HIs Love Endures Forever

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

4 to him who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

17 to him who struck down great kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
    for his steadfast love endures forever. – Psalm 136:1-26 ESV

This psalm appears to have been written in conjunction with Psalm 135 because they share many of the same themes. Either they were written by the same individual, or Psalm 135 had a significant influence on the author of Psalm 136. The key difference between the two is their musical style. Psalm 136 was meant to be sung antiphonally, with every other verse being sung responsively. The repeated phrase, “For his steadfast love endures forever,” was to be sung by the congregants while the alternating verses were sung by the Levitical singers. 

David also ordered the Levite leaders to appoint a choir of Levites who were singers and musicians to sing joyful songs to the accompaniment of harps, lyres, and cymbals. – 1 Chronicles 5:16 NLT

The similarities between these two psalms are evident when you examine the various themes they share. Both psalms are Hallel songs, praise songs that elevate the goodness and greatness of God. Here are just a few of their shared sentiments regarding Yahweh.

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good… – Psalm 135:3 ESV

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good… – Psalm 136:1 ESV

…our LORD is above all gods. – psalm 135:5 ESV

Give thanks to the God of gods… – Psalm 136:2 ESV

Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,
    in heaven and on earth… – Psalm 135:6 ESV

to him who alone does great wonders,
to him who by understanding made the heavens… – Psalm 136:4, 5 ESV

He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt… – Psalm 135:8 ESV

…to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt… – Psalm 136:10 ESV

This pattern is carried through both psalms, with Psalm 136 echoing each aspect of Yahweh's glory in the same basic order. The only difference is that the author of Psalm 136 inserts the phrase, “for his steadfast love endures forever,” which is repeated 26 times, once for every verse of the song.

Every example of Yahweh's goodness and greatness is accompanied by a declaration of His steadfast and enduring love. These historical events from Israel's past are proof of Yahweh's unfailing mercy and undiminished commitment to His covenant promises. The term “steadfast love” is derived from the Hebrew word ḥeseḏ, which is most often translated as “mercy” in the Hebrew Scriptures. This word, which appears some 250 times in the Old Testament, was used to convey an essential aspect of Yahweh's character. In an encounter He had with Moses, Yahweh used ḥeseḏ to describe Himself.

“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love [ḥeseḏ] and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love [ḥeseḏ] for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” – Exodus 34:6 ESV

The term was intended to emphasize Yahweh's covenant relationship with the people of Israel, stressing His faithful and unwavering loyalty to them. The author of Psalm 136 viewed each example of Yahweh's intervention in the lives of His covenant people as a demonstration of His loyal love for them. The repeated antiphonal refrain was added so that the people might verbally remind one another that Yahweh’s love was enduring and unchanging. Despite Israel’s repeated acts of disobedience, apostasy, rebellion, and unfaithfulness, Yahweh had never stopped loving and caring for them. 

Every miracle, victory, act of deliverance, and display of divine mercy was evidence of Yahweh's covenant commitment to His people. He had certainly disciplined them for their sins and punished their displays of abject rebellion, but He had never abandoned or forsaken them. It was the prophet Jeremiah who expressed sorrow over his lot in life, but placed his hope in the unfailing love of the LORD. 

Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
    and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love [ḥeseḏ] of the LORD never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness. – Lamentations 3:19-23 ESV

In this psalm, we are encouraged repeatedly to give thanks to God for His unwavering commitment to those He calls His own. But the psalmist isn't content with demanding praise; he wants to make sure we understand the basis for our praise.

Over and over again, the psalmist provides numerous examples of God's love that we encounter every day. That love shows up in the form of "the grace, favor, and mercy of God toward man." That is the definition of ḥeseḏ, and the psalmist uses the stories of Yahweh's past acts of grace, favor, and mercy to prove that His love is indeed steadfast and enduring. 

God’s creation of the universe and the earth upon which we live is an example of His grace, mercy, and favor. His redemption of Israel from captivity in Egypt was His ḥeseḏ on display. So was His splitting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army. In each instance, Yahweh was demonstrating His love for His people by pouring out His undeserved grace, mercy, and favor.

The Israelites didn't deserve His love. They hadn’t done anything to earn His favor or merit His gracious treatment. In fact, after delivering them from captivity in Egypt, He let them know why He had saved them.

