He is the Lord … MY God! And he is faithful! Always has been … and always will be! Listen now to what the psalmist wrote about God’s faithfulness to us, probably done in worship as a responsive reading. Just listen today…
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever.4 Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever.
5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His faithful love endures forever.
6 Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. His faithful love endures forever.
7 Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights— His faithful love endures forever.
8 the sun to rule the day, His faithful love endures forever.
9 and the moon and stars to rule the night. His faithful love endures forever.10 Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt. His faithful love endures forever.
11 He brought Israel out of Egypt. His faithful love endures forever.
12 He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm. His faithful love endures forever.
13 Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea. His faithful love endures forever.
14 He led Israel safely through, His faithful love endures forever.
15 but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea. His faithful love endures forever.
16 Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness. His faithful love endures forever.
17 Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings. His faithful love endures forever.
18 He killed powerful kings— His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites, His faithful love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan. His faithful love endures forever.
21 God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance— His faithful love endures forever.
22 a special possession to his servant Israel. His faithful love endures forever.
23 He remembered us in our weakness. His faithful love endures forever.
24 He saved us from our enemies. His faithful love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every living thing. His faithful love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever. – Psalm 136 (NLT)
I want to share with you some of what I’ve experienced with the Strutt family in the past several days—those days leading up to Dick Strutt’s death…
It was back in April that Dick got really sick … with cancer and then with other complications. Even as he sat up at UW-Hospital in Madison, I knew that Dick didn’t feel well at all … but his attitude was unbelievable. I knew that his incredible faith in his Lord and Savior were kicking in, just at a time in his life when he needed it most. (They say that you don’t wait until you’re in the trenches to make your bullets. Dick had been working on his faith for most of his life … and he was now ready.) As a matter of fact, as poorly as he was feeling even back in the spring, I think he still had a smile on his face a good majority of the time…
And even more recently, after the doctors told him that there was really nothing more that they could do, down deep Dick’s faith remained steadfast. I was struck by a couple things that Dick told me … fairly recently:
- He commented one day, “Well, I’ve been blessed by a great life. I have no regrets.” NONE! Can you believe that? I’m not sure that I’ve ever met someone who had NO regrets!
- And the other thing he told me was this: “Pastor Rom, I know where I’m going … so I’m just going to look forward to that now.” And then … he smiled… Even now. Even under hospice care. Even when he knew that life as he’d known it was about to end… Dick’s God was faithful … and Dick knew that … without a doubt!
Folks, we have to find out who God is so that we’ll be strong when the winds of sorrow blow our way! Good theology will help do that for us … and Psalm 136 is a good example. It’s a psalm (song) that is sometimes called a ‘Hallelujah Psalm’ … because it contains no complaints, no petitions, and no problems—only praise for a God who has been faithful from the beginning … and is faithful even now!
Just for kicks, let’s try verses 1-3 together. I’ll say the first line; you respond with the second (bold)…
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.His faithful love endures forever.
‘3 reasons given here folks … to praise God: God is GOOD, God is the God of gods, and God is Lord of lords… ‘3 incredible reasons to praise God! And then the psalmist goes on to give us a survey of God’s faithfulness in the verses that follow…
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS … THROUGHOUT HISTORY! First, we see…
- God’s faithfulness in creation (vv. 5-9).
God created the earth and the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars—everything that he willed to be (Gen. 1:14-18)… Folks, I actually love science … and scientists—have a great deal of respect for their work! But, I also know this: If you leave God out of the equation, you’ve missed a fundamental truth about the universe! In order to understand our universe and our origins, we must begin with God’s understanding of these things as he’s revealed to us in his word!
I think that there are at least 3 major questions that we all wrestle with (or have wrestled with):
- Where did I come from?
- Why am I here?
- Where am I going?
Until we answer the first one, I don’t think we can answer the other two at all. And, we need to bring God into the picture to answer that one. Scripture tells me that I was created in God’s image! That’s where I came from. And if that’s the truth, and God is one who loves me enough to send his Son to die for me—that we could have an eternal relationship, then nothing matters more than knowing God deeply, personally, and intimately. Nothing… His love endures forever! Then, we see…
- God’s faithfulness in the Exodus (vv. 10-15).
God rescued his people from hundreds of years of slavery… God has no trouble defeating his enemies; he also has no trouble parting the Red Sea; he only asks that his people acknowledge that he did it … and not them! His love endures forever!
- God’s faithfulness in the Wilderness (v. 16).
Note here that God led his people through the wilderness, not around it! To get to the Promised Land, they had to go through the desert … and so it will be for us! No one said that this life would be easy … and it’s not, but God works in and through it all to see that we finally arrive, because his love endures forever!
- God’s faithfulness in the Conquest (vv. 16-22).
This story (Numbers 21) is a story of the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land and they run into enemies who wouldn’t let them pass where they needed to. God allowed them to soundly defeat their enemies and ‘they took possession of his land’ (Numbers 21:35). This story is an excellent reminder of God’s faithfulness in spite of our repeated failures (and Israel had many)!
Let every child of God take great hope! Your past does not determine your future! You may have failed again and again and again, but there is still mercy for those who put their trust in the Lord; his love endures forever!
- God’s faithfulness in history (vv. 23-25).
Three great truths about God: He remembered us (v. 23) … by sending Jesus to save us. He freed us (v. 24) … from our sin. He feeds us (v. 25) … every single day with his word.
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS: THE CONCLUSION… Concluding thoughts:
- History is not about us; history is about God—the story of God’s faithfulness to God’s people…
- Our faith rests on facts...
- Remember the big picture: His love endures forever.
Folks, God is faithful; his love endures forever! That’s faithfulness … to the utmost!
But, to fully benefit from the faithfulness of God, we must learn to be faithful in return! Everything we talk about, when it comes to God, his Son Jesus, and our Christian faith … is really about relationship—that give and take existence between persons that makes life so special! God is faithful to us; I hope you see that by now. But, since a relationship is two ways (always is), let’s begin to think today about our part—about ways in which we need to be more faithful to God… That’s where we’ll be going next time…
Now, let’s close together responsively. Would you join me?
God is faithful!
His love endures forever! Amen.