Enduring Love

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

When I think of scriptures that talk about gratitude, the first passage that comes to mind is Psalm 136. You might recognize it as that one really repetitive psalm:

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.

to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.

who spread out the earth upon the waters,

      His love endures forever. (136:1-6)

It's a song of thanksgiving to the Lord for all of God’s “great wonders.” The verses ahead describe the first Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea (136:10-15), the journey through the wilderness (136:16), and the conquest and settling of Canaan (136:17-22). The examples are all different, but each one illustrates the same thing, the words of the refrain: His love endures forever.

Israel filled their praises with specific and tangible instances of the enduring love of the Lord. They gave thanks and sang of God’s love because they had seen it. They could point to it. If this psalm had been expanded by Christians in New Testament times, they might have said,

He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,

His love endures forever.

He assumed human likeness,

His love endures forever.
He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross,

His love endures forever. (see Phil 2:5-8)

The incarnation—when the Son of God became a human being—and the cross are specific and concrete instances of the enduring love of the Lord. That’s love you can point to.

But where have you seen that love in your own life? If you were going to expand the psalm, what instances of God’s enduring love would you point to? I want to challenge you, today or tomorrow, to write another few verses and add your praise to this song. Name some specific and tangible examples of the love of God that you’ve experienced, and then call them what they are: his love enduring forever.

The four final verses of Psalm 136 declare:

He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.

and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.

He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven.

      His love endures forever. (136:23-26)

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you see the enduring love of the Lord all around you this holiday.

Listen to this week's devotion right here: