Psalm 136:1-9 - "For His Mercy Endures Forever"

Psalm 136:1-3 1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever: It’s great to back with you on Pastor’s Chat again! I really missed doing these daily chats from the Psalms. I first want to thank everyone for your prayers and support for our recent trip to India over these past two weeks. We traveled hundreds of miles by train and vehicles over both very good roads and very rough ones mostly in southeastern India. We spoke at believer’s meetings, passed out blankets and feed meals to widows in numerous villages, visited children’s homes playing games and interacting with them. In a mountainous area gave 185 chickens out at one village, 25 goats in another village, and 7 large water buffalo in another village to poor, precious people. We also dedicated 7 clean water wells that had been recently drilled in remote villages. But best of all we share the wonder message of Jesus Christ and His love and to these people in darkness and many responded to receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior! Praise the LORD! I will be leaving this Wednesday morning to go to the Kingdom of Jordan for 10 days with another team to minister to dear precious Iraqi, Syrian, and Palestinian refugees in Amman, a city with over one million refugees from surrounding countries that have been displaced by war and conflict. Please pray for our safety and traveling mercies as we make this trip. I’ll do my best to post to my Facebook pages to keep you updated during our ministry there. Today, I do want to begin looking at Psalm 136 which is one of my favorite Psalms that I read on the 16th day of each month. This Psalm does not have a title indicating who might have written it. Some have suggested that King Hezekiah wrote it but others believe that it was written after the exile from the Babylonian captivity. The divine title "the God of heaven" in verse 26, suggests this date, for "God of heaven" was a title used frequently in that period in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Ezra 1:2; 5:11-12; 6:9-10; 7:12, 21, 23; Neh. 1:4; 2:4; Dan. 2:18, 19, 44). This is an antiphonal psalm, prepared to be used by a worship leader and a choir, or a worship leader and the congregation, or perhaps two choirs. The rabbis called it "The Great Hallel" (praise). The psalm reviews God's dealings with His people and turns history into theology and theology into worship. If our worship is not based on history—what God had done in this world—then it lacks a theological message and is not true worship at all. The refrain, “For His mercy endures forever”, is a familiar one. It was sung at the dedication of Solomon's temple (2 Chron. 7:3, 6), and also by King Jehoshaphat's singers when Judah was attacked by Moab and Ammon (2 Chron. 20:21). You will find it also used in other Psalms: 106:1; 107:1; and 118:1, 29. The focus of Psalm 136 is on giving thanks to God for who He is and what He has done for His people. The psalmist begins by giving thanks to the LORD as the creator of the universe! The God of Israel is Jehovah, the God of the covenant, and He is good and merciful. The nations had their gods and lords (1 Cor. 8:5-6), but Jehovah alone is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. The dead gods of the nations (135:15-18) could never do the wonders that the Lord did, nor were they good and full of mercy (lovingkindness, covenant love, steadfast love). The apostle Paul joined mercy and grace in 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2, and Titus 1:4, and so did John (2 John 3) and Jude (Jude 2). God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve, and in His grace, He gives us what we do not deserve, all for the sake of Jesus Christ. No wonder the psalmist gave thanks to the Lord and so should we!!!! God bless!