#DailyDevotion The LORD’s Chesed Is Forever In Jesus Christ The LORD
Psalm 136 Thank the LORD for He is good —His mercy endures forever! 2Thank the God of gods — His mercy endures forever! 3Thank the Lord of lords–His mercy endures forever! 4 He alone does great wonders–His mercy endures forever! 5He made the heavens with understanding–His mercy endures forever! 6He made the earth stand above the waters–His mercy endures forever! 7He made great lights – His mercy endures forever! 8the sun to rule the day–His mercy endures forever! 9the moon and the stars to rule the night–His mercy endures forever!
This psalm was probably sung antiphonally with either two sets of priests or perhaps the priests singing the first part with the people responding with the refrain, “His mercy endures forever!” I think this is very telling and something we need to grasp and believe in all times and in all circumstances, “His mercy endures forever!” The word mercy here is the Hebrew chesed. It is God’s covenantal love. His covenantal love is one-sided. It is not conditional upon us but the character of the LORD. It is much like the agape love of the New Testament—For God so apaped the world that He sent His only begotten Son to be the atoning sacrifice for the world. This steadfast love, mercy, kindness, favor, grace and the like has its origin in the heart of God. It is the purpose of everything. It is the ground of the LORD’s being. It is part of the revealed name of the LORD and His glory in Exodus 34:6. This is why it is repeated after every confession of faith here in this psalm.
So we start off with thanking the LORD for He is good. The LORD being God is by nature good. He defines what is good. Even if He brings disaster and calamity, it is in service to the good.
The next two verses look back to Deut. 10:17, “The LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords,…” The LORD and the people of Israel are not admitting here there are other actual lords and gods, unless they are speaking of the created angelic beings or the kings of the earth. But here it is most likely speaking of what the nations worship. It is as Paul says 1 Cor. 8, “we know that an idol is nothing in the world and there is only one God. 5Even if there are so-called gods in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6yet we have one God, the Father: from Him comes everything, and we live for Him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ: He made everything, and we live by Him.” The point of this expression is there is nothing higher or above, nothing before or after the LORD.
The psalmist continues on a path through the beginning of Genesis of the creation account. We should thank the LORD for making the heavens, the earth, the waters, the great lights i.e. the sun, the moon and the stars. These were all created by the chesed of the LORD. His great chesed towards us, mankind. He made them for us to be of benefit for us, to sustain us and the life of everything that sustains us. None of this is haphazard. The LORD needs none of these things of Himself. But their creation and sustaining of them is born out of love for us. As we look out on all of creation whether with the eyes, telescopes and microscopes of all kinds, we can marvel at God’s creation and know this is done and made for us out of His chesed character. It originates in Him and is based on Him. His chesed love for us is based on Him and His character. It’s object is you and me. For this we should join the refrain, “His mercy endures forever!”
Merciful God and Father, Your mercy endures forever and we see that in all that You have made for us through Your Son Jesus Christ our LORD. Grant us hearts that exclaim with our lips thanksgiving and blessing to You now and forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.