What is one of the best ways to learn something? Repetition of the lesson. Repeating something over and over again is one very good way to memorize, or get a lesson firmly implanted in our brain. If we have something important to tell another person, we frequently repeat our message to them in order to be sure they heard. If it’s important, we will often repeat our words. God does the same thing. If He repeats something several times in the Bible, it must be something important! Our psalm for today has a message from the Lord that He has repeated over and over again. It must be something important. Let’s take a look at what this message is.
Today we are highlighting only the first and the last few verses of our psalm for this week, but the whole psalm is worthy of a read through. This psalm, both in Biblical times and also throughout Church history, was very often recited responsively. A priest, pastor, or church leader would recite the first half of each verse, with the congregation responding with the second half of the verse. Throughout each of the twenty-six verses, the refrain is always the same words - “For His mercy endures forever.” Obviously the Lord God has something that He wants us to know, to really get into our heads and hearts, and that is that His mercy endures forever.
What is mercy? For a Christian, mercy is when God withholds from us the punishment that we justly deserve for our sins. God’s mercy is most evident when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us, paying the price of our sins, so that all who trust in Him will not suffer the just punishment of hell. Even after we have been saved, and we commit some sin, God could dispense some just correction upon us, but so often, in His mercy, He withholds that from us. God’s grace is when He bestows upon us what we don’t deserve, such as His forgiveness, His blessings, a place in heaven as part of His family.
As our psalm teaches us, we should never forget that God is a good God (vs. 1). And because He is good, He is therefore merciful. That is one of the beatitudes that Jesus taught His disciples, an attribute of God’s that He wants His followers to emulate and practice in their lives (Matthew 5:7).
Because God’s mercy endures forever, our thanks to Him should also be everlasting, enduring forever. The psalm opens and closes with commands to His people to give Him ceaseless thanks (vs. 1-3, 26). How often does our thanks consist of just a brief saying thanks for our food before we eat? Many people today have even forsaken that ritual. When we have received the mercy of God so abundantly in our life, it is only appropriate and proper of us to give Him thanks!
Psalm 136 highlights God’s mercy in His creation (vs. 5-9), and then it focuses on the mercy that He showed to the people of Israel when He brought them out of bondage in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and defeating Pharaoh, along with the kings of the Amorites and Bashan (vs. 10-22). God does not forget those to whom He has given life. He provides for every creature, and nourishes us (vs. 25).
God has rescued us (vs. 24), and has redeemed us by breaking the power of the one who has us bound, namely Satan, the prince of darkness. Yahweh remembers His mercy and grace, and forgets our sins. Man forgets God’s mercy and grace, and keeps a tally of others (and often their own) sins.
In closing, we need to remember that Yahweh is a God of gods, and a Lord of lords (vs. 2-3). We can trust His promises. He will never go back on His Word. God’s love and mercy endures forever. We do not need to ever fear that God will run out of love and mercy, because it flows from a well that will never run dry. It will never fail us. It will never end. Whatever comes my way, I can rest assured that God’s faithful love for me endures forever.
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