Praise God For His Unending Mercy!

  Psalms 136:1-26

1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:

4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His mercy endures forever;

5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
For His mercy endures forever;

6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
For His mercy endures forever;

7 To Him who made great lights,
For His mercy endures forever—

8 The sun to rule by day,
For His mercy endures forever;

9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His mercy endures forever.

10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures forever;

11 And brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy endures forever;

12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,
For His mercy endures forever;

13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures forever;

14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures forever;

15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His mercy endures forever;

16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His mercy endures forever;

17 To Him who struck down great kings,
For His mercy endures forever;

18 And slew famous kings,
For His mercy endures forever—

19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures forever;

20 And Og king of Bashan,
For His mercy endures forever—

21 And gave their land as a heritage,
For His mercy endures forever;

22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever.

23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures forever;

24 And rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures forever;

25 Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever.

26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.

There are twenty two things caused by God’s mercy bookended by the first three verses of His goodness as God of gods and Lord of lords which we should be thankful for, and ending with the thanksgiving for His unending mercy in the final verse of this song of praise.  These numerous reasons to praise and thank God are all echoed with the refrain, “For His mercy endures forever.”  That tells us that these are all important to consider in understanding His mercy towards His people.  They include: God doing great and wonderful things to behold, broken out as the wisdom to create the universe above us, the land made out of the waters of the sea in the beginning, and the great heavenly lights to guide and illuminate our way with seasons and direction finding.  These are the stars at night, along with the moon, and the sun by day to show the way through and to dispel darkness.  He sings of deliverance from bondage in Egypt (symbolic of our deliverance from sin and its due judgment, our salvation) by the power of His mighty right hand and arm which He reached out to deliver, not waiting for His people to reach out for their own salvation which they even fought against as Moses told them God had sent him to do so.  God’s mercy even brought the people miraculously through parted waters while drowning the persecutors what had enslaved them in their bondage, just as through baptism He delivers us from the evil one’s pursuit in Christ as He delivered Noah (1 Peter 3:20) in a similar manner and purpose.  By infinite mercy, God led the rebellious ones through forty years in the desert wilderness, feeding them and providing all that was necessary for life.  He fought their battles to defeat the ungodly kings who occupied the land promised through Abraham to them, that they would inherit their heritage as promised, a shadow and precursor to our inheritance in the eternal kingdom which now is and will yet be eternally here for us on earth to worship and thank and praise Him for!  He had seen our lowly and sinful hopelessness, and reached down with His own Son to buy our debt and bring us home in forgiveness and grace, rescuing us from the enemy of our souls.  He even provides all our sustenance, as well as for the animals He created for us in Eden.  Yes, we can sing this song as our own because we are His people, thanking the God of heaven for all these things done for His chosen and called (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 17:14) ones.  Give thanks to God, the Lord of lords and God of gods, our King of kings (Deuteronomy 10:17, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 19:16), for His mercy endures forever!  Amen and amen.  Let it be so.