I’ve heard more than one person express their displeasure with praise choruses because of their repetitive nature. In fact the first time I heard Chris Tomlin’s song “Forever” I was tempted to join them. Then I realized that Psalms 136 does the same thing. In 26 verses we see the phrase “his mercy endureth for ever” 26 times! So, obviously there is a time and place for repetition.
Repetition can be helpful–we repeat to remember. Hearing some things once is enough, but when it comes to God’s mercy that bears repeating! While God’s grace gives me what I don’t deserve, His mercy withholds what I do deserve–judgement. And that is glorious– so much so that it bears repeating. Spurgeon describes this Psalm as “A song, a solace, a sermon, and a summons”. That gives us much to think about, and we could speak much about the various parts of this Psalm, but it all centers on mercy –which deserves to be repeated.
The next time you feel that life is unfair and more difficult that it ought to be, stop and think about the mercy of God. That will brighten your day and lighten your load. Meditating on mercy will put sunshine in your soul and a spring in your step. There are 1001 things to make you sad, but this one thought will make you glad—“his mercy endureth for ever”.
In this Psalm we see that God creates all things, controls all things and cares about all things. In this we see His greatness, goodness,and glory. The circumstances of life are not always pleasant. We go from one crisis to another, finding new challenges every day, but in all this we can rest our weary soul on the fact that “His mercy endureth for ever“. That’s why James said, “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.“(James 5:11). Think about it!
