Obtaining Mercy

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving in Psalms Day 28

Psalms 136:26 – O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that all twenty-six verses in Psalm 136 end with the phrase “for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Since this a psalm, that means it’s a song; and this phrase would be the “chorus” to the song. It must’ve been beautiful to hear it sung in Hebrew!

We also find the repeating phrase “To him…”

What follows this phrase each time is a description of everything from creation to the overthrow of Pharaoh to the taking of the Promised Land. It’s a song of intense worship to God for Who He is and what He had done for the children of Israel.

It can be difficult, in a time of trial, to remember all of God’s goodness or His mighty acts on our behalf. But if we have a written list of God’s mercies in our life, we can look back and rejoice that the One who has carried us this far will continue to do so.

We would be wise to consider writing our own “stanzas” to this song for our families, but also for the edification of our own hearts. Journaling is a good way to keep track of God’s blessings, answers to prayer and miracles.

Or we could always do as the Lord commanded Joshua in Joshua 4, and make a nice pile of rocks! God told Joshua to leave a pile of rocks at the edge of the Jordan River as a memorial to God’s making a path for them as they came into the Promised Land.

God told them “that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones: Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD…and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.” (Joshua 4:6-8)

It is a wise practice to keep track of God’s goodness. There will be a day when we are low, or when we are facing a storm, and we’ll need to remind ourselves of the merciful acts of God in our lives. It will help us face the next challenge that comes along.

What stanza would you pen today to add to this song about the God’s mercy?

Psalm 136:3 – O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

In verse one of this chapter, we saw that David used the word “LORD” in all upper case letters, as he referred to the English equivalent of the Hebrew name of God.

Here in verse three, the use of the lower case “o”, “r” and “d” indicates that David is referencing the character of God as our master.

Lord – a master, a husband, a nobleman, a ruler or governor; in Scripture, the Supreme Being, Jehovah
Master – one who rules, one who has supreme dominion

This name of God shows us that He has followers under His authority. That’s us! And from personal experience, I can give a testimony that God is a Lord like no other lord.

He leads like no other.
He always instructs His followers in the right direction.
He guards them and protects their way.
He is compassionate when they are wounded or hurting.
He is longsuffering when they are being stubborn and not submissive.
He encourages His followers with His Word, and His Spirit guides them from within.
He gently corrects them patiently, but He will also give stern punishment to bring them back into fellowship with Himself.

What a wonderful Lord He is! He is a master above all others.

I am so thankful that He rules my life so well. I know that I can trust Him to be good all the time.

I’d love to hear from you today! What are you thankful for when it comes to God being your Lord? How has God been a good master in your life?

Psalm 136:2 – O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

According to Bible scholars, this Psalm was written after King David brought the ark of the covenant, with its mercy seat, back into Jerusalem, many decades after it had been taken by the Philistines.

I think verse two must’ve been inspired by the marked contrast between the gods of the Philistines and Israel’s God. That contrast is vividly described in I Samuel 4:1 – 7:2.

The ark of the covenant wasn’t just a piece of furniture. God tells Moses in Exodus 25:22 “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat…”

The mercy seat sat on top of the ark. This was where the Israelites met with God. There was no tabernacle, no temple, no synagogue, no church building and no eternal salvation of the soul. The only place of communion with their God was the mercy seat on top of the ark of the covenant.

It was important. It was sacred. It was a holy place.

At one point in Israel’s history we read that the Philistines took the ark in battle. It’s almost humorous to read how God mocked their gods and idols; but it’s heart-breaking to read how many suffered and died due to their taking of the ark.

It was very powerful – more powerful than any other god or idol because it was the representation of the presence of God Almighty. No one and no thing could stand before it. It was dreadful to see the power of God move against those who opposed His instructions.

There is no god like our God. There is no god greater than our God. This was David’s point in verse two, as he reminisced about the way the ark of the covenant brought down the gods of the Philistines. And he was thrilled and thanking God for its return to its rightful place in Jerusalem.

The ark of the covenant and the mercy seat pointed toward the New Testament Christian who is now the dwelling place of the Spirit of the Lord. There we can commune with Him on the seat of our hearts, because of His enduring mercy.

From the Old Testament to the New, our God is the God above all gods. And He deserves our thanks, because His mercy endures for ever.

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!