36. I think it's interesting, I can
remember wondering why the psalmist repeated himself so much. In
this psalm, and I think that's a demonstration of my ignorance
when I bought that let's read this together psalm 136 And he repeats this phrase 26
times Oh Give thanks unto the Lord
for he is good for his mercy Endureth forever You'll notice
that endureth is in italics. It would be supplied by the translators. I'm not going to read it for
the rest of this psalm because it just means eternal. His mercy
is eternal. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of God for his mercy forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of
Lords for his mercy forever. To him who alone do great wonders
for his mercy forever. To him that by wisdom made the
heavens for his mercy forever. To him that stretched out the
earth above the waters for his mercy forever. To him that made great lights
for his mercy forever. The sun to rule by day for his
mercy forever, the moon and stars to rule by night, for his mercy,
forever. To him that smote Egypt in their
firstborn, for his mercy, forever, and brought out Israel from among
them, for his mercy, forever, with a strong hand and with a
stretched out arm, for his mercy, forever. To him which divided
the Red Sea into parts, For his mercy, forever. And made Israel
to pass through the midst of it. For his mercy, forever. But overthrew Pharaoh and his
hosts in the Red Sea. For his mercy, forever. To him which led his people through
the wilderness. For his mercy, forever. To him which smote great kings. For his mercy, forever. and slew famous kings for his
mercy forever. Sihon king of the Amorites for
his mercy forever. And Og the king of Bashan for
his mercy forever. And gave their land for an heritage
for his mercy forever. Even an heritage unto Israel
his servant for his mercy forever. Who remembered us in our lowest
state for his mercy and hath redeemed us from our enemies.
For his mercy forever, which giveth food to all flesh, for
his mercy forever. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven for his mercy forever. Let's pray. Lord, enable us by your grace
to enter in to this praising of you for your eternal mercy. Lord, put that in our hearts. Speak to us from your word. Lord,
we don't know what all our needs are, but you do. We ask that
you would meet all of our needs, but most especially the one need
we have. Make yourself known. For Christ's
sake, forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. Order our
steps in your word and let no iniquity have dominion over us.
Lord, deliver us from hearing the words of a man, but enable
us to hear from thee, the living God, for Christ's sake. Be with
all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, we pray
for our nation. We pray for your mercy toward
us. Pray that you would give our
leaders wisdom and direction according to your will. Lord,
make us merciful, gracious people for Christ's sake. In his name
we pray. Amen. Well, we know the theme of this
psalm, don't we? His mercy endures forever. His mercy. Now, The word mercy
or hesed in the Hebrew is the word that we don't really have
an English word that's the equivalent. And we have some nine or 10 words
that, uh, the King James translated this one word mercy. And somebody once said, this
is the word that most describes what the Bible means by the word
grace. His mercy. Let me give you some
of the ways it's translated. His kindness. His loving kindness. His goodness. His kindly. His merciful. His favor. His good. His pity. Now in this word, There is a
zealous love, that's his zealous love, not ours, his. His ardor, his desire. And like I said, I believe that
this word most accurately describes what the New Testament means
by grace. So that gives us some idea of the importance of this
psalm, and I love the way he repeats it 26 times. You know, I was listening to
a message by somebody on this psalm, and they said, well, you'd
think we'd get it. You know, does he have to repeat
it that much? Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Verse one, oh give thanks unto
the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. Now you'll notice that the word
endureth, as I've already pointed out, is in the italics. It's
supplied there from the translators, but the word forever is literally
I like thinking about this, the vanishing point. You know, when you look and all
of a sudden there's a vanishing point, you can't see past that
point. It's eternal. It's everlasting.
It's continual. It's perpetual. It's without
beginning. I love to think about this. It's
without beginning. If he's had mercy toward you
and favor toward you, there was never a time when it began to
take place. It's eternal as he is eternal. When God proclaimed His name
to Moses in Exodus 34, 6, he said, the Lord, the Lord God,
and here's the first word he uses to describe himself, merciful. And that's the same word, hesed,
merciful, gracious, and long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and
truth. And this is who the glorious
being of God is. Merciful, good, gracious. Now this mercy that we're speaking
of is actually the ground of our pardon. Somebody says in
the blood of Christ the ground of our pardon? Yes, but this
is the ground of our pardon from scriptural statements. Listen
to what Moses said, pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people
according to the greatness of thy mercy. There's the word. If you want to use an argument
with the Lord as to why he would pardon you of your sins, It's
the same argument David did. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness. That's who he is. He doesn't
say, have mercy on me because of how sorry I am and my intentions
to never commit that sin again. He said, have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy lovingkindness. David tells us in Psalm 103,
17, the mercy, his mercy is from everlasting. too everlasting. And then he made this statement
in Psalm 94, 18, when I said my foot slippeth. Now, when are you more vulnerable
when your foot has slipped and you're already on the ground
getting ready to crash? David said, when I said my foot
slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, help me up. Even when you were
in the state, when I was in the state of so vulnerable, His mercy,
when we weren't aware of it, His mercy was holding us up. Now, this is the word David used. I love the story of Mephibosheth.
And David said, is there any that I can show the kindness of God to the murder. That's the word for Jonathan's
sake. And that's how the word is used.
God says, is there any one that I can show my loving kindness
to for Christ's sake? Now, verses one through three,
Psalm 136. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord
for he's good. All the time. All the time. Well, how could
a good God let this happen and that happen? God's good all the
time. Me and you aren't good. That's
why we ask questions like that. He is. He's good. He brings good out of evil. It's
all good. He's good all the time. He says, Oh, give thanks unto
the God of gods for his mercy endure that forever. Oh, give
thanks to the Lord of lords for his mercy endure forever. Now
here he gives three names of God. First, Jehovah. That is
the self existent one. He has no needs. He's utterly
independent. You know, I couldn't worship
a God that needed me. Could you? But he has no needs. There's only one response to
that. Worship. And then he speaks of in verse
two of the Elohim, the God of gods, this refers to his omnipotence. Not only is he utterly independent,
he's utterly omnipotent, all powerful. And there's only one
response to that. bow. This is who he is. And then verse three, I'll give
thanks to the Lord of Lords for his mercy endureth forever. Now
that's Adonai. That refers to his absolute lordship
and sovereignty. Don't you love the fact that
he is the first cause of everything? Do you love that? I do. Now we're celebrating Him who
is independent, has no needs, all powerful, and absolutely
sovereign. Give thanks. What if it wasn't
that way? I don't even know the answer to
all those questions that come out of that, but he is independent,
all powerful, and absolutely sovereign, and the only response
is to give Thanks. Now look in verse four. I love
this. To him who alone. Don't miss that. It doesn't say
to him who doeth great wonders, but to him alone who doeth great
wonders. And the wonders of God would
be the wonders of creation, the wonders of providence, the wonders
of salvation. Now, when he created the universe,
did he have any help? Did he ask your advice? Did he
ask an angel's advice? No, there was nothing but him.
He did it alone. And I love to think of providence,
him being the first cause of everything. And you know, that's
not difficult for him. He doesn't have to wait on contingencies
to say, well, if this will happen, then that will. No, but if this
happens, that'll matter. No, he controls every event. And every time I say this, I
love saying this. He's controlling the thoughts
going through your mind right now. He's in control of them. You say, well, what if it was
an evil thought? Well, he's in control of that. He's in control
of everything, working all things after the counsel of his own
will. He's completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions
of men. That is our God. And he does
this alone. He doesn't have to ask anybody's
advice about this, and most especially salvation, when he had by himself
purged our sins. He does this alone. To him who alone in creation,
in providence and salvation, he does it alone. Verse two,
to him, he speaks of creation now, to him that by wisdom made
the heavens for his mercy forever. To him that stretched out the
earth above the waters for his mercy forever to him that made
great great lights for his mercy forever. The sun to rule by day
for his mercy forever. The moon and stars to rule by
night for his mercy forever. He celebrates the God of creation. I love to think of the Lord Jesus
Christ saying light be and light was. I love to think of him saying,
let us make man in our own image. And man was made in his image. Man was made in the image of
God. That's the difference between us and animals. I love to think
of his mighty power that's expressed in creation. Him making the stars,
the moon, the galaxies, the universe. Here's a statement I love. He's
not in the universe. The universe is in him. God over
all, blessed forever. He's the creator. Now let's go
to verse 10. To him that smote Egypt in their
firstborn, for his mercy endureth forever and brought out Israel
from among them. For his mercy endureth forever
with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm. For his mercy endureth
forever. Now, he celebrates the Passover. And I don't know of an Old Testament
illustration that's clearer than the Passover. There's so many
illustrations of the gospel in the Old Testament, but the Passover.