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love [ḥeseḏ] with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…” – Deuteronomy 7:6-9 ESV

The LORD loved them and was keeping the commitment He had made to their forefathers. Those two things are inseparable. His love and commitment to His covenant promises are indelibly linked together and nothing can ever change that fact. Yahweh's ḥeseḏ is more than an emotion or feeling, and it is not a response to the love of another. Yahweh’s love was not based on Israel's love for Him; it was centered on His unwavering commitment to keep the promises found in the covenant He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His love was an expression of that covenant commitment. 

The apostle John reminds us that Yahweh's love is one-directional and never dependent on our ability to love Him back.

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. – 1 John 4:10 NLT

Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant commitment to Abraham. 

“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” – Genesis 12:2-3 NLT

Jesus was how the families of the earth would be blessed. As John 3:16 states, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” Jesus was the greatest expression of Yahweh's love and provided a way for the undeserving and unworthy to be restored to a right relationship with Him. 

This entire psalm is meant to remind God's people that He is faithful, loving, gracious, merciful, and kind, not because we deserve it but because He is committed to His covenant promises. His love is not reactionary or responsive; it is purposeful and pointed at accomplishing His divine objective. God's love is an expression of His faithfulness, not a response to the faithfulness of men. John said, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 ESV), not the other way around. Our love for God doesn't earn us brownie points with Him. Our love for God is an expression of our gratitude for all that He has done for us and all that He intends to accomplish on our behalf as a result of His covenant promises.   

Over and over again, the psalmist paints a picture of God's unending grace, mercy and favor expressed to the people of God in a variety of ways. And what should our response be to all this? Thanks! Gratitude! A recognition that God has been and is at work in and around our lives in so many ways. Some obvious, and some not so obvious. The very creation of the world in which we live is an expression of God's love for us. The provision of the food we eat is an expression of God's love for us. But how often do we thank Him for our meals or for the beauty we see all around us? We tend to take it all for granted.

One of the problems the Israelites faced was that when they finally got into the land and enjoyed all that God had given them, they took credit for it all and forgot God. And God knew this was going to be temptation for them. Listen to the warning He gave them just before they entered the land.

"The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land,  be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.” – Deuteronomy 6:10-12 NLT

Cities you did not build, good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, vineyards and groves you did not plant … all of these things were provided by God as an expression of His grace, mercy, and favor. They were evidence of His ḥeseḏ – His steadfast love for them, and it was totally undeserved and unmerited. God gives us so many things each and every day of our lives that we do not deserve. So much of what we enjoy in this life is a result of His unmerited favor toward us, and our response should be (1) a recognition of it as an expression of God's love, and (2) a demonstration of thankfulness for His undeserved love, mercy, and grace. God's love is everlasting and everywhere we look. It surrounds us. It protects us. It provides for us. It sustains us. And for that we should be eternally grateful.

Father, thank You for Your everlasting, undeserved love that You shower on me day after day in so many ways. Thank You for my health, my home, my cars I drive, the clothes I wear, the wife I love, they children You have given me, the job I go to each day, the paychecks I cash, the food I eat, the friends I enjoy … they all come from You. Because You love me. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Key to God’s Blessings

10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

17 “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal. – Exodus 34:10-17 ESV

Moses had gotten what he asked for, and more. He requested to see God’s glory and God had obliged. But God had also given Moses a verbal reminder of His identity.

The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness,  keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” – Exodus 34:6-7 NLT

This divine declaration of God’s nature led Moses to respond, “O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance” (Exodus 34:9 NLT). He was more convinced than ever that the Israelites were in desperate need of God’s presence but would need an extra measure of His grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness. Their sin had separated them from a holy and just God, and only His compassion could restore the relationship they had broken. There was nothing they could do to redeem themselves or earn back God’s favor.

And God responded to Moses’ humble request by agreeing to remain among His people. But it would require a recommitment of the covenant agreement they had broken. In a sense, God was beginning again. He was giving them a second chance to prove their willingness to live according to His laws. And God was recommitting Himself to fulfill His part of the covenant.

