Psalms 134–136: He Is Good & His Lovingkindness Is Everlasting

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 47: Wednesday

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Psalm 136:1–9

Wednesday’s Bible reading is Psalms 134–136. These three psalms are in Book V of the Psalms, and Psalm 134 is the last psalm in the group of psalms known as the ‘Songs of Ascents’ (Psalms 120–134).¹

Leslie M’Caw and J. A. Motyer pair Psalm 136 with Psalm 135:

“This companion (Psalm 136) and parallel to Ps. 135 was clearly devised for public worship, the people responding in the recurring refrain. Undoubtedly it tends to be wearisome to us, but it is the purposeful persistence of successive hammerblows driving home the truth. What, we might ask, is the ‘steadfast love’ of which we read? …This ‘steadfast love’ is the essence of the goodness of God (v. 1) and the special feature of His supremacy over all claimants to be God (vv. 2, 3); it governs the performance of His wonders (v. 4); it fills all His activities in creation (vv. 5–9) and history (vv. 10–22). Yet it is prompted by no merit on the part of its recipients (vv. 23, 24), and…it is concerned to provide daily bread (v. 25). We may search through the whole nature of this exalted God of heaven, the God who is free of all earthly limitations and possessor of all heaven’s fullness, and find nothing more worthily the object of thankful praise than that his steadfast love endures for ever (v. 26).^”2

The psalmist proclaims give thanks to the Lord. Why? For He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. He then gives example after example of the lovingkindness of God. Read through this psalm and give thanks.

“Who remembered us in our low estate,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And has rescued us from our adversaries,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
Who gives food to all flesh,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Psalm 136:23–26

Call to mind and remember the ways in which God has shown His lovingkindness to you. The foremost example of which is His Son, Jesus Christ.

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:14

May God bless you this Thanksgiving.

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Isaiah 42 Photograph: ChristianPhotos.net – Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publications
^{1, 2}Leslie S. M’Caw, J. A. Motyer, “Psalms,” The New Bible Commentary: Revised, D. Guthrie, J. A. Motyer, eds., A. M. Stibbs, D. J. Wiseman, contributing eds., pp. 529, 535.