Egypt, the 10th plague, the firstborn was destroyed. And he said, you
take a lamb and you watch it for 14 days. 14 is two sevens, the perfect deity,
the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This one lamb,
you watch 14 days, there's significance to that. Two perfections, perfect
deity, perfect humanity. You slay that lamb. Christ is
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. You take the blood
and put it over the doorposts. And God makes this promise. When
I see the blood, I will pass over you. He didn't say, when
you see the blood. He said, when I see the blood. And what was
he looking for? He didn't say, when I see your
faith or your sincerity or your works or your efforts, he said,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now there's the
gospel right there, isn't it? And he's celebrating that. He
brought out Israel from among them. For his mercy endureth
forever. I love in the Passover, when they left Egypt, the Egyptians
were giving them all their money and said, get out. He brought
them out. I mean, that's a miracle right
there where everybody just gives away all their money to him and
they go out. They had to have this silver
and this gold to make the tabernacle. With a strong hand and with a
stretched out arm for his mercy forever. Then he talks about
the Red Sea. To him which divided the Red
Sea into parts. Why did he do it? For his mercy
forever. And made Israel to pass through
the midst of it. For his mercy forever. But overthrew
Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea. For his mercy forever. I love Romans 9 when it says,
For the scripture saith to Pharaoh. Doesn't say God said to Pharaoh,
though God did. This is how glorious the word
of God is that scripture said to Pharaoh. You know, in Psalm
138, we're gonna look at that in a couple of weeks, it says,
thou'st magnified by word above all thy name. I don't even know
what I'll say about that. I mean, I know that the word
is the Lord Jesus Christ, and I know the word is the scripture,
because we wouldn't know the word is the Lord Jesus Christ
without the scripture, would we? Thou has magnified thy word
above all thy name. I want you to think of what a
privilege it is to have this word to reveal the Lord Jesus
Christ. When Paul's quoting this, he
says, for the scripture saith to Pharaoh, the one he dumped
into the sea, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be
declared throughout all the earth. Now, once again, what's our response
to this? Bow. There is no other response. bow before this glorious, great,
sovereign God who is altogether good. And whatever he does is
good, and if I don't understand how that could be good, it doesn't
matter because I trust his character. Whatever he does is good, whether
I see it, understand it, or not. The Lord's good. He overthrew
Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea for his mercy, Forever? To him which led his people through
the wilderness. Now I want you to think about
this. To him, he leadeth me. Oh, blessed thought. What words
with heavenly comfort wrought. He leads me. Now I don't know When the time
of my death is, I am thinking about it more and more. I'm on
the downhill slide. I might have another 10 years,
might have 20, I don't know, but most of my life is over. Do you
know he's led me from my womb, from my mother's womb? He led
me, and he's leading me right now, and he'll lead me all the
way to the end. He leads me. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God. Am I led by the Spirit of God?
Do you look to Christ only? Is he the only righteousness
you have? Then yes, you're led by the Spirit of God. They are
the sons of God. Verse 17. This is his protection. To him which smote great kings. For his mercy forever, he slew
famous kings. For Israel, for his mercy forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his mercy forever. Og, the king of Bashan, for his
mercy Forever. Now, all of my enemies, my sins, the claims of God's law against
me, where I would be destroyed eternally, all of my enemies,
myself, I'm my biggest enemy. I'm my biggest problem. Do you believe that about yourself?