“See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.” – Exodus 34:10 NLT

The God whom they had greatly offended was declaring His intentions to act on their behalf. He would do great wonders and fearful works that proved their status as His chosen people. Just a short time earlier, God had revealed His frustration with His rebellious people by stating, “If I went up among you for a moment, I might destroy you.” (Exodus 33:5 NLT). Now, He was declaring His intentions to bless them by pouring out His power on their behalf. And one of the greatest manifestations of that power would come in the form of His defeat of all the nations that occupied the land of Canaan. 

“I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.” – Exodus 34:11 NLT

Israel’s takeover of Canaan would not come without a fight, but they would be guaranteed victory because Yahweh was on their side. They had nothing to fear and everything to gain. But this promise of ultimate success came with conditions.

God warns the people of Israel two separate times about making covenants with the inhabitants of Canaan. Their only covenant was to be with Him and, for His part, He would remove their enemies from the land. For their part, they were to refrain from any kind of relationship with those nations.

“Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.” – Exodus 34:12 NLT

God knew His people well. This warning was necessary because the Israelites had proven their propensity for unfaithfulness. God knew that, once the Israelites entered Canaan, they would be tempted to make treaties and alliances with their enemies. It would be easier to compromise than to conquer. But God prohibited His people from making any kind of concessions that might jeopardize their commitment to Him. The Israelites had already demonstrated their propensity for unfaithfulness. Long before they ever stepped foot into Canaan, they had chosen to replace Yahweh with a false god. What would happen when they crossed over the Jordan River and discovered that the land of Canaan was filled with altars and high places dedicated to all kinds of false gods?

God’s greatest concern was that His chosen people would choose to be tolerant and accepting of their Canaanite neighbors. They would be tempted to operate by the old adage, “Live and let live.” But God knew that any fraternizing with the enemy would prove to be disastrous, so He warned them:

“Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.  For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” – Exodus 34:13 NLT

Yahweh was not a tolerant and open-minded deity who was willing to share the affections of His covenant people. He would not abide by any sign of unfaithfulness or infidelity among His people. And He knew that the Israelites would find it difficult to refrain from unfaithfulness if they failed to clean house. God had guaranteed the removal of Canaan’s inhabitants, but Israel was responsible for destroying all their idols and places of worship. Not a single shrine or altar was to be left standing because they would prove to be too great a temptation for the fickle people of Israel.

The Israelites should have learned a powerful and permanent lesson about God’s jealous nature when 3,000 of their leaders had been destroyed for their role in the golden calf incident. These men had been put to death for instigating the rejection of Yahweh and His replacement with a false god. And they were not the only ones to suffer God’s wrath. A plague put an end to an undisclosed number of Israelites who had joined in the insurrection.

So, God wanted to spare His people from any further judgment by reminding them of their need to remain faithful at all costs. God’s plan for the removal of the Canaanites involved a slow and methodical process. It would not happen overnight. He had already told Moses, “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land” (Exodus 23:29-30 ESV). But God knew that this plan for incremental expulsion would present a problem for the people of Israel. The ongoing presence of the Canaanites would tempt the Israelites to make alliances with them, which God completely prohibited, and for good reason.

“Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice, and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.” – Exodus 34:15-16 NLT

Close proximity would encourage moral laxity. The temptation to make alliances with their enemies would prove to be a problem for the Israelites. When they eventually entered the land of Canaan and saw the prosperity and power of their adversaries, the Israelites would find it tempting to take the path of least resistance and simply go along to get along. It would be easier to conform than to face the prospect of armed conflict. But conformity would result in compromise and compromise would lead to an abandonment of their convictions.

God reminds His people of the second of the Ten Commandments when He states, “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal” (Exodus 34:17 ESV). The Israelites were not free to worship the existing gods of the Canaanites or a god they made with their own hands. This was a direct reference to the golden calf. The Israelites had already proven their ability to fabricate their own gods. So, it was going to get even harder when they entered the land of Canaan and discovered a virtual cafeteria of deities from which to choose. If remaining faithful to Yahweh had proven to be difficult in the wilderness, how were the Israelites supposed to survive the idol-filled landscape of Canaan?

The key to their survival would lie in their willingness to keep God’s commands and to maintain all the commitments that came with His covenant. Faithfulness would be the best defense against unfaithfulness. Living according to God’s law would preserve the set-apart status of God’s people. If the Israelites would only obey, they would experience the blessings of God and discover the joy of living in unbroken fellowship with Him.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.