September 27, 2023: Psalm 136:3 - The Lord's Mercy Endures Forever

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever!” - Psalm 136:3

This is just one verse from a beautiful psalm that praises the Lord our God for all that He has done for the children of Israel and acknowledges that His mercy endures forever. The author of the psalm acknowledges that it is Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth, who lights the day with the sun and the night with the moon and the stars. The psalmist remembers and gives thanks to the God of gods who with His “strong hand and with an outstretched arm” delivered His people Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh.

The children of Israel were brought out of their 430 years of slavery in Egypt through a mighty miracle performed by God Himself when He divided the Red Sea, allowing Israel to pass through it on dry land as they were led by Moses to safety, watching from the other side as the Red Sea swallowed up Pharaoh and his army as they pursued Israel. God’s people subsequently wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, often complaining of their difficulties and the lack of the food they used to eat while in captivity, before their next generation was allowed to enter the Promised Land that God gave them.

So too, does His mercy endure forever to those of us who have believed in His Son Jesus Christ for redemption of all our sins. As Israel was brought out of its slavery in Egypt, so have I been brought out of slavery, but my slavery was my bondage to my sin. We don’t realize that when we decide to sin, we become enslaved to it, no matter the sin. Whatever the sin is, it separates us from God; it is like the Red Sea, where bondage was on one side and freedom on the other. When we are in sin, we can’t get to the other side where freedom awaits us unless we put our faith and trust in God to get us to the other side, to be free. Jesus Christ is that way, the narrow way, the only way, that takes us to the side of freedom from sin. Jesus is our Red Sea moment. It is He who parts the deep waters and makes the way for us to be freed from our bondage. One day, when my sin had made me so miserable and I constantly lived my life in fear, for deep down inside I believe I worried about what would happen if I died in my sin, I turned to Jesus Christ to save me, saying, “Help me, Jesus, I can’t do this on my own!” He did, and my life has never been the same. He brought me through the narrow way that is my salvation, my freedom from bondage.

Like Israel, once I reached the other side, the side of freedom from sin but still struggling to trust in the Lord fully, I still tried sometimes to do things my way. It was like Tug of War, where I had finally given God all the rope and then that old stubborn side of me decided to pull or to tug it back, only to find myself stumbling and falling to the ground. Many times I would get mad at God and blame Him for my problems instead of putting the blame on the one who caused my problems in the first place: me. Like Israel who wandered in the wilderness for forty years complaining and grumbling even though God had provided for their every need, I too wandered, sometimes wanting to return to that former place, where though I was in bondage, it had felt comfortable to me, and sometimes even tasted good to me. Sometimes God lets us go through difficult times so that we will see that we need to trust fully in Him, even when we don’t understand what is happening to us at any given moment of our lives.

There really is a war that is raging, and it’s a spiritual war for my soul, for your soul, and for souls of all mankind. When we are not saved by God through believing in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to redeem us of our sins, our soul is owned by Satan. When we turn to Jesus Christ, then He owns our soul, but Satan will do everything he can to steal it back, tempting us, and so we begin to tug against God, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land. The Holy Spirit, who comes inside of us the moment we turn to Jesus, will allow us to go through difficulties in our lives until we decide for ourselves not to keep committing the same old sins, and eventually, we will tug against God less and less, allowing Him to have more and more control over our lives. It is at that moment when we realize that God really is for us and not against us. It is at that moment when we become so very thankful for His mercy and love for us, and not only for us but also for our family members and friends as well. It is at that moment when we can see that through Him and the work that He is doing in us, we see changes in their lives as well. While they may not be saved yet by believing in Jesus Christ, we can see that He is working in them, and oh, what a wonderful thing that is to see!

Like the psalmist who wrote this psalm, I am so very thankful to the God of mercy, the God who saw me for who I am: a broken and sinful person in need of the Savior, and that He provided the way out of my brokenness and sin and His name is Jesus. I owe God everything, for it is through His love and mercy for me and for all of us, that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to make the way of salvation. I thank Jesus for leading me out of the wilderness, where I was wandering and complaining in my sin, and leading me to the light, to freedom. I thank Jesus for being willing to suffer all that He suffered and to die a horrible death and be resurrected to life so that one day, we would be able to enter His eternal kingdom, and I believe that day is coming soon.

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me [the apostle Paul], because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:12-17)

“Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 133:26) ✝️