I am my biggest problem. All my enemies, I'm my own enemy. He slain them already. They're gone. Do I see it now? No. Do I believe it? Yes. Can
I see I'm justified right now? No, I can't look at myself and
say, yeah, there's a man without sin. Do I believe I am justified? Yes, I do. That's our hope. He has slain all of our enemies and gave their land, verse 21,
for an heritage. for his mercy endureth forever,
even an heritage unto Israel, his servant, for his mercy endureth
forever." Now this is amazing. Did he give this land to Israel
because they were good? No. He did it because his mercy
endures forever. And what about the fact that
he took those people's land? It was his land for him to do
whatsoever he wanted to do. He wasn't taking it from somebody.
It was his already. The earth is the Lord's. and
the fullness thereof, the world and all they that dwell therein.
It's his land, and those people were wicked. Those people were
sinful. Well, so was Israel. Yeah, I know. I know. Israel
was just as bad as they were, but God gave them what they deserve,
took their land, and because His mercy endures forever, He
gave it to Israel. Now, if you're saved, you know
this, you deserve what everybody else does, and what an instance
of mercy it is that He would save somebody like you or me. His mercy endures, continues,
it's perpetual forever. Now look at verse 23. Who remembered us in our low
estate. God's memory. The memory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, his memory. What did the
thief pray? Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. You're not going to remain on
this cross. You're going to come back as a mighty reigning king. And
this is the only hope that I have that you'll remember me. That
when my name is called before the father in judgment, you'll
say, he's one of mine. She's one of mine. Nothing else
need be said. What about the things that, nothing
needs to be said. Oh Lord, remember me, stand as
my representative. I think of the passage of scripture,
their sins and iniquities. I will remember no more. You know, the Lord is not gonna
look at me in heaven and think, I remember what he did. I remember what he was. How can
that be? Because my sins have been blotted
out. I've been made to be, through
his justifying work, someone who has never committed a sin.
There's no sins there to remember. Now what a memory God has. And he remembered us in our low
estate. Our low estate, our state of
helplessness and weakness and sinfulness and need. He remembered
us in our low estate. His mercy endureth forever and
hath redeemed us from our enemies. Not he will, he hath. It's already
done. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. I'm redeemed. My sins are paid for. I stand
before God, accepted. He hath redeemed us from all
our enemies, our sins, ourself. And I love this verse 25, who
giveth food to all flesh. Now this is talking about his, it's not saving mercy, but he's
good to everybody. He's good to everybody. I know
people will think, well, what about this? What about that?
I don't know, but he's good to everybody. And any meal anybody
has, he gave it to them. Now I don't understand so many
things and the things some people go through, the experiences they
have, your heart aches for them. But I know this, the Lord's good
all the time. And any meal anybody has, it's
him that provided it. And also know this, anything
short of hell is a form of mercy while I'm living here. He gives
food to all. Verse 26, here's the 26th time. He mentions this, oh, give thanks
unto the God of heaven, the same God of which David said in Psalm
115, three, when they said, where's your God, David? He said, our
God's in the heavens. He has done whatsoever. He had pleased. We give thanks
for all of his glorious attributes for who he is. Oh, I don't, I
can't think of a worse thing than to be an unthankful person.
Thank God for who he is. Thank Him for His sovereignty.
Thank Him for His holiness. Thank Him for His justice. Thank
Him for His immutability. Thank Him for His independence.
Thank Him for His wisdom. Thank Him for His love. Thank
Him for His grace. Thank Him for... Isn't it a blessing
to just be thankful? You know, when I'm not thankful,
which is a lot of times, I'm not thinking, you know, I'm just
thinking of myself or I'm thinking of my circumstances. That's a
miserable way to be. But oh, to thank him for who
he is, the God of heaven. Oh, give thanks unto the God
of heaven. And here's the main reason to
thank him. For the 26th time, his mercy
endureth forever. Amen.