Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. – Psalm 136:1 NKJV
If you’ve ever read Psalm 136, you’ll quickly realize that one line is repeated multiple times, “For His mercy endures forever.” The psalm has twenty-six verses which means the line was repeated twenty-six times.
Maybe in the past, you’ve been tempted to skip these lines (as I have) thinking it repetitive and redundant. But I invite you to look at Psalm 136 again. As tempting as it may be to skim over the lines, slow down as you read them and think about what you’re saying about God, For His mercy endures forever.
The word translated as mercy is the Hebrew word cheçed, (pronounced kheh’-sed). Cheçed means kindness, beauty, favor, goodness, or mercy.
Has God been kind to you? Has He shown you mercy? Have you experienced His goodness and favor? Have you basked in His beauty?
I bet your answer to at least one of these questions is “yes”. Why then do we want to skip over these lines that cause us to ponder how good God has been to us?
What does His mercy endures forever mean?
God’s mercy is something we did not earn. God is capable of destroying us or at the very least, punishing us for our sins, but He doesn’t. He continues to show us His goodness, kindness, and favor. And this favor is not something that’s here today and gone tomorrow…it’s everlasting.
God has been showing love and kindness to us since the beginning of time and He will continue to show us mercy until time no longer exists. He sent His Son to be punished in our place and to pay the price we deserved. Doesn’t that kind of mercy deserve all the praise and glory we can give Him?
But if we needed any more reasons to give thanks to the Lord, Psalm 136 gives us a lot of them.
- He’s a God above and unlike all other gods (Psalm 136:2).
- He is the Creator of all things (Psalm 136:3-9).
- He rescued Israel from their Egyptian captors (Psalm 136:10-15)
- He defeated great kings and powers and gave Israel a great land (Psalm 136:17-22)
The great things that God gives us are not all in the past. He remembers our lowliness and rescues us from our enemies (Psalm 136:23-24). He feeds not only humanity but all the animals as well (Psalm 136:25).
My friend, I don’t know what season you’re in right now, but God is great indeed and worthy to be praised! Won’t you give thanks to Him today? His mercy endures forever.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the mercies You’ve bestowed on me. Your love is everlasting and I want to take this moment to express my gratitude for all that You’ve done for me. Thank you for sparing my life and providing for my needs. Thank You for taking care of me and bestowing on me the privilege of being part of Your family. I’m grateful for all that You’ve done and will continue to do. In Your precious name, I pray, Amen.
Pause for Reflection
- How has God blessed you in the past week?
- What mercies are you most thankful for today?
- Read Psalm 136 aloud and ponder the various things that the psalmist gave thanks for.
Other actions you can take:
