With All My Heart - Psalm 138 (part 1)

"I will give Thee thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to The before the gods.

I will bow down toward Thy holy temple,

and give thanks to Thy name

for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth.

For Thou hast magnified Thy word

according to all Thy name.

On the day I called Thou didst answer me;

Thou didst make me bold with strength in my soul.

(Psalm 138:1-3)

David is determined.

He's determined to give thanks.

He's determined to sing praise.

He's determined to worship.

AND, he's determined to do it with all of his heart!


David WILL give thanks to his God and he will do it with all that is within him. Half-hearted part praise just won't cut it. It is the great God whom we worship and He is worthy of our everything! He is worthy of our ALL!


David "would praise God with sincerity and zeal, with that which is within and with ALL that is within. He would praise God with inward impressions agreeing with outward expressions." (Matthew Henry)

Remembered and Redeemed - Psalm 136 (part 5)

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

for His lovingkindness is everlasting....

Who remembered us in our low estate,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and has rescued us from our adversaries,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

who gives food to all flesh,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks tot he God of heaven,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

(Psalm 136: 1, 23-26)

So, we come to the end of Psalm 136. We have, thus far, been reminded to thank God for His wonderful character and for His sovereign rule. Those things are practically displayed in His care over creation, His power over persecutors, and His lavishing of a land upon His chosen children.


This morning, the final two sections of the Psalm fall out. In them, we are encouraged to give thanks to the Lord - the good Lord - because we see His everlasting loving-kindness displayed in our redemption and in His daily provision. Good reason, eh?


Friends stop and think about it, we were not born noble but notorious.

Give Thanks to the God of the Nations - Psalm 136 (part 4)

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

for His lovingkindness is everlasting....

To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and brought Israel out from their midst,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and made Israel pass through the midst of it,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

but He overthrew Pharoah and his army in the Red Sea,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

To Him who smote great kings,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and slew mighty kings,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting:

Sihon, king of the Amorites,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

And Og, king of Bashan,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

and gave their land as a heritage,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

even a heritage to Israel His servant,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1, 10-22)

This next section of Psalm 136 contains much - MUCH that should encourage the heart of a believer and press him to praise!! Here we see the greatness of our God as the King of kings. Here we see His power in preserving His people and in pummeling their persecutors.


Are you living in fear of the "Pharaohs" this day?
Are you doubting your ability to conquer Canaan?
Well then, don't just glance but gaze deeply at this section of Psalm 136.

Everlasting Mercy Seen in the Created World - Psalm 136 (part 3)

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

for His lovingkindness is everlasting....

To Him who alone does great wonders,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the heavens with skill,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who spread out the earth above the waters,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the great lights,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

the sun to rule by day,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

the moon and stars to rule by night,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1, 5-9)

For the past two posts I've been slowly stopping to savor the encouragements to praise and thanksgiving that are found here in Psalm 136. First, we are moved to grateful devotion due to the wonderfully repetitive reality of God's everlasting loving-kindness - which just keeps giving and giving and giving. Second, we are moved to reverent thanksgiving simply because of who our God is - Jehovah, the good God, the God of all gods, the Lord of all lords.


Let us give thanks - continually - to this glorious God!!


Verses 5-9 contain the next classified grouping in this psalm. As verses 1-3 pressed us to praise the Lord for the greatness and goodness of His character so the rest of the psalm will press us to praise Him for His deeds.

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.

A Prelude to Thanksgiving - Psalm 136

"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.

To Him who alone does great wonders,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the heavens with skill,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who spread out the earth above the waters,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

to Him who made the great lights,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting:

the sun to rule by day,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

the moon and stars to rule by night,

for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

(Psalm 136:1-9)

This is a psalm of thanksgiving. (Kind of obvious, eh?!) It is a hallelujah of gratitude for who God is and for what He has done. We have much to thank Him for and just in case we are suffering from some form of Ebenezer amnesia the psalm writer is about to jog our memories.


In these 26 verses (of which I am only going to give a brief intro to this morning) we will be reminded of the greatness of God in and of Himself,of His creative and sustaining power over the entire universe, of His role as Israel's God and Savior and King, of His condescending act of redeeming us from our hopeless and helpless estate, and of His never-ceasing beneficence. He is a good God, a great God, a gracious God, and a giving God. Won't you give thanks with me?


There is a repetitive phrase used very effectively in this particular hymn of thanks:

"for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Just in case you were wondering, it is used 26 times in 26 verses - I think this everlasting lovingkindness is a point that our lyricist wants to drive home!!