Thankful for Forever Love
[Read Psalm 136]
When things are going well it’s easy to give thanks and bless the Lord, but the moment things begin to turn sideways—not even necessarily badly, just not the direction we wanted things to go—we begin to ask lots of questions. Why did you do that, God? Why is this happening to me? Why am I the one who is always having a hard time with things? Why won’t you just give me what I want for once? Why does it always have to be hard? And, while we aren’t saying it directly, we’re actually questioning God’s very character. We’re questioning two things: God are you really good? God are you really faithful?
The Psalm answers both of those questions and adds an additional comment saying, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, ESV). Yes, God is good, all the time. Yes, God is faithful, and his steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever—so all the time. And, by the way, because God is good and faithful all the time, we should give thanks to him all the time. And, in case you missed the point the first time, you’re going to be reminded over and over and over again that his steadfast love endures forever. It’s his way of reminding wavering, questioning, and faltering hearts of this extremely important truth. This opening verse is the summary of this entire Psalm—which means it’s the summary of this sermon.
Yet, the Psalmist takes things deeper by showing us ways that we can clearly see God’s goodness and faithfulness. He begins by reminding us of who God is. He says, “Give thanks to the God of gods…Give thanks to the Lord of lords…” (Psalm 136:2–3, ESV). The God that we love and serve is the only God—really—but this is worded to remind us that he is higher than all of the other false gods out there in the world, higher than all of the worthless things we often put our hope and trust in. He’s higher than all of the rulers and authorities in this world as well. He is GOD—the only true God who has existed throughout eternity. Because of this reality, we know he is good and that his steadfast love endures forever. And because of this reality, he is completely worthy of all our worship AND thanks.
The Psalmist goes on to talk about some of the things our God has done that show his goodness and his steadfast love. All of our worship and praise and thanks to God revolve around these two things: who God is and what he has done. He’s already reminded us about who God is, now he wants to begin telling us some of the things he’s done. He begins this portion by talking about God’s powerful work of creation. We read, “to him who alone does great wonders…to him who by understanding made the heavens…to him who spread out the earth above the waters…to him who made the great lights…the sun to rule over the day…the moon and stars to rule over the night…he who gives food to all flesh…” (Psalm 136:4–9, 25; ESV). These wonderful works of God show us that he is good and that his steadfast love endures forever. We see God’s goodness in the goodness and beauty of creation. We see God’s goodness in the way he uses that creation to care for and provide for us. We see God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in the fact that God continues to rule and uphold creation—that it continues to faithfully change seasons and faithfully produce harvests. God shows his goodness and his steadfast love by continually providing for the needs of all creation—including us—over and over and over again. So, the Psalmist reminds us that we need to continually look at creation and meditate upon it because creation is reminding us that we should “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, ESV).
Now, there’s a part of this Psalm that isn’t directly stated, but it’s lying underneath the surface. Not only is God good and faithful all the time, but he also calls us to resemble him in this—expecting us to be good and faithful all the time. That hasn’t worked out very well, has it? Adam and Eve were surrounded by God’s goodness and his faithfulness, and they still chose to be unfaithful. Ever since that moment, God’s people have been an unfaithful people. I came across a summary of the book of Hosea this week, which I think is really a summary of the entire Bible: “A faithful God contends with his unfaithful people.” What’s really ironic about this is that it’s because of our unfaithfulness that we begin to question God’s faithfulness.
What’s powerful about this is that the more unfaithfully we question God’s faithfulness, the more powerfully his faithfulness shines forth. That’s what the rest of this Psalm is reminding us. It reminds us of these stories of the ways in which God has redeemed and rescued his people. We’re reminded that, “to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt…and brought Israel out from among them…with a strong hand and an outstretched arm…to him who divided the Red Sea in two…and made Israel pass through the midst of it…but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea…to him who led his people through the wilderness…” (Psalm 136:10–16, ESV). This is a reminder to them that this isn’t a story about Israel’s goodness and faithfulness. This is a story that reminds us of God’s goodness and faithfulness to his people in delivering them from slavery in Egypt. It’s a reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness as he led them through the wilderness. Why were they in the wilderness for forty years? Because of their unfaithfulness. Yet, God continued to lead them and feed them. Why? Because he is good and he is faithful. God is good and faithful to us, even when we’re not. AND, that reality actually makes his goodness and faithfulness shine even more brightly, reminding us to “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, ESV).
We see this theme appear much more brightly when we get to the New Testament—or maybe I should say that we see the contrast more starkly. John reminds us in his gospel that the one who created the world, entered the world, and was completely rejected by the world he created. Yet, Jesus didn’t get angry and throw up his hands in frustration and say, “I’m sick and tired of this unfaithful, thankless people. I’m outta here!” He didn’t do that because he is good and his steadfast love endures forever. He’s faithful to us even when we’re not faithful to him. That’s why he came. That’s why he lived a perfect life and died a perfect death and rose again from the dead. He did it so that he could deliver his unfaithful people from sin and death through faith—that when we look to him in faith, he will deliver us and redeem us. He did it because he is good and he is faithful, even when we’re not. This is the central truth of the bible that reminds us so clearly that we must “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, ESV).
What’s even more powerful about all of this is that we’re told not only to look back at the past to see God’s goodness and faithfulness. We’re not just to look back to creation; look back to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection; and we’re not just told to look at his goodness and faithfulness in the present—the way he provides, protects, and sustains all of creation. We’re reminded that because we serve a God who has existed throughout eternity—a God who never changes—we can look toward the future and see that he will continue to be good and will continue to be faithful into the future: “for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, ESV). This will never be untrue about God. He will always be good and He will always be faithful for the rest of our lives and throughout eternity. He will continue to be good and faithful to his people, even when we are not—that will never change. He will continue to provide, protect, and sustain his creation—including us—throughout all of eternity.
If we ever find ourselves beginning to question these things, or if we find in our heart an ungrateful and unthankful spirit, the Psalmist encourages us to go outside and look at creation and be reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness. OR, take a moment to remember what God has done for his people throughout history, or remember what God has done for you throughout your life. As you do that, you will increasingly find yourself “[Giving] thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, ESV).