God’s Steadfast Love
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a little thanksgiving humour to get you going:
A little boy was asked to pray for [thanksgiving] supper. Before he bowed his head to pray, he looked at the dish. Then, closing his eyes he prayed, “Lord, I don’t like the looks of it, but I’ll thank you and eat it anyway.” (Ministry 127 - with additions for thanksgiving in brackets. https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/thankful-on-purpose)
The doctor tells you your weight would be perfect for a man 17 feet tall.
You are responsible for a slight but measurable shift in the earth's axis.
The potatoes you used set off another famine in Ireland.
You receive a Sumo Wrestler application in your e-mail.
Pricking your finger for cholesterol screening only yielded gravy.
Representatives from the Butterball Hall of Fame called twice.
We’re taking a break this week from Acts to focus in on thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time for us to remember and thank God for both who He is and how He has moved in our lives in this past year.
Praying the psalms?
Illustration about personal practice of writing psalms?
Psalm 136 (ESV)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;
the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;
with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;
but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and killed mighty kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;
a heritage to Israel his servant, for his steadfast love endures forever.
It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Psalm 136 is poetry, written differently from other psalms. And it was meant to be a responsive reading. It starts by telling us to give thanks to the LORD, the God of gods, and the Lord of lords. LORD in all capitals is the English denoting of God’s most holy name: YHWH. This name was so holy, Israel would not say it. It is written in only consonants - no vowels. Technically it is unpronounceable. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is not just whatever god we choose, but the One who is above all other false gods and all rulers and lords. Yahweh - the mighty One, the Almighty creator God is who we worship. But why do we thank Him?
Psalm 136:1 (ESV)
…for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
God is good, and His steadfast love endures forever. The word hesed that is translated steadfast, enduring love means unfailing love, kindness or goodness.
This phrase - his steadfast love endures forever - underscores the whole psalm. That’s the big idea:
God’s steadfast love is our reason for thanksgiving.
In speaking out this Psalm, we are affirming God’s good love, love that is enduring, steadfast, unfailing. This is profound love. But is God really that loving? We’re going to explore three proofs that this psalm gives us to demonstrate God’s enduring, steadfast love as our reason for thanksgiving: The first proof where we see God’s steadfast love played out is in creation.
In Creation
In Creation
In verses 4-9, we get this quick recap of creation. It starts with the phrase: “great wonders.” What are these great wonders?
He who does great wonders (v. 4)
In understanding He made the heavens (v. 5)
Spread out the earth - creating it. (v. 6)
Made the great lights - the sun, moon, and stars (vv. 7-9)
The creation portion of this Psalm harkens back to Genesis 1 and recounts how God - in His everlasting love - created the universe. Let’s step into Israel’s shoes for a minute:
Israel understood the cosmos to be designed as: Heaven above, then earth, and then the lower waters, as we see in…
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Heaven was the sky, and the place where the stars continued in their rhythms. The highest heaven was the heaven we cannot see, where God and angels live. This psalm says that in understanding God created these vast heavens - so much bigger than us.
Then they say that God spread the earth out over the waters. In Israel’s understanding, water - large bodies of it especially - was chaotic, held at bay by the Creator and upon which he has founded this place for humans to dwell - earth. Yet, at the Creator’s will the chaos of water could be unleashed as we see in Genesis 7 with Noah’s flood.
Think through this with me: YHWH, the Almighty, creates the world in understanding. Clearly this is understanding far beyond us! Who can create such great heavens and earth? Who is this who puts the sun, and moon and stars in the sky. Who can hold back the vast power of the waters? Chaotic, yet somehow tamed?
Only YHWH - the Holy One, the Lord of Lord, God of gods, and King of kings, the creator. Psalm 136 4-9 shows us God’s the Creator. His steadfast love is so great that He created an inhabitable place for us humans, and in His love He yet sustains the cosmos.
To illustrate both how loving and mighty our God is, let me ask you: Did you know the earth is constantly falling towards the sun? Gravity from the sun pulls all the planets in our solar system towards the sun. It keeps us in motion. Thing is, our earth is moving so fast around the sun - about 29km/second - that it never actually reaches the sun. Instead, it stays in this loop around the sun, again and again and again. We call one full rotation around 1 year. (https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-earth-changed-its-orbit.htm#:~:text=Even%20a%20small%20move%20closer,Earth%20would%20continue%20to%20rise.)
But let’s say for the sake of the argument that we moved just 1% of our total distance closer to the sun. Maybe the sun got bigger or something, and pulled harder at us. According to BBC’s Science Focus, if the earth moved about 1.5 million kms closer to the sun, this planet would become totally uninhabitable. Seems big, right? Until you realize that that’s only about 1% closer to the sun! So if we only went 1% of our total distance closer to the sun, goodbye to life on earth! (https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-much-closer-to-the-sun-could-earths-orbit-get-and-still-be-habitable; Google - How far away is the earth from the sun?).
So, somehow, over the course of the last 7-10,000 years, we have remained in the same loop, with little to no change. Life still goes on, the planets still orbit, and despite the quite precarious situation we seem to find ourselves in, our planet remains a fertile place for life. How is that? Because YHWH created this system that is so complex, and sustains it by His power.
