Psalm 136:23-26 - Our God, Our Merciful God

Today I need to tell you that I am pre-recording this pastor’s chat, because by the time you see this chat I will be on a plane on my way to the kingdom of Jordan, leaving Thursday evening and will be flying over to Jordan to do some work with Syrian, Iraqi, and Palestinian refugees, just loving on people who have been displaced, over a million refugees in the city of Amman, Jordan alone. We have a great team, dear friend of mine Pastor Rick Flowers, several others from Roanoke, and my son Jonathan will be there. We have a great opportunity to reach out in love to some very hurting people and help them along life's way and the journey they're on but most of all to share with them the love of Jesus Christ.   Now what's interesting, we are going to be in the land of Jordan. That is where the people and especially around Amman and Mount Nebo just on the West side of the city of Amman, Jordan and then of course the Jordan river and then the land of Israel. All that area, that territory right there, that's basically where we are going to be. That is where the people were camping and that is where they fought with the king of Sion, the king of Hispon. As a matter of fact, we have found that little place Heshbon where this king reigned.  We go there on several occasions and stand on a desolate spot, nothing there anymore but a bunch of rubble. The mighty king that God slew because he fought against Israel and would not let them pass through the land, and then all king of Bashan was king a little bit further north and he was destroyed also by God.   We read about these two kings over and again some 50 times in the Old Testament. Here in verses 19 and 20, “His mercy endures forever. He slew these kings who stood in the way of God's people getting into the promised land.” But when we come now to verses 23 through 26 we find our God is not only our Creator, also He brought us forth, He gave us life, He's our Redeemer, He brought us out of Egypt, He brought us out of sin. As we look at the spiritual journey of our lives compared to the physical journey, the history journey of the nation of Israel, He brought us out and then He shepherded us, He took us through the wilderness 40 years. He took care of his people, He fed them, He watched out for them. He ministered to them through the Tabernacle and the sacrifices and then He conquered for them He took them in to the land and first He gives the east side of the land of Jordan to the half tribe of Manasseh and Gad and Reuban, then they go in and fight for the land where the people of Israel and they conquered the land those are verses 17 through 22.   But now the last few verses here, verses 23 through 25. What a great psalm. Now the people go into the land of promise and there they conquer all the land and they set up all the land, the people get their places get their inheritance, but guess what, they did when they were being blessed, they forgot God, they turned to idols, started living like the people that were amongst them and the next thing you know as God promised he had to punish them and they went into a lowly state but guess what? Go read the book of judges because these verses were found in the book of judges, the history is there, they cried to God in their misery and their despair and in their pain and guess what? His mercy endures forever. He heard them and remembered them and rescued them from their enemies, and my friend, we will fail God, yes we will and we will follow, we will be miserable but we could cry out to God and He'll rescue us too, and then He says who gives food to all flesh, ohh just reminding us that God is the one who sustains us, takes care of us, and we can trust Him because His mercy endures forever and then what can you say? Verse 26, “Ohh give thanks to the God of heaven for his mercy endures forever.”