Family, friends, food, fellowship; and, especially this year, prayer! This national day of Thanksgiving has traditionally been whatever individuals determined their observance would be. However, this year, some gatherings are being restructured by government decree. Yet, whatsoever it might be, no one can dictate our Thanksgiving for what the LORD has done in our lives, and perhaps that should be our focus.
The book of Psalms may have individual varying meanings, depending on our circumstances. Many Psalms, especially the latter ones, are focused on giving praise and thanksgiving. One such Psalm, the 136th, identifies itself as a Psalm of giving thanks, with each verse including a refrain, reminding us that the “mercy of the LORD endureth for ever.”
The structure of each verse in this Psalm is given as an imperative command for hearers to observe and includes three distinct, important, and succinct gifts:
- (1) To whom to give thanks and honour:
- (2) For what we are to give thanks;
- (3) the reason we are to give thanks: “for his mercy endureth for ever.”
We first give thanks and honour to the Person.
The first three verses of this Psalm remind the reader that God is manifest in three different ways:
- The LORD (Jehovah),
- the God of gods (Elohiym), and
- the Lord of lords (Adoni).
God’s triune nature is also identified in the New Testament as the Godhead (Not trinity; He is not a mathematical symbol and should NEVER be demeaned as such):
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. Acts 17:29 See also Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9.
Specifically, in First John 5:7, the text identifies the Godhead, as He is expressed or manifest throughout the New Testament: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word [Jesus], and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
The three are One (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost), but each manifest in distinctly different ways. In a parallel structure, the first three verses in Psalm 136 command us: O give thanks unto: the LORD, the God of gods, and the Lord of lords. We give thanks to Him 26 times throughout this Psalm, coming to the understanding that … his mercy endureth for ever.
Verses four through twenty-five additionally focus on His works.
To him who alone doeth great wonders;
To him that by wisdom made the heavens;
To him that stretched out the earth above the waters;
To him that made great lights;
The sun to rule by day;
The moon and stars to rule by night;
To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn;
And brought out Israel from among them;
With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm;
To him which divided the Red sea into parts;
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it;
But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea;
To him which led his people through the wilderness;
To him which smote great kings;
And slew famous kings;
Sihon king of the Amorites;
Og the king of Bashan;
And gave their land for an heritage;
Even an heritage unto Israel his servant;
Who remembered us in our low estate;
And hath redeemed us from our enemies;
Who giveth food to all flesh;
Each and every work of God is done through His hand of mercy; thus, each verse concludes and reminds us with the fact that His mercy endureth for ever as recorded in verse twenty-six:
O give thanks unto the God of heaven:
for his mercy endureth forever.
Thus, the Psalm concludes upon its keynote message: “for his mercy endureth for ever.” May that be the focus both of our daily thoughts and of our hymns of praise unto the Lord!
BEWARE DECEPTION LURKS.
Sadly, many authors of new versions of God’s Word do not translate, from the underlying Hebrew text, what the LORD has preserved. They remove God’s mercy from every verse (26 times in this short chapter) and satisfy their copyright requirements and doctrinal opinions by substituting words that are nowhere in the Hebrew text. See below first the Hebrew text, and below that, four translations from this same text.
… Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:21
The words acknowledging God’s mercy endures forever were recorded by David, Solomon, and Jehoshaphat, each preserving in writing the gift of God’s mercy unto them. David wrote the first named psalm to give thanks to God and is an excellent preamble to study alongside Psalm 136.
Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. 1 Chronicles 16:7 Study the remainder of this chapter; it is an intuitive preamble to Psalm 136.
David: 1 Chronicles 16:41: And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever.
Solomon: 2 Chronicles 7:3: And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Chronicles 7:6: And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
Jehoshaphat: 2 Chronicles 20:21: And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
May you have a very special Thanksgiving celebration as you give thanks to our LORD and Saviour for the breath you breathe, for every Word of God which He has preserved, for loved ones, and for our country to be: one nation under God.
And remember, whether it’s the King James Bible or the United States Constitution, neither is to be re-written by man’s devices.
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