Category: A Door of Hope

Psalm 136:1 – O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

We’ve studied this verse before, in several iterations, but the last phrase is going to be used in a beautifully poetic and powerful way in this chapter, so let’s be sure we understand the nuances of the phrase: “for his mercy endureth for ever.”

You’ll notice the word “forever” is not used here; but “for” and “ever.” Once again let’s define the words using Webster’s 1828 dictionary.

• Endure – to last; to continue; to remain; to bear; to suffer without resistance; to support without breaking
• For – to go; to pass; to reach or stretch
• Ever – at any time; at all times; continually; eternally; everlasting continuance; at one time and another; in any degree; without intermission

I find those definitions incredibly moving when I think about how God’s mercy has been that in my life: continually supporting without breaking to stretch to any time, all times, continually, eternally, in any degree without intermission.

The truth of that should rattle your soul – in a good way!

I sat for a bit at my desk today and just began to think about the ways God’s mercy has endured throughout my life. It was eye-opening, humbling and overwhelming.

There are too many to share in this devotion today, but I wanted to share this one:

After salvation the most precious mercy God showed me was in allowing me to be raised in a Christian home. I am so grateful for the work of salvation in my parents’ lives: my mom when she was a young girl and my dad when I was 4 years old. The change in his life completely turned our home around. It was evident that the Lord was in control of his life. The Word of God and the Church became the central theme of our family’s life. And that made all the difference to my life.

I have so much for which to thank the Lord. He has been and continues to be so GOOD in my life! His mercy has endured and endured.

I hope you spend some time this week, digging into the details of your life and following the scarlet thread of mercy that God left for you along the way.

Psalm 122:4 – Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.

This verse is speaking of Jerusalem. It was the center of temple worship in Israel. It is where all the twelve tribes of Israel came to worship the Lord.

Psalm 122 is written by David after he had suffered deep betrayal at the hand of Absalom, his son. He’d had to abandon his palace and run for his life to escape death from the hands Absalom’s men. He had to leave his beloved Jerusalem, and he lived in the wilderness while avoiding being killed.

After Absalom’s death at the hands of Joab, and after the time of mourning was over, David was asked to return to Jerusalem, and the men of Judah welcomed him back as King of Israel.

This psalm was a loving tribute by David after returning to his city, Jerusalem. He was so pleased to be back in the temple there. He recalled how the tribes of Israel gathered in the beautiful city for the yearly sacrifices and how all of Israel thanked the Lord in the temple of Jerusalem. He promises in this psalm to seek peace for Jerusalem because it was where the house of God was built.

As New Testament believers, we no longer return to yearly sacrifices in Jerusalem. Our Lord laid down His life as the final sacrifice. Our sacred place is no longer a physical place, but rather in the heart where we fellowship with our God.

However, we aren’t to forsake assembling together with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). Our church congregation is now the place where we can draw near to the Lord, be reassured of our faith, hear the Word of God, and encourage and pray for each other. (Hebrews 10:22-24)

Be sure as you worship, regardless of the circumstances in your life, whether you are meeting with the Lord in your personal quiet time, or gathering with other Christians in your local church, to keep a place to “give thanks unto the name of the LORD” just like they did in Jerusalem.

As we’ve seen throughout our study, thanksgiving is indelibly tied to worship. How can we honor, respect, adore and reverence our God without a heart full of thankfulness to Him?

Psalm 119:62 – At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.

When it comes to the righteous judgments of God, we have so much for which to be thankful!

According to Webster the judgments of God are His statutes and commandments. They are those Biblical principles by which we can run our lives.

The Lord gave us the ten commandments as a framework. The rest of His principles hang on that broad frame. None of His commandments are contradictory. They always follow the intent and direction of His other commands.

Another definition of judgment is “justice and equity.” We can rest assured that God is acting with our best interests at heart. He is always just (founded in fact; true to promises; faithful). God will only and always do what is best for us.

I know we all have nights of restlessness, pain, worry and responsibility. Sleep is not always the blissful escape that we need and desire.

During those nights when sleep is driven from us, we need to remember to thank the Lord for His holy statutes, divine law and just actions in our lives.

He can be trusted. Our hearts can rest easy in that – even at midnight when sleep is far from us.

We need to use those moments to calm our heart and minds with prayers of thanks to our God.

Psalm 118:29 – O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

This verse is identical to yesterday’s, but with one difference: “for” instead of “because”.

Because – a compound word meaning “by cause”
For – In return of; in recompense of

It’s simply two sides of the same coin. The Psalmist admonishes (instructs or directs) the children of Israel to give thanks to God, BECAUSE and IN RETURN FOR His goodness and enduring mercy.

As New Testament believers, we should be moving beyond a daily dependence on God’s mercies for forgiveness of sin. Jesus’ blood on Calvary provided that forgiveness for us ONCE. (Hebrews 9:25-26)

Our life should be motivated by His finished work of redemption on Calvary.

When we are saved, we aren’t “just” forgiven of sin. We are also reconciled to Christ, indwelled by the Holy Spirit and now have direct access to Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:19-22 tells us our hearts should be full of assurance and our consciences (minds) should be daily washed by the Word of God.

We should not live a life of sin and willfulness, and just depend on the mercy of God to bail us out.

The Scripture says that if we do that after we’ve accepted Christ we have “trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing.” (Hebrews 9:29)

That’s a very solemn thought that I could be considering Christ’s blood as unholy by the way I live my life!

