Everlasting Lovingkindness

Introduction

“Oh give thanks to Yahweh, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.” (1 Chronicles 16:8)

David has appointed the musician Asaph to give thanks to God, and this is how he opens.

Powerful, beautiful words. The title over which is “Psalm of Thanksgiving.”

Indeed, there is much for which to thank our mighty God!

We have difficulties as a people in doing this.

We are a very narrative society, and as a result, poetry does not come very natural to most of us.

However, we do have the words of these poets that we can read and make our own.

The climax of the psalm comes in a call and response section beginning in 1 Chronicles 16:34–36 “34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 35 Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.” 36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.”

After all he describes, he admonishes everyone to give thanks because of HIs everlasting lovingkindness.

We have talked some in the past about the concept of chesed that is mentioned in this verse.

It is translated in other places as “covenant loyalty” or something of the sort.

It is kindness of God with a view to a covenant he has made. This psalm, as we will see, speaks repeatedly about the covenant that God had made with His people.

In love, God is loyal. We may not think of loyalty as love, but the OT continually ties the concepts together.

Certainly we can see this is romantic relationships.

I think we can see it in any relationship.

As we see here, however, it is not just normal chesed, but it is everlasting. The term already means loyalty, so this is kind of like His chesed is super-chesed!

He will be loyal, loyal forever!

This morning we will simply consider this beautiful psalm, how it is structured, and what use of it we can make for ourselves.

Everlasting Lovingkindness

We thank Him for HIs deeds.

1 Chronicles 16:8–12 “8 Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. 9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. 10 Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. 11 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. 12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,”

Asaph speaks of his “wonders, marvels, and judgments.

The children of Israel had certainly seen some amazing things at this point. The plagues, the parting of the sea, the miraculous deliverances and taking of the land.

He calls these to their mind and calls them to give thanks.

One thing that I think is worth mentioning here is the passage of time.

At this point, 400–500 years have passed.

Yet, those deeds are still worthy of being called to mind and praising Him for them.

I think that at this point we are around 3400 years removed from these events. But they are still worthy of our thanksgiving and praise.

The passage of time makes no difference regarding the magnitude of what God has done.

At this point in time, as Christians living the age of the Messiah, there is far more for which to praise Him than when this psalm was written.

We have the rest of the OT that speaks about His delivering the people from terrible, powerful enemies.

We have the words of the NT that speak of Him coming to earth and dying on our behalf.

We have the Savior overcoming death to give us hope of doing the same.

And it is all verified by a long list of marvels and wonders that show who He is.

We can give thanks to the Lord for His mighty deeds even more than they!

We thank Him for keeping His covenant.

1 Chronicles 16:13–24 “13 O seed of Israel His servant, Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! 14 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. 15 Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, 16 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. 17 He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, 18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, As the portion of your inheritance.” 19 When they were only a few in number, Very few, and strangers in it, 20 And they wandered about from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people, 21 He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, 22 “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” 23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. 24 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.”

Yahweh began His covenant with Abraham, swore it to Isaac, and confirmed it with Jacob.

Ultimately it was clearly spread to all the people. A covenant forever.

God is everlasting Himself, thus He has the power to keep His word forever also.

Yahweh made His covenant with them when they were few in number.

He could see what would be. He would make what would be happen.

Even though Abraham and Sarah could not see it, God could.

We must remember that God has made promises to us, and likewise, He can see what will be, even though we can not.

Vv. 21–22 are powerful. He would not permit anyone to interfere.

It reminds me of the passage we looked at a couple weeks ago from John 10.

He will not allow anyone to snatch us out of His hand.

We have nothing to fear except ourselves. If we will but remain faithful, God will not allow anything to stand between us and Himself.

At this point, we have witnessed His protection for 4200 years since Abraham!

We can give thanks to the Lord for protection even more than they!

We thank Him for His preeminence.

1 Chronicles 16:25–36 “25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. 27 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and joy are in His place. 28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the Lord in holy array. 30 Tremble before Him, all the earth; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. 31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” 32 Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. 33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord; For He is coming to judge the earth. 34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 35 Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.” Blessed be the LORDD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting.”

Yahweh is above all other gods, for the other gods are not gods at all.

They are merely idols. Manmade inventions that have no power, as Elijah demonstrated on the mountain.

Everyone, all nations, should tremble before Yahweh.

The implication is clear, trembling before their gods is unnecessary.

Only Yahweh reigns!

Indeed, all creation should rejoice. Trees, sun moon and stars, the sea roars its praise.

From our vantage point, we have watched all the idols of their days fail.

Baal is no longer worshipped.

Dagon is no longer worshipped.

Yahweh has outlasted them all.

Mankind makes new idols, but Yahweh will outlast them also.

We can give thanks to the Lord for his preeminence even more than they!

Conclusion

We serve a mighty God. He has done mighty things. He continues to do mighty things.

The NT admonishes us repeatedly to be people who give thanks. We need to do it continually. Adopt the words of Asaph as our own and give thanks to God for his greatness. His mighty deeds. His unbreakable/unbroken promises. His preeminence above all.

“O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”