"Give Thanks to the Lord"

[Psalm 136]

Last Saturday morning during the prayer meeting, I reflected on the concept of the “spiritual filter.” This thought came to me after hearing from a person who came to fix our church's water purifier, explaining that the issue with our purifier was the filter. Just as the water wasn’t coming out properly because of a problem with the filter, I began to think that if our church’s spiritual filter is not functioning well, certain things won’t be expressed correctly. This thought was particularly based on the passage from Ephesians 5:15-21. In this context, the “spiritual filter” refers to “wisdom.” In other words, our church has been taught that, with the wisdom God gives, we should have spiritual discernment—accepting what we should and rejecting what we should not. Therefore, we have learned that we must make the best use of our time to understand the will of the Lord and live a Spirit-filled life. This Spirit-filled life is manifested in three key ways: “praise/worship,” “thanksgiving,” and “obedience.” In other words, a person filled with the Spirit will give praise and worship to God, always thank God in their heart, and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:19-21). Are we living a Spirit-filled life?

At our Wednesday prayer meeting last week, we received the exhortation to “praise the Lord” from Psalm 135. In the same way, in today’s passage, Psalm 136:1, the psalmist encourages us with these words: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” The reason the psalmist encourages us to give thanks to God is that God is good. In Psalm 135, the psalmist exhorts us to “praise the Lord” because God is good, while in Psalm 136, the psalmist exhorts us to “give thanks to the Lord” for the same reason. In this passage, the psalmist repeatedly says, “His love endures forever,” 26 times, in every verse. The reason we should give thanks to God is that our God loves us with His eternal love and shows us His goodness. He showed His goodness to us in the past, continues to show His goodness to us now, and will show His goodness to us in the future. Why does God show His goodness to us in this way? The reason is that God loves us with His eternal love.

In this context, the psalmist gives us four more specific reasons why we should thank God in today's passage.

The first reason is that we should thank God because He is great (vv. 1-3).

Look at Psalms 136:2-3: "Give thanks to the God of gods, for His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His love endures forever." The psalmist tells us that we should give thanks to God because He is above all gods and all lords. In other words, our God is the true God among all gods and the true Lord among all lords. We should thank God for His sovereignty and greatness. I was reminded of a gospel hymn that says, "Above every name, above every name, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. Let everyone bow and worship, Jesus is the Lord of all. Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord, all of creation gazes upon Him. Glory be to Him before His throne, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is Lord." The reason we should thank, praise, and worship God is that He is the God above all gods and the Lord above all lords. This great and good God loves you and me with His eternal love, and that is why we must thank Him.

Secondly, we should thank God because of the mighty acts He performed in creating the heavens and the earth (vv. 4-9).

Look at Psalms 136:4: "Give thanks to Him who alone does great wonders, for His love endures forever." Last week, during our Wednesday prayer meeting, we meditated on Psalm 135 and learned that a second reason we should praise God is because of the natural grace He gives (vv. 6-7). The great God who created the heavens and the earth (v. 5) is the one who moves everything in nature. He moves all things according to His will (v. 6), and He continues to govern both great and small events in nature. Moreover, He moves nature to allow His chosen, precious people to live on this earth. Therefore, we should give thanks to God because of His natural grace. In today's passage, Psalms 136:4-9, the psalmist says we should give thanks to God for the great wonders He performed in creating the heavens and the earth. The psalmist begins by saying that we should thank God for being the God of gods (vv. 1-3) and then in verse 4, he tells us to thank God for the "great wonders" He alone performed. What are these "great wonders"? From verses 5 to 9, the psalmist describes some of these great wonders: "He made the heavens with wisdom" (v. 5), "He spread the earth upon the waters" (v. 6), "He made the great lights" (v. 7), "He made the sun to rule the day" (v. 8), and "He made the moon and the stars to govern the night" (v. 9). Because of these great wonders, we should thank God. The almighty God who created the heavens and the earth shows His greatness through all the things He has made. Therefore, as we see His greatness and majesty in His creation, we should thank Him. I was reminded of a hymn called "Great is the Lord": "Great is the Lord, and worthy of praise, in the city of our God, on His holy mountain; beautiful and majestic, the joy of all the earth. Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King." The great Lord has accomplished great works, revealing His great glory, and that is why we should thank God.

Third, we should thank God because He has redeemed us (vv. 10-22).

In the passage from Psalm 136:10-22, the psalmist records how God rescued the Israelites from Egypt during the Exodus, performing great wonders in the wilderness (v. 4) and ultimately leading them to the Promised Land, Canaan, giving it to them as an inheritance. He recalls how God struck the firstborn of Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm (v. 12) (v. 10), and brought the Israelites out of Egypt (v. 11). He also recalls how God parted the Red Sea (v. 13), allowing the Israelites to pass through it as if it were dry land (v. 14), and how Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the sea (v. 15). After leading them through the wilderness (v. 16), God defeated great kings (v. 17) and famous kings (v. 18), killed King Og of Bashan (v. 20), and eventually gave the Promised Land of Canaan as an inheritance to the Israelites (vv. 21-22). The psalmist calls us to give thanks to God for these great deeds, which demonstrate the special grace He has shown to His chosen people, whom He has set apart as His treasured possession (Psalm 135:4). In other words, the reason we should praise and thank God is because of His saving grace. As those who have received God's special grace, we should continually thank and praise Him. God, who loved us and chose us, rescued us from the kingdom of Satan, like Egypt, and now He guides us through this world, which is like a wilderness. God, who has given us an eternal inheritance and eternal life, deserves our thankfulness for His grace of salvation.

Finally, the fourth reason we should thank God is for His providence (vv. 23-26).

God, in His providence, protects, guides, and provides for His chosen people, working in their lives to reveal His glory. In verse 23 of today's passage, we see that God's providence allowed His people to be placed in a "lowly place." This "lowly place" refers to the exile in Babylon. Why did God allow His people to be in such a lowly place? The reason was because of their sin. After Israel sinned and did not repent, God allowed them to experience the consequences of their sin by being placed in a lowly position. As a result, the Israelites came to recognize their sin and repented. What did God do when they repented? God rescued them from their enemies (v. 24). After using Babylon to discipline His beloved children for their sin, God eventually struck down Babylon and rescued Israel from their hands, allowing them to return to the land of Judah (v. 24). Afterward, God provided food for them (v. 25). We should thank God for providing us with our daily bread. We should be grateful for His kindness in supplying us with food. We should thank "the God of heaven" because His mercy endures forever (v. 26).

To gauge the maturity of someone's faith, we can observe how often their lips give thanks to God. Saints who, having experienced God's grace and love, simply thank Him, are truly mature in their faith. But no matter how much of a position someone holds in the church, if complaints and grievances come out of their mouth, they are spiritually immature. Let us all give thanks to God. The reason is that He is God. We should also thank God for the great works He has done, such as the creation of the heavens and the earth and His grace of salvation. Furthermore, we should thank God for His providence. Let us thank God, who, though He allowed us to be in a lowly state, has rescued us and provided us with daily bread.

For all these reasons, we cannot help but give thanks to God,

Pastor James Kim
(Believing in God's providence)