Bowling Green Covenant Church

The Traveler’s Advisory Friday

30 June 2006

“Give thanks to the LORD for He is good. His love endures forever. “Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. “Give thanks to the LORD of lords. His love endures forever.”—Psalm 136.1-3 [ESV]

I am a baseball fan. My favorite pastimes when I watch America’s pastime is keeping score. For this I use a scorecard. The scorecard identifies the players of both teams. From the first pitch to the last out, the scorecard helps me keep track of the game. Keeping score helps me stay involved with the flow of the game. When the game is over, I have a record of the game’s progress and outcome. I know more than who won and who lost. I know how the game was won or lost. During the game the scorecard helps me follow the action. After the game it becomes a reference to help me remember what took place.

I cannot prove it, but were the person who composed Psalm 136 alive today, he would be a baseball fan. And he would love using a scorecard. This man knew the something about recording history and noting how it fit into the context of God’s dealings with Israel. Scholars believe Psalm 136 was likely written after the Babylonian Exile—a period of 70 years in which most of the Jews had been relocated from Israel to Babylon. Therefore, nearly two generations had grown up outside the Promised Land with no temple and no landmarks (ballparks?) in which to get a sense of the history of God’s dealings with His people.

Psalm 136 is a psalm of thanksgiving. It teaches that there is a parallel between Israel’s return to the Promised Land from Babylon and their ancestors’ journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

The psalm is a series of statements about who God is and what He has done. Each statement is a reason why we should give thanks to God. Punctuating each statement is the refrain “His love endures forever.” This refrain is woven into the Psalm to remind Israel of the LORD’s hesed.

The exact meaning of the Hebrew word hesed is difficult to capture in English. Words and phrases such as lovingkindness, steadfast love, mercy, and covenant faithfulness come close, but the exact meaning is elusive. However we translate it the word, the psalmist uses it to remind us God keeps His promises because He is loyal, faithful, full of mercy and lovingkindness. Life will challenge our trust in God’s hesed. Knowing this may be the reason the psalmist punctuates every reminder of God’s actions in Psalm 136 with the refrain, “His hesed endures forever.”

When life spins out of control it is important to remember God is in control and that His love endures forever. There will be times when circumstances beyond our control will give us the sense that our lives are totally without order. Chaos reigns and we wonder how we will cope or whether we will survive. Worse yet is the feeling that God has abandoned us. The temptation is to wrest control. We must do something, but what?

The psalmist would say, “Stop what you are doing and give thanks to God. Remember what He has done. He is good. And His love endures forever.” Is this easier said than done? You bet, but consider the alternative: panic, anxiety, doubt, fear, anger, ulcers and headaches.

Psalm 136 celebrates the truth that God delivers His people from dire and desperate circumstances. He rescues them from their enemies. He feeds them when they are hungry. He brings them safely into the land He has promised (He makes sure to get us safely “home”). He created the universe and everything in it—including us. And He is faithful to keep His promise. And for that we must be thankful. Sometimes, however, it helps to have a scorecard to remind us the ways in which His love endures forever.

You think about that.

MM