Can you repeat that? 

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who ridiculed certain modern worship songs due to their repetitious lyrics? It doesn’t seem to come up quite as often as I remember it happening in years gone by, but I’d like to pop that little discussion bubble with a pretty loud BANG!

This year, in our Ladies Bible Study I am going to be teaching a series on ‘Reflecting God’s Character’. We will be looking into Godly character traits and how we can work on becoming imitators of Christ for his glory, our good and the good of others.

While studying this out yesterday, I began to work through the first character trait we’ll be learning about. Love. A beautiful and foundational one to begin with and one that we could all improve on, I’m sure.

While taking notes and reading considerable amounts of scripture on this topic, I was reminded of a beautiful Psalm.

And if you’re wondering where I was going with my reference to repetition and bubble popping, well, here it is.

Take your Bible or open up your Bible app with me and read the whole of Psalm 136. It’s only 26 verses. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Now, I must confess, up until a few years ago, when I first looked deeper into this Psalm, I had never really studied it as I tended to get caught up in the “his mercy endureth forevers” and gloss over the rest of the Psalm as I drifted off into a daze over the repeated phrases.

But one day, I actually READ it. Like REALLY read it. It’s amazing how God’s Word can come alive to you if you just take the time to read it, open your heart and let it speak to you.

Did you notice the repetition in this Psalm? Yeah, so much for only modern worship songs repeating themselves! This Psalm was most likely written in approximately 1004 B.C. That was a good many years ago!

Bear with me as I delve into this Psalm and try to make sense of what’s going on here.

Firstly, I want to explain a little about why there is so much repetition in this Psalm.

We see that in each verse the phrase ‘his mercy endureth forever’ is sung. This is a beautiful example of what was called responsive or antiphonal singing.

It was a call and response type singing by two choirs or singers.

In this particular Psalm, as God’s people gathered together to worship, a Levite, or song (worship) leader, would call out or sing the reason to give God thanks, and then the congregation would respond with, ‘his mercy endureth forever’.

In Jewish tradition, this particular Psalm was called the Great Hallel or Great Psalm of Praise. It was a worshipful time of rehearsing God’s goodness aloud and a time when God’s people were encouraged to praise him for his love and mercy.

What an amazing sight it must have been and what a beautiful sound would have echoed through the air, to hear God’s people singing God’s praises with all their hearts. Praising him for his goodness to him. Back and forth the song went. Call, response. Call, response.

What a pity we don’t have many songs like this in our church services today.

We don’t know exactly who wrote this Psalm, although many attribute it to King David. We do know that it was sung many times in history. One instance was at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. (2 Chronicles 7:3,6) It was also sung in David’s Psalm of praise in 1 Chronicles 16:7,34.

It was also used at least 4 other times in scripture. It was a popular hymn among God’s people. Maybe it was like the favourites we sing in our church services today. The ones that get picked every Sunday night and are sung loudly and played enthusiastically by over excited pianists (not mentioning any names)!

Whatever the case, it was a song of worship and one full of truth.

We see it again in Ezra 3:11. Here, it was sung at the dedication of Ezra’s temple. But notice, that whenever it was sung, it was always in the context of public praise or declaration.

The word translated “mercy” in the original language means “loyal, steadfast, enduring love.” The refrain “His mercy endureth forever” is also translated, “His faithful love endures forever” and “His steadfast love endures forever”. Mercy, or loyal love, is one of the most prominent attributes of God’s character. By His very nature, He shows limitless, everlasting mercy and love to all, even though we don’t deserve it.

Keep your Bible open as you read through this Psalm with me and I’ll give you a quick summary of what I found when I studied through this one afternoon while sitting in a noisy truck stop in a Darwin roadhouse, scribbling madly on a scrap of paper.

In verses 1 to 4, we read of who God is.

We learn something of his character. He is good. He is God of Gods. Lord of Lords. He does great wonders.

In verses 5 to 9, we see his work as Creator.

By wisdom he made the heavens. He stretched out the earth above the waters. He made great lights. The sun to rule by day and the moon and stars to rule by night.

In verses 10 to 15, we read of his mercy to his people.

He smote the firstborn child of the Egyptians and brought the Israelites out of Egypt with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm. He divided the Red Sea and made Israel pass through the midst of it. He overthrew Pharoah and his army.

In verses 16 to 22, we see God’s mercy from the wilderness to the promised land.

He led his people through the wilderness. He smote great kings and slew famous kings even Sihon, King of the Amorites and Og, King of Bashan. He gave their land for an heritage.

And lastly, in verses 23 to 26, we see God’s mercy and ongoing deliverance to the people of Israel.

These last 4 verses tell us that he remembered the people in their low estate and redeemed them from their enemies and gave food to all flesh.

The Israelites had so much to praise God for. He had come through time and time again and he had shown his might and power in such astounding and miraculous ways, that there was nothing to do but to praise the Lord. His mercy really did endure forever. Despite their failings and shortcomings, God’s mercy and love was still present.

And it is still true today. We could replace the reasons the Israelites gave with our own reasons and end with the phrase, ‘his mercy endureth forever’. We would have our own personalized worship song to sing unto the Lord!

How awesome would it be if some of our creative modern day hymn writers were able to pen a Psalm of praise like this, that really resonated with our modern life, and we were able to sing it worshipfully to God in our song services?

A reason to give God thanks would be sung out and the congregation would answer with a declaration of praise to God. Call and response. Call and response. A beautiful, praise song full of adoration for our great God!

We have our own stories of deliverance in this present day and age. God still works in the lives of his people today and his mercy is still enduring and will endure til the end of time when we will fall at his feet, humbly, awestruck and worshipful, giving all praise to him. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to sing a wonderful song of praise to him in person, repeating over and over “his mercy endureth forever”!  

Psalm 136:26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Take some time today to praise God for his mercy and love to you. Look back over your life and reflect on all his goodness to you. Remember where he brought you from and where you are headed. We have so much to be thankful for! God is good!

 

 (Please read the interesting story below relating to Psalm 136 found in the pages of history)

“One night in February 358 A.D. the church father Athanasius held an all-night service at his church in Alexandria, Egypt. He had been leading the fight for the eternal sonship and deity of Jesus Christ, knowing that the survival of Christianity depended on it. He had many enemies – for political even more than theological reasons – and they moved the power of the Roman government against him. That night the church was surrounded by soldiers with drawn swords. People were frightened. With calm presence of mind Athanasius announced the singing of Psalm 136. The vast congregation responded, thundering forth twenty-six times, ‘His love endures forever.’ When the soldiers burst through the doors they were staggered by the singing. Athanasius kept his place until the congregation was dispersed. Then he too disappeared in the darkness and found refuge with his friends. Many citizens of Alexandria were killed that night, but the people of Athanasius’s congregation never forgot that although man is evil, God is good. He is superlatively good, and ‘his love endures forever.’” (Boice)