Bible Reading for August 6 – Psalm 136

For what are you most thankful? I suppose we Americans would start with the fertile soil and generous rains with which the Lord has blessed us, and the abundance of food they allow our farmers to produce. But that’s not where Psalm 136 begins. No, God’s provision isn’t mentioned until verse 25, so that doesn’t seem to be the psalmist’s top priority.

Instead, God’s protection seems to be much more important. In verses 10-24, the Psalmist focuses on how God remembered His people when they were in big trouble and how God rescued them from the hand of their enemies. In fact, the psalmist spends almost half of the psalm giving specific examples of how God saved His people throughout their history, focusing on the time of the Exodus from Egypt.

But that’s still not on the top of our psalmist’s list. For before he thanks God for His provision or His protection, he thanks God for the wonder of His creation. In verses 5 through 9 the psalmist recounts how God made everything that exists, calling it all into being with but a word of unimaginable power.

But given all of this amazing truth, given that God has sufficient power and wisdom to create and control everything and everyone that exists, and given that God has chosen to bless His people in the past with His protection and provision, is any of that a guarantee that God will keep on blessing His people in the future? Just because God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, can we be sure He will use His power to help us instead of hurt us?

Well, at the very beginning of the psalm, we find the greatest reason to give thanks to God: because He is good. Moreover, as the psalmist repeats over and over again in every single verse, His lovingkindness endures forever.

But what does “lovingkindness” mean? The Hebrew word, “hesed,” means God’s faithful, covenant love, the sort of love that married couples pledge to each other. This is the sort of love that is as unselfish as it is unconditional, the sort of love that is determined to bless the beloved regardless of the cost to the self. This is a love that, once it is promised, can never be taken back. This is a love that never fails, a firm, unshakable commitment that endures forever.

So, let’s give thanks to the Lord, not only for the things He has done, but even more importantly for Who He is. Let’s give thanks to the Lord because He is good, and because His faithful, covenant-keeping, self-sacrificial, unconditional love endures forever.

Psalm 136 (NASB)

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
4 To Him who alone does great wonders, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
5 To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
6 To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
7 To Him who made the great lights, For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
8 The sun to rule by day, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
9 The moon and stars to rule by night, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
10 To Him who smote the Egyptians in their first-born, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
11 And brought Israel out from their midst, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
13 To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
15 But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
17 To Him who smote great kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
18 And slew mighty kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
20 And Og, king of Bashan, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
21 And gave their land as a heritage, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
22 Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
23 Who remembered us in our low estate, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
24 And has rescued us from our adversaries, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
25 Who gives food to all flesh, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.