B, Harvest Thanksgiving (Easter 6) - Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26 "Stop-Think-Thank"
Text: Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: his love endures forever.
4 To him who alone does great wonders, his love endures forever.
5 Who by his understanding made the heavens, his love endures forever.
6 Who spread out the earth upon the waters, his love endures forever.
7 Who made the great lights —his love endures forever.
8 The sun to govern the day, his love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night; his love endures forever…
23 …to the One who remembered us in our low estate his love endures forever.
24 And freed us from our enemies, his love endures forever.
25 And who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.
Sermon
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In fact the Psalm before us today is a “Think—Thank” Psalm. The repetitive words of Psalm 136 force us to stop and think, and hopefully join in the chorus of all creation in hearing who God is and thanking him for what he has done, and what he continues to do.
Give thanks to the Lord…for his love endures forever! The words to ‘give thanks’ mean, to throw open your hands in acknowledgement of someone’s presence and providence. Here in this Psalm we are called to stop, think, and hold out our hands in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, to our Father who freely gives from the depths of his love and mercy. And having stopped to think and thank him, we are called to trust God with continued confidence, holding out our hands in need to him who will always be there for us.
God is located at the beginning of this Psalm with three different names so there is no uncertainty of whom we are called to think and to whom we are encouraged to thank.
Firstly there is Yahweh (yar-way) or Jehovah, the great I am, who was, who is, and who will be forever. He is the God of creation who alone has done great wonders, and in his knowledge has created and sustains all things, so that the sun rises and sets each day together with the moon, and all the forces of chaos are kept from engulfing us.
Then God is introduced as Elohiym (el-o-heem), the God of gods. He is the one who has conquered the gods of
And finally God is declared to be Adone (ud-own), the Lord of lords. He is my God and your God. He has revealed himself to us as our loving Heavenly Father, who wants to be with us. He is not far off but rather is near us in our lowliness, with his hands open in faithfulness compassion and generosity.
So we are called to give thanks to our Creator, our Lord, and our God for he is good. But how good is good enough? In this Psalm God himself commands us, through the Psalmist, to “give thanks to God for he is good”. God says to us, “Think! I am God Almighty, I am second to none, there is no other god but me. It is I who loves you and calls you to take stock of what I have done for you, and it is I who calls you to thank me. I AM good enough! I the Lord your God am good enough! I, the God who saved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, am good enough! I, the Lord your God who has given you my name, so you can call or pray ‘my Father in heaven’, am good enough!”
But we might ask why God is good? Because his love endures forever; it has endured and it will continue to endure, from eternity to eternity.
There’s no way any one can forget the theme of this Psalm — the reason why we should stop, think, and thank. Over and over again we hear the command to give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever! This little phrase repeats itself so many times that we do an injustice to it and God, who is good, if we just pass over it without taking a look at it.
His love endures forever. To say it is his love which endures forever, really doesn’t do justice to the full gamut of God’s intentions toward us. In English we struggle to capture the fullness of God’s plan in these words, so we say his “love” endures forever. But the Hebrew word, Kesed (kes-said), captures God’s desire to be with his people in his creation from Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to now, and into eternity. God’s kesed reassures us of the many gracious implications God has for us. God’s enduring eternal action towards us, is dependant on him alone. God’s “kesed” endures forever.
God’s “kesed” is his faithfulness, compassion, grace, kindness, mercy, and ever-loving presence, and it endures from eternity to eternity. He is slow to anger and abounding in a steadfast love, or “kesed”, as he proclaimed in front of Moses as Moses was hidden in the rock (Exodus 33:15 - 34:10). And this “kesed” is made complete and continues forever as we are gathered by the Holy Spirit into Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. God’s enduring mercy, loving kindness, generosity, and protection is the greatest action anyone has ever received or will ever receive.
God’s great action is also the eternal reminder that, though you may give without loving, you cannot love without giving. As someone once put it: God made the sun—it gives. God made the moon and the stars—they give. God made the air—it gives. God made clouds—they give. God made the earth and sea—they give. God made trees—they give. God made flowers—they give. God made chooks—they give. God made cattle—they give. God made the plan—he gives. God made you and me—and we… and we… God made us, do we give? God gives his whole creation to us, but this is only the meagre beginning of his giving! Surely we should give thanks to the Lord, for he is good his love endures forever!
God’s love is eternal, his mercy is eternal, his generosity is eternal; God’s giving is eternal. He comes to us in our lowly state, even when we don’t give. But although we sin and rebel he still comes even though he is Almighty God.
God is concerned with us; just like the astronaut who after returning from space, ignores all the honour and hype from the media and politicians, to turn to Candace, his five-year-old daughter, after she tugs on his sleave to show him the scratch she receives while he was away. Just as the space man turned from the accolades of a proud nation finding his daughter’s wound more important, God turns to us, his sons and daughters, he finds the seemingly ordinary things in our lives at the centre of his importance. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good his love endures forever!
Whatever hurts us, whatever our needs and problems might be, or how low we might become, we can come before our Father, and he who created the universe, he who is the one true God, turns to us and comforts us with the Holy Spirit’s assurance of his presence through Jesus Christ and his enduring eternal love through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. No matter how low we might become, our misery and depression will never fall below the depths of his grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good his love endures forever!
Stop—Think—Thank. God is the one who remembers us in our low estate, he sends the Holy Spirit to bring us to the cross and to him. He frees us from the depression and destruction of the devil, and while we live as his baptised children here in this life, he feeds us and provides for us and all living creatures. And when we die, we will eternally give thanks to God in heaven, living in his enduring love forever. Amen.
Let us give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever, Amen!
