Pr Anand Kumar
14-02-2021
Psalm
136
New
International Version
Psalm
136
1 Give thanks to
the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures
forever.
2 Give
thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures
forever.
3 Give
thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures
forever.
4 to him who alone does
great wonders,
His love endures
forever.
5 who
by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures
forever.
6 who
spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures
forever.
7 who
made the great lights—
His love endures
forever.
8 the
sun to govern the day,
His love endures
forever.
9 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
6 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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