Psalm 136: God the Son

Today’s reading is Psalm 136.

Jesus Christ is God’s Steadfast Love

YHWH created the world alone. That is, no other separate being, divine or otherwise created the world. Certainly, He was equipped with wisdom and understanding, but wisdom is not divine. Wisdom is not a personal entity. Wisdom was the “mental” tool God used. However, John 1:1-5 draws out a conclusion.

YHWH created the world, but He did it through His “logos.” That is, He did it through His “Word.” John, however, demonstrates this “logos,” was more than simply God’s accompanying wisdom. This “logos” was with God, but also was God. Not was another god, but was/is God. I get it, trinity is a mystery. We can’t mine its depths in a simple daily blog devotional. Yet, John wants us to understand something.

Jesus is God. Jesus is the Creator. He is YHWH. He was with God. He is God. Jesus is not a second God. He is the same God. In other words, God is so far beyond our ability to comprehend, even trying to describe the nature of His existence goes beyond our ability to communicate. He must resort to presenting Himself in Oneness and in Threeness at the same time. But what we must know is the LORD whose steadfast love created the world is Jesus.

Unsurprisingly, the LORD whose steadfast love delivered Israel from bondage, led them through the wilderness, and conquered kingdoms before them is Jesus. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, the Rock which followed Israel through the wilderness and brought the nation into the Promised Land was Christ. It was Jesus.

This same Jesus came in flesh and tabernacled among us. He died on the cross to atone for our sins and cleanse our defilement away.

Let us give thanks to the Lord. Let us give thanks to Jesus. Because He Himself is the embodiment of chesed. He Himself is the God of chesed. His death on the cross is the ultimate demonstration of loyalty to every covenant the Lord made. And just as He created the world in covenant loyalty before any people had entered into covenant with Him, He planned the sacrifice of Jesus before the foundation of the world. Yet, that very steadfast love endures to us and will keep forgiving people for all time.

Praise the Lord! …for His steadfast love endures forever!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 137.

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Psalm 136: God the Ruler

Today’s reading is Psalm 136.

King of Kings, Lord of Lords

The psalmist demonstrates YHWH’s loyal love from creation to the Exodus to the conquest. Not only did the Lord create the world specially suited for people, He created a land specially suited for His people. Then He brought them into that land. But notice the means by which He did so. Mighty kings arrayed themselves against King YHWH and His people. These kings declared, “You shall not pass. We rule here.” YHWH said, “Watch Me.” Then He demonstrated who truly ruled. He made the land. He gets to decide who lives on it.

These events pre-date David in the same way the events of vss. 4-9 pre-date any of the Lord’s covenant people. However, do not miss the connections between vss. 17-22 and Psalm 2. Kings arrayed themselves against the Lord and His anointed Israel. They thought to tell YHWH He had no right to rule over them. Yet, His wrath was quickly kindled, the kings were executed, and the Lord gave the nations as a heritage to His people. No wonder David could trust the Lord’s promise as recounted in Psalm 2. The Lord had done that sort of covenant keeping even before David came on the scene. He would surely continue. The same loyal love that conquered rebel kings, making way for God’s people to be in the land, would conquer rebel kings making way for God’s anointed.

The point, of course, is our God reigns. He is sovereign. He will not be thwarted. He has been working His plans for us since before we even came on the scene. As Psalm 2 says, we have two options. We can take refuge in the Lord and find blessing or we can rebel against the Lord and find destruction. This is not strictly because God is a king who demands we follow His rules or He’ll kill us. Rather, it is because He is the sovereign whose way leads to life and every other way perishes (Psalm 1:6).

The final section of the psalm likely stems not from the Exodus and Conquest, but from the Restoration following Babylonian exile. In other words, the psalmist calls to mind these ancient (even to the psalmist’s mind) displays of chesed to explain why the restoration from Babylon happened. It wasn’t simply time. It wasn’t the ebb and flow of nations. It wasn’t the kindness of an earthly king who had a policy of restoring disenfranchised nations. It was the chesed of the Lord that did it. YHWH recalled the low estate of His people. YHWH rescued them from their foes. As surely as YHWH provides the rain and the sunshine which produces the food, He delivered them from captivity once again.

And this gets right to the heart of a point we must maintain in our own minds. As we walk through life, we can either recognize the hand of God or ignore it. If someone wants to explain away the restoration from Babylonian captivity through purely political means, they can. Cyrus had a policy of letting people go home. No miracle there. No blessing from God. Simply a universal policy. But our Psalmist understands such a king arose and conquered Babylon for one reason and one reason only. Because YHWH is the ruler. And YHWH brought Cyrus on the scene. Therefore, as surely as Og and Sihon were defeated by the Lord, so too Belshazzar. Israel was restored not because Cyrus was ruler, but because YHWH is ruler.

May we recall today, the Lord is still sovereign. Whatever we have faced, He reigns and will redeem us.

Praise the LORD for His steadfast love endures forever.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 136.

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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Psalm 136: God the Redeemer

Today’s reading is Psalm 136.

The Exodus and the Chesed of the Lord

The Lord’s steadfast love was demonstrated not merely by the general grace in creation of the world. It was also demonstrated by the specific creation of a special people, protected by the Lord. YHWH set apart Abraham and his descendants through whom the Lord would bless all the nations and families of the earth. Keep that part of the promises in mind. YHWH did not set Abraham apart so He could merely bless Abraham and his kids, but so He could bless the entire world–including us.

Therefore, when we read of the redemption of Israel from Egypt in Psalm 136:10-16, we do not read merely of God’s steadfast love for Abraham’s descendants, but of His steadfast love for all people. Had the Lord violated His covenant with Abraham and allowed his descendants to perish in Egypt, redemption would have been lost for all people, not merely for Israelites.

But don’t miss the undercurrent. The Lord redeemed Israel from Egypt. But that meant the Lord did allow Israel to be enslaved by Egypt. Redemption does not mean keeping us from the hardship. It means carrying us through the hardship and bringing us out on the other side, redeemed, delivered, saved.

Further, some of the Israelites died before the historical acting out of the redemption. The nation experienced the redemption but not every individual did. At least, not every individual experienced the working out in history of that redemption. In other words, redemption for us may not occur while we are still living. It may be we face hardship until we die. Redemption is not God keeping us from death. Rather, it is God walking with us through death and bringing us out on the other side, resurrected with abundant life.

I’ll forgive you if you accuse me of a stretch when I say vs. 16 causes us to glance back to Psalm 1. But, allow me to assure you, tomorrow we will see clearly vss. 17-22 turns us back to Psalm 2. When our psalmist declares we should give thanks “to him who led his people through the wilderness,” the word “led” is the same word translated “walks” in Psalm 1:1. Here are a people redeemed because they did not walk according to the counsel of the wicked, but by the redeeming leadership of the Lord. While their way led through the wilderness, their way did not perish. It got them to the Promised Land. In the same way, YHWH still redeems. His way may lead through the wilderness, it may even go through the dark valley of death’s shadow, but it doesn’t perish. It leads to life.

Praise the Lord! …for His steadfast love endures forever!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 136.

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How does Psalm 136 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Psalm 136: His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

Today’s reading is Psalm 136.

the Lord’s Incredible Chesed

When the Lord revealed His name and character to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, the central character trait was His steadfast love. Not only does the Lord abound in steadfast love, He keeps it for thousands, demonstrated by forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. That idea of keeping it for thousands contrasts with the following statement about visiting iniquities of the fathers on the children and even on their children. The grammatical structures are parallel. That is, if the “third” and “fourth” of the iniquity visiting refers to generations, then so too the “thousands” with whom the Lord keeps steadfast love. Imagine that. The Lord’s steadfast love lasts to the thousandth generation. If we average out that a new generation is born every 20 years, God told Moses His steadfast love will last for 20,000 years. It doesn’t take much at all to realize God wasn’t speaking literally. He was using a number so large it is unfathomable to us. He was saying He keeps steadfast love forever.

We must not be surprised then to discover a common refrain of praise: “His steadfast love endures forever.” This statement is recorded 26 times in our psalm and 16 times throughout the rest of the Law, Prophets, and Writings. The word translated “steadfast love” by the ESV is the Hebrew word “chesed.” The “ch” should be pronounced like the “ch” in Bach, not in “church.” It refers to ongoing favor and kindness due to covenant loyalty.

Have you ever participated in a responsive singing or reading of this psalm? Sadly, even the most devout among us can find it tedious by the time we’ve said “for His steadfast love endures forever” the twenty-sixth time. But perhaps we should understand something. The psalmist didn’t write this psalm for our entertainment. He wrote it to drive home one point and one point alone. The Lord’s steadfast love endures forever. In fact, it wouldn’t really be steadfast love if it didn’t, would it? He wants us to say it so often we can’t possibly forget. He wants us to say it so often it becomes an earworm that plays on our mind even when we aren’t thinking about the psalm. He wants us to say it so often we even begin to recognize it as the absolute truth.

And don’t miss this incredible point. Recall the Songs of Ascents ended in Psalm 134 with the call to bless the Lord, praising Him. Psalms 135 and 136 answer the call. Again and again, those who worship using Psalm 136 bless the Lord, praising Him. This psalm tells us to profess thanks to the LORD, the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the only one who does great wonders, who by understanding made the heaven, spread the earth above the waters and on the list goes of the deeds of the Lord. But again and again, the statement is made not that the worshipers should profess thanks to the Lord because He did great wonders of creation, redemption, and sovereignty, but because His steadfast love endures forever.

When we look up to the heavens, we are reminded His steadfast love endures forever. When we walk on the solid ground of earth, we are reminded His steadfast love endures forever. When the sun rises and sets, we are reminded His steadfast love endures forever. When we pick out the constellations, we are reminded His steadfast love endures forever. When we recall His great acts of deliverance and rule in the world, especially in the history of ancient Israel, we are reminded His steadfast love endures forever. And, as the psalm ends, when we eat or even feed our pets, we are reminded His steadfast love endures forever.

Because of a handful of stories demonstrating God’s wrath against sin, folks have the notion His wrath endures forever. They have the notion God is up in heaven looking to zap people. Not so. Every day we wake up and see the sun, we have another piece of evidence our God isn’t looking to zap people. If He were, you and I wouldn’t have survived the night. No. Our God is looking to forgive, save, deliver. His steadfast love endures forever. The question is will we surrender to it?

Will you? If we can help you, let us know in the comments below.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 136.

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PATHS:
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How does Psalm 136 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 117: Praise the Lord for His Steadfast Love

Today’s reading is Psalm 117.

Let’s Take a Little Side Trip

In 1 Samuel 18:3-4, though Jonathan was in line for the throne of Israel, he made a covenant with David whom God had promised would be the king of Israel instead. In 1 Samuel 20:8, when Jonathan was learning his own father wanted to kill David to protect his dynasty, Jonathan gave his support to David. As he did, he pleaded, “Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you” (ESV). “Deal kindly” translates the well-known “chesed” translated “steadfast love” in Psalm 117:2.

In 1 Samuel 20:14-15, Jonathan requested:

If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth (ESV).

Sadly, Jonathan didn’t survive the battles with the Philistines in which Saul also was killed. Following their deaths, David’s own reign was established among Judah and ultimately over all Israel. In 2 Samuel 9:1, when David could take vengeance on all the household of Saul, as most kings establishing a new dynasty would do (as Saul had actually tried to do to David), he asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (ESV). “Kindness” translates “chesed,” the same word we tracked above.

David was told about Mephibosheth, a crippled son of Jonathan. Mephibosheth had done absolutely nothing to earn any kindness from David. His own personal weakness made him incapable of bringing any meaningful aid to David. Yet, David showed Mephibosheth steadfast love because of his covenant with Jonathan. David restored Saul’s lands to Mephibosheth and invited him to eat at the king’s table always.

That is “steadfast love.” That is “chesed.”

Back to Psalm 117

When Psalm 117 says, “Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us” the psalmist is talking about the kind of love, mercy, and kindness David showed Mephibosheth. The praise is not glorifying God because He gives us what we deserve. The praise is not glorifying God because He pays us back for what we give to Him. The praise is glorifying God because He made a covenant with Adam and Eve, with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses, with David, with Israel, with all nations. For the sake of His covenant, for the sake of His promise, He shows loving kindness, mercy, and love.

Israel could rejoice because the Lord would deliver them. Why? Because of their greatness? Because of their worth? Because of their strength and might? No. Because of His covenant and steadfast love. We can praise God for the same reason. Our Lord keeps covenants. Our Lord bestows covenant loyal love.