No wonder we get this picture in God’s throne room in Revelation 4:
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
God’s steadfast love is proven in how our world is held together. At it’s very fabric, God’s love - His steadfast care for His creation - hold it together. We can exercise great gratitude for this fact. Our very existence is in His hands and sustains us by His power as Almighty Creator.
In Redemption
In Redemption
The second proof of God’s steadfast love in Psalm 136 is in the story of redemption. Particularly, Israel’s redemption. Now, if you don’t know Israel’s history, there’s a quick recap:
The nation of Israel came from a man name Abraham, who was descended from Noah, who of course was descended from Adam - the first man. Abraham had a son name Isaac, who had a son named Jacob - who is also called Israel. Jacob (or Israel) had 12 sons, one of which was Jospeh. Joseph is sold by his brothers into slavery, ending up in Egypt. But God was not done and gave Joseph favour… he rises to be second in command in Egypt - only Pharaoh is greater. Joseph’s brothers meet him in Egypt, and their family is reconciled. Then Joseph invites his whole family - all the brothers, their families, and his father’s household, to live in Egypt. Things are good, for a while. Eventually we get a new pharaoh on the throne who goes, “hey, if these people get too big they might take over!” So he presses all the house of Jacob - now grown to be a nation - into slavery, which is where we find them in Exodus. So we come to the end of Exodus 2:
During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
The rest of Exodus vividly depicts how God - seeing and hearing His people’s groaning sends Moses, and works great wonders to defeat the Egyptians and lead the nation of Israel - God’s people - out of Egypt.
Psalm 136 10-22 shows this. They give thanks because he struck down the firstborn in Egypt and defeated the nation. He was the one who brought them out with His strong hand and outstretched arm. It is YHWH who splits the Red Sea in two so that Israel can pass through, and then closes it up over the pursuing Egyptian army. Think back to how the Almighty Creator can tame the chaos of the waters and release it at His will.
It is YHWH who continues to lead His people, providing for them in their wilderness wanderings. As they meet great adversaries - like Sihon and Og - it is the Lord who defeats them and gives Israel the victory. It is YHWH who gave the promised land to the people of Israel, and gave them victory in their conquest of it.
Notice something here: You cannot have these steadfast acts of mercy without also showcasing God’s total righteous justice. Egypt - the oppressor and persecutor - receives a just punishment not only for enslaving Israel but also refusing to give up their hold on them. They loose crops and herds, the land is badly damaged, their own bodies suffer sickness and pain, and finally, even their first born sons are taken from them for their continued stubbornness.
Furthermore, as Israel goes through the wilderness and enters the promised land, they do battle with and defeat many other peoples. They totally wipe out many peoples. Why would God allow this? Why would He tell Israel
But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,
but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded,
Why? Numbers 33 52 gives us a clue:
Numbers 33:52 (ESV)
then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
These people had had chances to repent, to turn to God. Egypt itself was given multiple chances to repent before God and obey. But they had refused. The pagan cultures in the promised land had created this life and culture filled with every disgusting practice that totally destroyed God’s moral law. In the wake of this, God tells His people to eradicate and cleanse the land of such atrocities. In doing so, God brings judgement upon these peoples.
Here’s why I bring this up: You cannot have mercy without justice. You cannot have redemption, without justice. Israel celebrates the One who brought them out of slavery and continued to provide and care for His people. Psalm 136 demonstrates both the loving salvation of their God as well as His righteousness, and the high cost that was paid. God used His people as instruments of justice.
In the same way, we praise YHWH and give thanks because not only does He create and sustain, but when we sinned and became enslaved to sin, He gave us a promise:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This promise was that, even though humanity is enslaved to sin, Jesus came - the One who would crush the head of the serpent, Satan. Yes, it seemed like Satan had won when Jesus died - but He was raised again and He now sits at the right hand of God the Father! And He is coming back again! And when He does, Revelation tells us what’s going to happen to the devil, and sin and death. It calls Satan “that ancient serpent” in Rev 20:2, and then later says…
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
We know the end! Jesus Christ has redeemed anyone who places their faith and surrenders their life to Him. BUT, that victory didn’t come without cost. To satisfy justice, someone had to die. Someone had to pay the price and give their life for sin, as Rom 6:23 tells us
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It was Jesus who did this! Israel recounts the salient parts of their redemption story: namely the exodus and journey to the promised land. We recount and thank God for the salient parts of our redemption story: The life, death, and ressurection of the Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. And we do this even as we look forward to the day when all the effects of this salvation - no more sin, sickness or death, and the total defeat of Satan will be our reality. Yet now, as we wait, we praise and thank God because He has redeemed us, and bought us back. He has won the victory and continues to empower His people now, advancing His Kingdom powerfully.
So the second way in which we see God’s steadfast love is that - even when Israel was enslaved - God did not leave them their, but powerfully worked on their behalf and brought them out of Egypt, giving them a good land to call home. We too praise God, not for a physical exodus, but for a Spirit liberation that has plenty of impact in our physical lives. And we wait with baited breath for the fulfillment of that amazing work on the cross. Jesus is coming back, and we - the redeemed - give thanks to YHWH for His steadfast, enduring love that has not left us where we are at, but has redeemed us. We thank God for His steadfast love - so clearly present in the story of redemption.