Is that an absence of mercy? By no means! It is the very definition of mercy: “the benevolence which disposes a person to treat the offender better than he deserves.”

We deserve death…in Hell. After salvation, when God deals with us about our sins, He is showing mercy beyond anything we deserve. As if His grace wasn’t enough, He offers forgiveness and fellowship again, when we turn our hearts back to Him.

That should fill us with utmost confidence in our God (Hebrews 9:35). We should have faith in His goodness, His mercy and the promises in His Word.

Our lives should be living testimonies of thanksgiving to those around us. Our Lord is good! His mercy endures forever!

Psalm 118:1 – O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.

There are days when we despair of life. It seems useless to keep trying. We continue to fail. The shame seems endless. We feel like the Lord has surely run out of mercy for us.

Five times in this chapter the Psalmist reminds us: “his mercy endureth for ever.”

Look, life is full of mistakes…and failure…and bad choices. It can feel hopeless. But do you realize that the secret to escaping the despair is found in this chapter?

Notice these steps the Psalmist took when he was “in distress” (verse 5):

1. Recognize that the Lord is good. And believe that His mercy never ends. (verse 1)
2. Call out to the Lord for deliverance. (verse 5)
3. Don’t be fearful of those around you, because the Lord is on your side. (verse 6)
4. Put your trust and faith in what the Lord can do. (verses 7-13)
5. Praise the Lord for what He has done and is going to do in the future. (verses 14-18)
6. Obey the Lord and do right as soon as you’re given the next opportunity. (verses 19-24)
7. Trust the Lord for deliverance. (verses 25-28)

Verse 27 is particularly interesting to me: “God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.”

I believe it refers back to Genesis 22:7-13, when Abraham took Isaac up to sacrifice him to the Lord. This is the only other verse I have found that mentions a sacrifice being bound with cords to the altar.

It’s as if the Psalmist is likening his willing heart of praise to the Lord as a sacrifice like Isaac. He was willing to bind himself to the altar for his God. And he follows with this:

“Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.” (verse 28)

It seems to be a recurring thought that our praise requires sacrifice. Sometimes that is most sharply felt when we offer up thanksgiving in the midst of our defeat and distress. But this was the key to the Psalmist’s victory and confidence.

I encourage you to follow these steps with the Psalmist to thank your way out of distress and into thanksgiving!

Psalm 116:17 – I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

We’ve talked a few times already about this “sacrifice of thanksgiving.” It was a sacrifice that was not required. It was to be offered freely, whenever a person wanted to express their thanks to God.

As many times as the Psalmist has told us to give God praise and thanks, the Lord wants it to be our own idea. True thanksgiving isn’t prompted. It should well up from our own mind and heart in an unstoppable gush.

The fact that we have a brain/mind that can consider our blessings and choose to thank the Lord is in itself another reason to praise Him!

Our mental abilities are incredible blessings. Our personality, creativity, work ethic, logic are all gifts from the Lord. While they may be nurtured by those around us, the ability of our brain to do so is from His hand. Our mind is just as much of a gift as are salvation and a comfy bed!

I know there are times when we are not very impressed with our mental acuity. I remember in sixth grade, my parents had to hire an after-school tutor to get me through the beginning lessons of geometry. Area, distance, circumference, square feet, etc. just all seemed to slip through my mental grasp. Thankfully, the tutoring succeeded and in high school I was able to pass Geometry with no problem.

But the very fact that we can wrestle with a new concept and get it, or study something hard until we understand it, is an incredible blessing from God! It’s also a blessing when our brain tells our heart to beat and our lungs to breathe without our conscious thought!

Sometimes, we take much of this for granted, especially when we are young. As we start to age, and thinking becomes more of a chore, it should generate gratitude for all our mind has accomplished to this point in life. We should be so grateful for a developing working brain.

As we think about these things, I pray that it causes a river of gratitude to rush through our hearts AND minds; and that we respond with voluntary sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord, that are all our own idea…from our blessing of a brain!

Psalm 107:22 – And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Continuing in chapter 107, we notice more recurring phrases in verses 8, 15, 21 and 31.

“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”

It’s repeated almost as a lament, as if the Psalmist wishes that men would, but knows that they don’t.

After the first two repeats of this verse, he follows up with an explanation of how God dealt with each circumstance that led the children of Israel to cry out to the Lord.

Verse 9-PROVISION RENDERED: “For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

The Lord brings an abundance of spiritual blessings when we cry out to Him in repentance. His peace would be one of the very firsts of these blessings.

Verse 16-PUNISHMENT REMOVED: “For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.”

The Lord will also, at some point after our reconciliation, remove much of the weight of our punishment. He will not stay angry with us forever.

After the second two repeated verses, the Psalmist tells us how to respond in praise to the Lord’s work and where to praise the Lord.

Verse 22-PRAISE RECOMMENDED: “And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.”

After our deliverance, it’s good to give thanks for the Lord’s goodness. But often, we may find that difficult. It might be a sacrifice of our pride and our privacy to tell others how God blessed us. We don’t need to make sin look enticing or tell all the details, but even a general explanation may cause others to think less of us. And that’s ok! As long as everything else we say makes them think more of Jesus!

Verse 32-PROCLAMATION RECEIVED: “Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.”

Similar to verse 22, it is important for us to give thanks publicly. Those who have been praying for us will be thrilled to see God at work in us!

God gives His peace and forgiveness. We give Him thanks. It’s as simple as that!