Reciprocate

Let’s make sure we do not miss the steadfast love of the Lord deserves praise. It deserves thanksgiving. God has made the covenant with all nations and all peoples unconditionally. Every family can experience the steadfast love of the Lord. He didn’t wait for us to deserve this steadfast love before offering and bestowing it. However, if we reject it, if we ignore it, if we dismiss it, we will not experience the blessings of it.

Thus, the psalmist calls us all to praise the Lord for His steadfast love. That is how we show steadfast love to the Lord as a response to His steadfast love for us. But why wouldn’t we show that? Can you imagine Mephibosheth betraying David? How ridiculous would that be? Of course, that possibility might lead us on another side trip. But you’ll have to take that trip on your own (see 2 Samuel 16:1-4; 19:24-30).

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 117.

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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Psalm 109: Your Steadfast Love

Today’s reading is Psalm 109.

Let No one Be Kind to Him

David prays his false accuser will not only be punished, but “Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children” (Psalm 109:12, ESV). Yikes! That’s harsh. Or is it?

The word translated “kindness” in vs. 12 is not the word for being nice to people. David isn’t praying no one will ever be nice to his false accusers. Rather, the word is “chesed,” the word for the covenant, lasting, loyal, faithful love and kindness God says He has in Exodus 34:6-7.

In vs. 16, David explains the false accuser “did not remember to show kindness (chesed), but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death” (ESV). We are so used to hearing people talk about God’s unconditional love, we miss an important point. In a sense, chesed is unconditional. That is, God offers it to all without condition. However, chesed is covenant love. By its very nature, covenant love is reciprocal love. That is, when God (or anyone) shows chesed, the proper response in return is chesed. If one refuses to respond to chesed with chesed, he shows himself unworthy of chesed. Or, more accurately stated, if one refuses to respond to chesed with chesed, he is rejecting chesed.

In Job 6:14, the suffering man complains against his friends, “He who withholds kindness (chesed) from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (ESV). When the false accusers dismissed chesed and pursued the poor and needy to death, they weren’t just being mean to people, they forsook God. They rejected the Lord’s chesed when they refused to show chesed to the Lord’s people.

Thus, David declares no one should show them chesed. David isn’t asking out of spite. Rather, he recognizes natural consequences. They reject chesed, they should not receive it.

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

Whatever was going on in David’s life prompting its original composition, the editors of the psalms put it to good use in Book V. This set of psalms, as we’ve already noted, meditates on the return, the redemption, the restoration of God’s people. The restoration after Babylonian exile was the fertile ground that produced this collection of songs, poems, prayers, and meditations.

The entire book began declaring, “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love (chesed) endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1, ESV). In the four stories of redemption, the psalmist repeatedly declared, “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love (chesed), for his wondrous works to the children of man!” (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31, ESV). The entire psalm ended saying, “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love (chesed) of the LORD” (Psalm 107:43, ESV). The redeemed must say so. And redemption comes from the chesed of the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Then in Psalm 108, the editors brought together the “redemption” portions of two earlier laments. Smack in the middle of this new composition, the psalm declares, “For your steadfast love (chesed) is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Psalm 108:4, ESV). But understand, the chesed of the Lord can’t be demonstrated to the Lord’s people without Moab becoming the Lord’s washbasin, Edom becoming his doormat, and Philistia getting defeated. The Lord’s steadfast love, His chesed, is demonstrated to His people by bringing judgment on the people who curse and attack His people. That is, the nations who reject the Lord’s chesed will be defeated as the Lord displays His chesed for His people.

Finally, we get to Psalm 109. We meet false accusers who ignore, dismiss, repudiate chesed. So, David declares they shouldn’t receive any. But that is only half the equation. David’s main point is a contrast with the Lord. David’s friends ignore chesed, but the Lord will act on behalf of His name’s sake and “because your steadfast love (chesed) is good, deliver me!” (Psalm 109:21, ESV). He cries out again in vs. 26, “Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to you steadfast love (chesed)!” (ESV). David knows he can rely on the very chesed God had promised to him when making a covenant with him (see 2 Samuel 7:15; 1 Chronicles 17:13). The kind of chesed men fail at, God always delivers.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 109.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 109 prompt or improve your hope in God?