Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
– Psalm 136:1
If this article were to have a “viewer discretion” notice, it might sound like this.
Warning: this psalm contains lines that repeat over and over.
Viewer discretion is advised.
Above I gave you the first verse of the psalm. Can you guess where the repetition lies? If you identified the second part of the verse, you would be correct. God’s mercy endures forever. Twenty six times, to be precise. It is enough to get annoying for a person averse to repetition. Is all the repetition there just to irritate people, or could there possibly be a reason?
Compare various translations of the Bible and you will see that some use a word other than “mercy.” Among the alternate phrases are “faithful love” (CEB), “steadfast love” (ESV), “gracious love” (ISV), “lovingkindness” (NASB), “loyal love” (NET), and of course The Message simply says “His love never quits.” Whichever translation you have, it is not difficult to see that there is a quality about God being celebrated. It is God’s undeserved kindness toward you and me. It is a kindness rooted in God’s love, expressed to us in a wide variety of ways, and perfectly reliable.
Endure the repetition of the psalm and you will find a recounting of very particular expressions of God’s mercy within the history of the Hebrew people. In Creation God set all things in their perfect place. Through history God chose a people through whom God would make Himself known to the world. When those people were oppressed, God delivered them with powerful works. He preserved them by protecting them from their enemies and providing food from the land. These were people who could say, “Look at all that has happened with us, and see how faithful God has been to love and care for us.”
What would the psalm sound like if we were to write it from our own history? It might result in some encouraging reflections. What powerful stories would we include? Where in our own congregational, family, community or personal history would we point as examples of God’s never-failing mercy toward us? Psalm 136 shows us a helpful pattern of remembrance and perspective. Often we show an unfortunate degree of amnesia regarding things we should remember, coupled with an unfortunate habit of recounting things that would be better locked in closets and allowed to turn to dust. The exercise of Psalm 136 may be a little like hitting the “restart” button on your computer when things are getting bogged down and not working well. Sometimes you just have to clear the junk and start from the right place.
Here is a random suggestion, one I admit implements repetition. Twenty six times in this psalm the writer says (or the congregation would say), “God’s mercy endures forever.” In saying those words they would consider a particular, personal way that God has shown loving kindness. Most of us are awake for at least 13 hours in a day (teenagers excluded on Saturdays). What if we made a point, twice an hour, to speak out loud “God’s mercy endures forever.” Within a day we would have at least twenty six opportunities to remember God’s faithful love. It would fill our hearts with gratitude and set our minds in good places.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
– Thomas O. Chisholm
Do you remember…?
“Now you’re saying that I’m redundant, that I repeat myself, that I say things over and over.” If you know the TV show where that line appeared, we can be friends 😄.
The Winding Path 