Now, in ancient Hebrew -- in the Jewish mind -- repetition wasn't necessarily vain. It was intended for emphasis. And we know this ourselves. I mean, how many times have you heard things like, "You're basing your position on only six verses?" (And how many of you know to which position I'm referring?) It is a faulty stand to take, of course. All of God's Word is important, so "You only said it six times" ought to be sufficient. But what if I can find something offered 26 times ... in one chapter? That might be important, might it not?
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,Let's see ... let me think about this. What do you suppose the psalmist is trying to convey? Hmmmm. Oh, I know! Due to my superior insight, I think he's trying to tell us that God's lovingkindess is everlasting! What do you think? Well, of course he is.
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
5 To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
6 To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
7 To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
8 The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
10 To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
11 And brought Israel out from their midst,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
13 To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
15 But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
17 To Him who smote great kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
18 And slew mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
20 And Og, king of Bashan,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
21 And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
22 Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
23 Who remembered us in our low estate,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
24 And has rescued us from our adversaries,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
25 Who gives food to all flesh,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting (Psa 136).
It is, apparently, something of some importance if this singular phrase is repeated 26 times in one chapter. And it is, of course, important. Its importance is illustrated in the text. What kinds of things indicate that His lovingkindness is everlasting? Well, there is the fact that He is above all. It's good to have the Sovereign God as a God with everlasting lovingkindness, right? I mean, if He's going to do as He pleases (Psa 115:3; 135:6), it's good to know that He does so with eternal kindness. He is the Creator; that's good. I mean, just look (for instance) at what science tells us about fine-tuning of the universe and you have to appreciate the fact that God is the Creator ... and He did it quite well. What else? Well, starting at verse 10 we wade into some interesting territory. Here the psalmist begins to give us illustrations of God's eternal kindness from disasters. No, not disasters to Israel, but disasters on Israel's behalf. There is the event of the killing of Egypt's firstborns, the destruction of Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea, the annihilation of great and mighty kings through the desert, and the removal of the Canaanites to put Israel in their land. Now, this is all nice for Israel, but is it nice of God? The psalmist thinks so. That is, the inspired writer believes it is. He ranks it with God's great wonders (v 4) and God who "gives food to all flesh" (v 25). I would suggest, then, that the idea that God ought to be nice to everybody does not coincide with Scripture or the notion of "His lovingkindness is everlasting."
So, what do we know? In the amazing and the mundane, the grand and the gross, the wonderful and the weird -- in all that God does -- we see that God's lovingkindness is everlasting. No, I'm not basing that on six verses. Let's start with twenty-six and go from there. A good reason to give thanks to the God of heaven, isn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment