God's Steadfast Love

My husband and I fly often and all over the world, so much so, that I think I have the safety instructions memorized. The flight attendant tells you where the exits are, what to do in case of a water landing, how to put on the oxygen mask, etc. Most of the time, I keep my earbuds in. I’m only partially listening. It’s one thing on the airplane, but what about when we read God’s Word? Are there parts we should skim over or skip altogether because they are familiar?

Every word in God’s word is important. It is the inspired, inerrant, God-breathed word of God. I know I have been tempted and given in to temptation to skip over the lists of hard-to-pronounce names in the Old Testament. I’ve skimmed through familiar passages, and I’ve skipped over the repeated lines in Psalm 136. I have been challenged again and again of the importance of every word in Scripture whether or not I understand the full importance or not.

This past week, I was challenged by the significance of the repeated lines in Psalm 136. Please read through it slowly. Don’t rush through the repeated lines. God didn’t inspire the Psalmist to write them because He needed to fill a word count quota, or the structure looked better with the repeated, indented line. God is communicating an important truth that we must need to hear repeatedly because we are prone to forget.

136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

4 to him who alone does great wonders,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

7 to him who made the great lights,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

8 the sun to rule over the day,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

11 and brought Israel out from among them,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

17 to him who struck down great kings,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

18 and killed mighty kings,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

20 and Og, king of Bashan,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

21 and gave their land as a heritage,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

22 a heritage to Israel his servant,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

24 and rescued us from our foes,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

25 he who gives food to all flesh,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his steadfast love endures forever. [1]

Let’s cover an overview of Psalm 136 before focusing on “for His steadfast love endures forever.” First, Psalm 136 is an expansion of Psalm 135. If you take a minute to read Psalm 135, you will observe similar themes and wording. As God’s love endures forever in Psalm 136, God’s name endures forever in Psalm 135. God is eternal. He is unchanging.

Second, the theme of Psalm 136 is gratitude for God’s faithful, steadfast love. In verses 1-3, God’s steadfast love is connected to His other attributes – His goodness (vs 1) and His supremacy (vs 2-3, 26). God’s goodness and steadfast love seem like a natural pairing, but imagine a “supreme” earthly ruler, the power they wield. Would you rather their supreme rule was characterized by steadfast love or without it? A current example that comes to mind is Putin. He’s wielding and threatening a lot of power right now, but it is far from being motivated by steadfast love. God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. His supremacy transcends any earthly ruler, AND His steadfast love is the source of all His great wonders as the God of gods, Lord of lords, and God of heaven (vs 4).

In verses 4-9, we discover that God’s steadfast love was the source behind all of creation, and the Psalmist notes that we give thanks to God “who alone does great wonders” (vs 4). Contrast this to the description of other “gods” in Psalm 135:15-17. These idols are nothing. They are merely the work of human hands, but God is holy. There is none who can compare to Him (Exodus 15:11). God alone does the great wonders described in verses 5-25.

In verses 10-22, we read of God’s steadfast love in redemption. God’s steadfast love was evident in both the deliverance and provision for Israel and in punishing those who opposed Him. God’s steadfast love was the source of His great wonders in the Exodus and in the conquering of Canaan.

In verses 23-24, God’s steadfast love was demonstrated in present and personal salvation (note the switch in language from “Israel” to “us”). The Psalmist isn’t recalling the distant past of the Exodus and conquering of Israel. He is remembering the recent past, and God’s great wonder in rescuing them from their foes.

In verse 25, God’s steadfast love is displayed in His care for His creation. Then the Psalmist brings the Psalm full circle by again entreating the listener to give thanks (vs 26).

As I read Psalm 136 slowly, not skipping over “for His steadfast love endures forever,” I thought about why the repetition might be so important. The Psalmist could have grouped all the creation verses together, and then said, “for His steadfast love endures forever.” He could have done the same with the Exodus and the conquering of Canaan, but the Psalmist didn’t. The Psalmist related a single event and then followed with “for His steadfast love endures forever.”

I particularly meditated on verses 10-25. We can look back on the events of the Exodus and conquering the land of Canaan and see how miraculous it was. God indeed performed great wonders. But what if we were one of the Israelites there when all the firstborn of Egypt were struck down? Yes, we would’ve witnessed God’s great wonders in the other nine plagues, and we would have the instruction of painting the blood of an unblemished lamb on the two doorposts and the lintel of our house so death would pass by, but would you sleep that night? I would love to say I’d have unwavering faith in God’s word and sleep like a baby, but I think I would have been anxious. Would God really kill all the firstborn except those in homes with the lamb’s blood? Would my firstborn escape death? Would we really be able to leave Egypt?

Continue this line of thought as the Israelites left Egypt, as the Red Sea parted with Pharaoh and his minions hot on their trail. What about when they wandered the wilderness for forty years? Remember how they grumbled? Remember how they were fearful of the giants in Canaan? We can look at all these events and see God’s great wonders. We can see His steadfast love in redeeming, saving, and caring for the Israelites, but do you think in the midst of it that the Israelites were seeing and resting in God’s steadfast love? Would we?

These are times we must hold fast to truth not our feelings and circumstances. Now, apply this to your own life. As you look at past life events and current circumstances, do you need to be reminded with each one that God’s steadfast love endures forever? That His steadfast love is the source of His great wonders in your life? Can you even see His great wonders? Just like the Israelites, it may not seem like God’s steadfast love is at work but choose to have faith that what God says is true. His steadfast love endures forever, so much so that God sent His Son Jesus who took on flesh, suffered, died paying the penalty for our sin, was forsaken by the Father, bore the Father’s full wrath, rose again, and gave us His perfect record of righteousness, so that nothing can ever separate us from God’s steadfast love (Romans 8:35-39).

Reflection

1. Write out events in your life, past and present, trials and celebrations. Leave plenty of space between each event. After each event, write, “God’s steadfast love endures forever.” Then write how that truth changes your perspective of that event. Remembering and being thankful for how you have seen God work and His steadfast love behind His acts equips you for when new trials come.

2. As Psalm 136 began and ended with the exhortation to give thanks to God because His steadfast love endures forever, give thanks to Him now. Be specific like the Psalm is.

3. Our second response to God’s steadfast love is to be like Him. We should steadfastly love God and love others. Ask God to help you love Him and others steadfastly. Ask Him to open your eyes to specific ways you can love others (overlooking an offense, forgiving a sin against you, an act of service, praying with someone, etc.). We can’t do it apart from the Holy Spirit. Then give thanks that even when we fail to love steadfastly, we have Jesus’ perfect record of loving God and loving others steadfastly.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 136:1–26.