Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 136 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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 firstborn,
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.

For most of the last few days the meditation has been based on the text in Revelation. Today’s text from Psalm 136 reminds us of the lens that we should view even the harshness of tribulation through. The psalmist begins: 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.   Even in the midst of tribulation, God’s loving kindness is everlasting. That judgment comes against sin and evil, is not that God’s love has ceased. In fact, it is because of His love that evil is judged. It is for the sake of those who respond to God’s love by loving Him in return that God will eliminate evil.  Revelation 21:4 says: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

The psalmist says:  Give thanks to the Lord… 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.  God created the heavens and the earth with perfection and order. Genesis 1:1-5 says:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning.   The word that is translated as formless and void could also be translated as chaos; disorder. God spoke and He brought order where there was chaos or disorder. He brought light where there was darkness. Creation itself is a testament of God’s love and kindness. Sin and evil brought chaos and disorder back into the perfection of creation.  In Revelation 21:22-27 we see that it says:   I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.   The end result of the judgment against sin and evil that we see in Revelation is that God will restore order and perfection to creation. Because of His everlasting love, evil, darkness and sin will forever be eliminated.

The psalmist says:  To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,  And brought Israel out from their midst, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,  With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.  To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;  But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.  To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;  To Him who smote great kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,  And slew mighty kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting:  Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,  And Og, king of Bashan, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,  And gave their land as a heritage, For His lovingkindness is everlasting,  Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.  Every one of those kings could have chosen to respond in obedience to the love of God. Those who choose disobedience rather than love, choose for themselves the consequence of their sin. Romans 6:23 says:  The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.   Those who choose not to respond to the demonstration of God’s love will experience the demonstration of His judgment against sin and evil.

The psalmist says: Give thanks to the Lord…   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.  Regardless of the situation or the circumstances we face, even in our lowest state, God remembers us, He rescues us, He loves us and He will supply everything we need. He will bring order into the chaos of our lives, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.  

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your everlasting love and kindness. Thank You for the demonstration of Your love; that Jesus died for my sins. I choose to respond to Your love so that I will be delivered and rescued from the judgment against evil and sin. Thank You.   Amen.