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Thank God for the Wonders of His Endless Mercy

How many times has God shown His mercy?

Psalm 136

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • October 7, In the year of our Lord, 2018

Prelude:

  1. Can you count all the ways or times that God has shown mercy?
    1. Psalm 136 gets us started,
    2. tracing signs of God’s love and mercy from Creation to Canaan.
      1. It is believed that this was a responsive reading.
      2. A reader read the first line and the congregation declared the second line.
  2. Before I get into the Psalm, I would like to note some of the mechanics of it.
    1. 26x the psalmist said,
      1. “for His mercy endures forever.”
      2. “But it cannot be said too often” (Brownlow, December 7).
    2. 8x he said, “To Him who.”
    3. 4x he said explicitly, “Oh, give thanks to,” but
      1. I believe he implied it 8 more times,
      2. making a total of 12 x, or
      3. about half of the Psalm.
        1. See how verses 1–3 start out:
        2. “Oh, give thanks to the LORD…”
          1. Verses 4–7, 10, 13 16–17 continue that thinking,
          2. except the psalmist just shortened it.
            1. He would already be repeating something else,
            2. so he did not want to have another item repeated.
              1. He shortened it from “Oh, give thanks to the LORD,”
              2. to, “To Him who.”
      4. The reason every verse does not begin with, “To Him who,”
        1. is that some verses are sub-points.
        2. 8 and 9 go under 7.
        3. 11 and 12 go under 10.
        4. 14 and 15 go under 13.
        5. 18 through 24 go under 17.
      5. Then verse 25 even leaves off the shortened version.
    4. The purpose of the Psalm points to
      1. the wonders of the endless enduring mercy of God.
      2. The Psalm breaks down in this manner:
        1. 136.1–3 | God’s Nature and Status
        2. 136.4–9 | God as Creator
        3. 136.10–24 | God’s Blessings on Israel
        4. 136.25 | God’s Blessing on All Flesh
        5. 136.26 | God’s Identity
    5. Warren Wiersbe said:

      “The rabbis called it ‘The Great Hallel’ (praise). The psalm reviews God’s dealings with His people and turns history into theology and theology into worship” (p. 1036).

Persuasion:

  1. Psalm 136.1–3 | Give Thanks to God

    1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
    For His mercy endures forever.
    2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
    For His mercy endures forever.
    3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
    For His mercy endures forever:

    1. Give thanks to Him simply for being who He is to us.
    2. Give thanks to Him simply for being the kind of God that He is.
    3. Give thanks that He is God of gods and Lord of lords instead of another.
  2. Psalm 136.4–25 | Displays of God’s Enduring Mercy
    1. 136.4–9 | Creator

      4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      7 To Him who made great lights,
      For His mercy endures forever—
      8 The sun to rule by day,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
      For His mercy endures forever.

      1. Give thanks to Him who alone does wonders,
        1. such as by wisdom making the heavens.
        2. Who or what else can do this?

          19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
          By understanding He established the heavens;
          20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
          And clouds drop down the dew.
          (Proverbs 3.19–20)
      2. Give thanks to Him who alone does wonders,
        1. such as laying out the earth above the waters.
        2. Otherwise, we would be beneath the sea right now.
      3. Give thanks to Him who alone does wonders,
        1. such as making the great lights,
          1. one to rule the day and
          2. the others to rule the night.
        2. He made them the heavens, the earth, and the sky lights for man.
    2. 136.10–15 | Deliverer

      10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      11 And brought out Israel from among them,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
      For His mercy endures forever;

      1. Give thanks to Him
        1. for striking the firstborn in Egypt,
        2. for bringing Israel out from among the Egyptians,
        3. for using His strong hand and outstretched arm to do these things.
          1. Christians give thanks for these things because
          2. they meant salvation for us.
            1. He promised Abraham a blessing
            2. for all the families and nations of the earth
              1. that would come through a spiritual seed and
              2. that would come through the nation of Israel in Canaan.
      2. Give thanks to Him
        1. who divided the Red Sea in two and
        2. for making Israel pass through the midst of the Red Sea, and
        3. for overthrowing Pharaoh and His army in the Red Sea.
      3. Christians rejoice and give thanks for the whole story of salvation, because
        1. what God did for Israel,
        2. He truly did for us.
      4. His battle against Pharaoh, and
        1. His deliverance of Israel from Egypt,
        2. showed His determination to bless
          1. all the families and all the nations of the earth through Abraham.
          2. Israel was the grandson of Abraham.
          3. Israel would bring the chosen Seed into the Land of Canaan.
    3. 136.16–22 | Conquerer

      16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      17 To Him who struck down great kings,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      18 And slew famous kings,
      For His mercy endures forever—
      19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      20 And Og king of Bashan,
      For His mercy endures forever—
      21 And gave their land as a heritage,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
      For His mercy endures forever.

      1. Give thanks to Him who led Israel through the wilderness, for
        1. it showed that even a vast wilderness
          1. could not keep Him
          2. from blessing all the families and all the nations of the earth.
        2. He would get them to the land
          1. that He had promised to Abraham for
          2. it was there that He would bring the promised spiritual seed
            1. into the world
            2. to bless the world.
      2. Give thanks to Him who struck down great kings in the process.
        1. Mighty kings could not stop Him
        2. from getting Israel to where He needed them.
          1. The kings may have been famous, but
          2. that does not and cannot stop the God of heaven.
            1. Think of the greatness of King Og.

              11 “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits [13.5 feet] is its length and four cubits [6 feet] its width, according to the standard cubit” (Deuteronomy 3.11).
            2. I doubt that his army was an army of pipsqueaks.
            3. That is no problem for the God who
              1. made the heavens by wisdom,
              2. laid out the earth, and
              3. made the lights of the sky.
        3. Therefore, he could give the land of Sihon and Og
          1. to Israel as a heritage.
          2. Israel was His servant.
            1. So He would give His servant whatever the servant needed
            2. to get the job done.
    4. 136.23–25 | Provider

      23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      24 And rescued us from our enemies,
      For His mercy endures forever;
      25 Who gives food to all flesh,
      For His mercy endures forever.

      1. Give thanks to Him who
        1. remembered Israel in their lowly estate, mere slaves and
        2. rescued them constantly from their enemies.
      2. Give thanks to Him who gives food to all flesh.
        1. We give thanks for our food, but
        2. consider the massive job God has
          1. of feeding every living creature everyday?
          2. Give thanks to our God for His awesomeness.
  3. Psalm 136.26 | Give Thanks to God

    26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
    For His mercy endures forever.

    1. Gives thanks to Him for who He is.
      1. He is the God of heaven.
      2. He is not the invention of men, because
        1. men create gods that reflect the earth, not heaven.

Exhortation:

  1. First Point