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God's Faithful Love Endures Forever (Psalm 136)

Pr Anand Kumar

14-02-2021


Psalm 136

New International Version

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,

His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them

His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it,

His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

16 to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.

17 to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings—

His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.

23 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.

His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

 

The Jews call Psalm 136 the “Great Hallel”. The Hebrew word Hallel means "Praise". From “Hallel” we get the word “Hallelujah”. Psalm 136 is usually sung during Passover. “His love endures forever” is one of the most precious phrases and appears 136 times in Psalm 136. Different translations include “His faithfulness endures forever” (NLT), “His lovingkindness is everlasting” (NASB), “His lovingkindness endures forever” (AMP), and “His mercy endures forever” (KJV & NKJV).

 

When the psalmist wrote this song, they were giving praises and thanks to God for who He is and for what He has done.

 

God is good and He is always sovereign.

 

Deuteronomy 10:17

New International Version

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

 

God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His love is unchanging. And the good God makes everything good. But sin causes God’s creation to live in a broken world. Through Jesus Christ, we are redeemed and are able to reconnect with God. His redemption plan is sovereign and He is working in and through us. Everything that God has done for us springs out from who He is. He is enduring, steadfast and unchangeable. That is the nature of God.

 

As such, we should radiate who God is in our thought and actions. Knowing that God is sovereign and He is faithful in loving us and He doesn’t change, it causes us to conform and to be transformed to reflect who He is and to love others.

 

In this world, we experience a lot of brokenness. Brokenness hurts and discourages us and we tend to become defensive, sceptical and protective. We experience brokenness in different forms such as through an offence, hurt or trauma. Over time, these forms of brokenness take a toll on us and affect us in how we react, speak and treat others. We struggle to trust people, we tend to avoid and become very defensive so much so that it is very difficult to build communities because we do not know who is authentic and real anymore. But this doesn’t reflect the heart of God. We are able to be redeemed and restored because God is sovereign and all loving. He is all powerful and is able to mend us in this broken world. And He wants to use us to reflect His love.

 

John 3:16

New International Version

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

God wants the world to come to know the saving grace of His only Son, Jesus Christ. But God has chosen us, the children of God, to carry this mandate to be His light and salt. Therefore, we are in the world as salt and light to reflect the lovingkindness and faithful love of God in our thought, actions and words.

 

The creator God’s sovereign love can mend and restore any brokenness. Life is unfair. The difficult people that we encounter can take a toll on our character. When people offend and hurt us, we tend to struggle to trust others. Traumas and bad experiences make us withdraw. When we do that, we are not able to love others like how God wants to love and we are not able to fulfil the Great Commission of making disciples.

 

God’s love is sovereign and powerful enough to forgive and to restore us. His love can heal every broken heart.

In spite of the people of Israel’s repeated rebellion and idolatry, God displayed that His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 

In Numbers 21:21-35, having defeated Israel’s enemies Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, God gave the land to the Israelites as an inheritance. Love is an action verb. God protects, He saves, He acts.

 

God has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ.

 

Philippians 1:6

New International Version

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

When we go through difficult times, it is very challenging but God’s faithful love is always acting and always perseveres. No matter how long we need to wait for our breakthrough, He will come through for us.

 

Jude 24

New International Version

Doxology

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

 

Therefore, give thanks to God in the midst of difficulties and trials. Submit to His sovereignty and acknowledge  that in whatever situation that we go through, God’s ultimate love can turn it around for His glory. His enduring love marches forward for His people. Hang on and hold on to God’s faithful love that is always acting. Even in the midst of suffering and pain, God can still make us a blessing to others. Keep on persevering until miracles take place.

 

Sometimes, God allows us to go through a certain situation but it doesn’t stop God’s promise over your life and it doesn’t change your destiny. God’s love is so faithful that it will sustain us. God’s faithful love always perseveres. God is the miracle worker.


God’s faithful love endures forever. God’s faithful love is sovereign. God’s faithful love perseveres. No matter the situation, our posture is to be thankful. Praise Him in the midst of the storm and raise a Halellujah! He is our shelter and we can abide in His presence.

 

Eternal life is a free gift from God. But man cannot receive eternal life but sin hinders. God hates sin. Our hatred, betrayal and the bad things that we do hinder us from receiving eternal life. God is just. He loves us but He hates sin. Therefore, He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross and pay the penalty for sin. When He died and rose again, all the penalty for sin has been paid. When you receive Jesus in your heart and confess that He is the Lord and Saviour, you are able to experience this powerful love immediately. God demonstrated His love for us—while we were still sinners, He died for us. Open your heart to receive eternal life by giving your faith and believing Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour. It is all for love that Jesus died for us. It is all for love that He reached out to us.

 

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