In Our Lives
In Our Lives
The third proof we have to thank God for His steadfast love is in our lives.
The final verses of this psalm read as follows:
It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
These verses sum up the rest of the psalm, and form a bookend. God remembered them in their low estate, what is lower than slavery? God rescued them from their foes. We see this clearly in the numerous peoples Israel faced, and the battle that were won by God’s power. God gives food to all flesh. This reminds us of creation, how God created a biosphere perfect for life, with trees and fruit and vegetables - everything we need for nourishment. Indeed, His love is great - steadfast and enduring.
Israel would sing this psalm in the temple, with the priest reading the elaboration of God’s goodness, and the people repeating the reason for thanks. Perhaps one of the most interesting times when this Psalm was read in Scripture in in Ezra 3:10-11
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel.
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
This is post-exile. Hundreds of years after the initial conquest of the promised land, God’s people - having forsaken Him and been warned of judgement many times over - were conquered and lead away into exile in Babylon. But 70 years later, God brought them back. They rebuilt smashed Jerusalem - their capital city - and they rebuilt the temple. As the foundation for the second temple was laid, they sang this psalm.
How can it be that a people oppressed and battered could sing about the steadfastness of YHWH’s love, when they’d just spent 70 years in captivity? Sure, they were out, but no doubt Babylon was fresh in their minds. Yet His steadfast love continued. He had brought them out again, and had not left them alone in Babylon. He still superintended over the world, seeing to it’s running. Their history ran true in the present, and ours also rings true now.
We’ve been waiting 2000+ years for Jesus to return. We experience pain and suffering here as a result of a fallen world. We experience pain and suffering at the hands of those who hate God and the good news. Across this world, brothers and sisters die for their faith daily. The promises of Revelation 21, to wipe away every tear from our eyes, are still not realized yet. Many of us in this building or watching online have experienced terrible things in your lives. You bear on your bodies and hearts the marks of living in a world twisted by evil. How can we sing of the Lord’s steadfast love when we go through these things?
Because it is God who remembers us in our low estate. When our lives are low in pain or loss or hardship or sin, He remembers us. He does not leave us, but instead is there with us. Perhaps this two word verse is one of the most profound in John just before Jesus raises Lazarus to life again:
Jesus wept.
Why did Jesus weep if he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead? Grant Osborne explains this well:
John, 1 John, 2 John, & 3 John Jesus’ Outrage at the Power of Death (11:28–37)
Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, and he still wept, undoubtedly for the same reason—that his loved ones and followers still had to suffer the horrible pangs of death
God weeps with us in our suffering. And even as he saw His people enslaved in Egypt, He sees us now. But, we must realize, He has rescued us from our greatest foe - sin and death - and today powerfully intervenes in our lives, turning evil to good. And He provides. Every time there’s food on the table, or when our needs are met, we need to thank God for again proving His faithfulness.
We can thank God for His steadfast love played out in how when we are in our lowest estate, he remembers us. He is also our defence and our protector, and He provides for our needs.
Conclusion
Conclusion
God’s steadfast love is our reason for thanksgiving.
In Creation: YHWH created this world, this beautiful cosmos in which this one planet is habitable for life. Moreover, He sustains it. It is only by His hand that the earth and everything inside it and around it does not implode upon itself.
In Redemption: Israel recounted YHWH’s faithfulness in defending them and bringing them out of Egypt. Not only that, but He continued to care for them and bring them into the promised land. in the same way we also thank God. On this side of the cross, the salient feature in our redemption story is not Egypt, but liberation and hope from sin and death. And hope for a day when Jesus will return and fully restore what was broken way back at the beginning.
In our lives: YHWH remembers us in our low estate. When we reach low points and high points alike in life, He is there. often it is in the lowest of low that we find Jesus waiting for us. Moreover, it is He who is protector and provider.
So, it’s thanksgiving. We’re looking forward to great dinners and time together. Hopefully you don’t eat too much dessert and experience one of the possible outcomes we talked about at the beginning.
How can you be thankful this year? Weather or not this year has been a great one, or a very hard one, you can find a reason to thank YHWH for His steadfast love in your life. Maybe you’ve got 100 reasons coming to your mind. Or… maybe you are straining to find anything besides thanking Him for the breath in your lungs. Choose - consciously, not just to eat food and have fun, but to give special attention to thanking God. Express gratitude - which simply means to be grateful. Choose to find something to say “thank you” to God for. Psalm 136 shows us poignantly how God’s steadfast love endures in our lives. How do you see it working?
What can we give thanks to God in a way that reflects His steadfast love?
e.g. “to Him who carried me through that really hard time
for His steadfast, loyal love endures forever
to Him who protected me when that person attacked me,
for His steadfast, loyal love endures forever
to Him who provides for my every need
for His steadfast, loyal love endures forever
Give thanks to the mighty God of heaven
for His steadfast, loyal love endures forever”
