadfast love endures forever. for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever. for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever; for his steadfast love endures forever. for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Based on Psalm 136:1-26 ESV
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