Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

The Stabilizing Force In Our Lives

PSALM 136:1 – Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE STABLIZING FORCE IN OUR LIVES. Psalm 136 is the most unique Psalm of all. Not because of its length. It is twenty-six verses long and that is not unusual. The author is unknown, and this too, doesn’t distinguish it from the others. So, what does make this psalm amazingly different? It is how each of the twenty-six verses end. Twenty-six times we read “for his steadfast love endures forever.” Every verse ends with these soul-stirring words. It’s like the Psalmist is telling us, “Do you get it yet? God really does love you. A lot and that will never change. And should you doubt this, let me ‘drill it into your head and heart’ by telling you twenty-six times for his steadfast love endures forever.” I don’t know about each of you, but I need it drilled into my head and heart because I am a sheep prone to wander. I too often allow the cares, pressures, and stresses of life cause me to forget the most stabilizing force in my life – God’s steadfast love. Maybe you do, too . . . if so, let’s drill this truth into our heads and hearts together.

When we face difficult circumstances wanting to stress us out with worry, fear and anxiety, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” His stabilizing love will not remove our circumstances, but it will enable us to live joyfully through our circumstances because of His loving presence in our circumstances.

When we are hurting over fractured relationships and feeling betrayed by friends or family, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” Yes, I know. This is extremely difficult to give thanks to the Lord when the most intimate of relationships are shattered or strained, but it is a command and when God commands, God enables us to obey. And as we do, His steadfast love will strengthen our hearts as we will be drawn closer and closer to the One who will never ever forsake or leave us (Hebrews 13:5). Why? His steadfast love endures forever!

When we are facing our last enemy – death – either in that of a loved one, friend, or even ourselves, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” And we may do so because it was God’s steadfast love that sent the Lord Jesus to conquer death, to pay the wages of our sin, death, and rise victorious over its grip on us. The Apostle Paul would proclaim this victory with these words, “Then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54b-57). This song of victory is a song of a steadfast love that endures forever!

Life is full of many changes, and we, too, are prone to many emotional and spiritual ups and down, but God has given us the stabilizing force to lean upon no matter our circumstances. It is His steadfast love that endures forever. It has never failed a Christian in the past and will never fail a Christian in the present and future. Cast yourself upon it. It is reliable. Always.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for Your steadfast love which will never be removed from me.”

QUOTE: “In the midst of our unstable emotions and changing moods, rest on the unchangeable – God’s love.”