Thanking God for Who He Is - Psalm 136 (part 2)

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the God of gods,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1-3)

We have MUCH to be thankful for. God's loving-kindness towards us is everlasting. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. Bottom line - HE is great and therefore greatly to be praised!


In these first three verses of Psalm 136 the writer of this poetically repetitive hallelujah psalm points us to the character of God as one of the catalysts for thankful praise.

We are to give thanks to God not only for what He does but at an even more basic level for who He intrinsically is.

Friends, if God did NOTHING for us He would still be worthy of EVERYTHING from us. He is God! We are not. There is a great distinction between the Creator and the creature and we have been created by Him and for Him. Let us therefore give Him praise!

He is God - and He is a glorious God as the writer of psalm 136 will show us.

Dead Idols & a Living God - Psalm 135 (part 3)

"Praise the LORD!...

The idols of the nations are but silver and gold,

the work of man's hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

they have eyes, but they do not see;

they have ears, but they do not hear;

nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

Those who make them will be like them,

yes, everyone who trusts in them.

O house of Israel, bless the LORD;

O house of Aaron, bless the LORD;

O house of Levi, bless the LORD;

you who revere the LORD, bless the LORD.

Blessed be the LORD from Zion,

who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

(Psalm 135:1, 15-21)

In this first "hallelujah" psalm we've been pressed to meditate on the goodness and beauty and greatness of the God who has called us out as His own prized possession. We've been urged to praise Him for who He is and for what He has done. Here our attention is drawn to the vain things that natural men often naturally worship. There is truly no comparison.


John Calvin has said that our hearts are idol factories and in that statement he has spoken well. While, in our current culture, we may not manufacture quite as many tangible vessels of idolatry - I haven't noticed a "get your statue of Dagon" stand here in my own small burg (not yet) - we most certainly are constantly in the business of making heart idols left and right.


We worship ourselves, our friends, our toys, our desires, our labors, our reputations - on and on and on they go. Yes, our hearts are idol factories and the product that they are producing isn't up to par.

Bless the Lord / Be Blessed By Him - Psalm 134

"Behold, bless the LORD,

all servants of the LORD,

who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary,

and bless the LORD.

May the LORD bless you from Zion,

He who made heaven and earth."

(Psalm 134)

This morning I come to the final Psalm of ascent. I'll miss these. This last one is a short one, but it says plenty. It speaks of blessing God and being blessed by Him. Glance with me at these 3 short verses and at the three points I have derived from them.


1. The ascenting psalmist begins with a call for ALL of the servants of the Lord to bless the Lord.

"Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD,

who serve by night in the house of the LORD!"

In the cultural context it is a call to the Levitical priests who served during the night watches of temple time to bless the name of Jehovah. It encourages them to speak well of their God - is He deserving of any other type of speech?

Weaned from Wandering in Worldly Wonder - Psalm 131

"O LORD, my heart is not proud,

nor my eyes haughty;

nor do I involve myself in great matters,

or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child rests against its mother,

my soul is like a weaned child within me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD

from this time forth and forever."

(Psalm 131)

Over the course of the past two weeks I have been utterly amazed at the timing of landing here in the Psalms of ascent. Just being flat out honest - life has been dark for me recently - blindingly dark. As, I shared in my last post, the previous psalm in many ways is the psalm of the past 13 months for me. I have been in the depths - deep depths! I have cried out to God for mercy - at times uncertain of whether He was even there to hear. I have been made painfully aware of my sinfulness and have seen His merciful lovingkindness poured out to me where His wrath should have gushed forth! I have been made to wait upon the Lord - for quite some time and while waiting I have hoped in His Word. The lessons I have learned in that precious Word - many of which have flown off of my fingers onto this blog - have truly been an anchor for a soul that has been so violently adrift at sea. My friends, Lori Sealy has been in the midst of a spiritual war of epic proportions and I have, by grace - by NOTHING but grace - been kept in this overwhelming flood and have been enabled to wait and watch for His redeeming rescue.


My Redeemer has come! The Psalms of ascent - the Psalms of those who sing on their way to worship their Redeemer - have truly been my Psalms. At this moment in my life I own these words, by sheer grace and by perfectly planned providence. Today is no exception. Today is, yet again, the cry of my heart and the testimony of my circumstance. Several particulars grabbed me as I meditated this day.