God’s Loyal Love
Psalms 136
August 21, 2022
Tonight we run across a famous Psalm that continually refers to
The “lovingkindness” of God.
We have discussed this word various times as we’ve studied it,
But in case you have forgotten,
Let me give you a reminder of exactly what the word means.
In Hebrew it is the word:
“HESED” (pronounced “CHESED” – like you’re clearing your throat)
And it is kind of tough word to define.
It is actually one of those words that can sort of get lost in translation.
By that I mean, there is no English word that sufficiently explains it.
The word is used over 250 times and it is translated in a variety of ways.
• About 60% of the time it is translated “mercy”
• Sometimes translated “lovingkindness”
• Sometimes translated “kindness”
• Sometimes translated “goodness”
• Sometimes translated “steadfast love”
But obviously it is a word that
Is seeking to define a very important attribute of God.
The first time we see it is when God spares Lot from Sodom.
Remember, Lot was hesitant to leave and so
The angels physically removed Lot from the city for his own protection.
Lot responded by saying:
Genesis 19:19 “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness [HESED], which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;”
Lot obviously saw a favorable attribute from God
That caused God to act on his behalf, even when he himself was sluggish.
Lot referred to that attribute as HESED
We see it again in Genesis 20 as that which Sarah did for Abraham.
Genesis 20:13 “and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness [HESED] which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”‘”
So it was HESED that Sarah showed by putting herself in danger
To protect Abraham’s life.
We studied it first in Genesis 24 when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac and that servant depended on the HESED of God toward Abraham.
Genesis 24:12 “He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness [HESED] to my master Abraham.”
And when God brought Rebekah into the picture the servant realized just how much HESED that God had shown on Abraham’s behalf.
Genesis 24:27 “He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness [HESED] and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”
It is a word used by Rahab the harlot as she bargained with the spies.
Joshua 2:12-14 “Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly [HESED] with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly [HESED] and faithfully with you.”
There Rahab offered HESED and wanted HESED in return.
Translated there as “kindly”
And just by examining some context,
You are seeing that receiving HESED is a good thing.
Now HESED is actually a word that God uses to describe Himself.
Exodus 34:6-7 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness [HESED] and truth; who keeps lovingkindness [HESED] for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
God actually ABOUNDS in HESED, meaning He has a lot of it.
It is extended to His covenant people and results in their forgiveness
And whatever specifically God’s HESED is, it will NEVER GO AWAY.
Lamentations 3:22 “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses [HESED] indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.”
God’s HESED then is one of the attributes
That motivates our worship of Him.
So already you are seeing the variety of uses for the word.
• For Lot it was a type of mercy that delivered him from Sodom
• For Sarah it was a type of self-sacrifice that protected Abraham
• For Abraham’s servant is was God’s commitment to work for Abraham
• For Rahab it was an undeserved kindness that went beyond expectation
• And it is also the word used of God’s faithfulness to unfaithful people
AS WE PONDER IT IN OUR LIVES
• It is a word that describes God’s propensity to come to our rescue.
• It is a word that describes God’s willingness to sacrifice self on our behalf.
• It is a word that describes God’s mercy to save undeserving people.
You can call it “mercy”
You can call it “love”
You can call it “kindness”
But none of those words seems to fully do the trick of whatever this word means.
As we have said before, I would submit a different word for HESED
You may have figured out, but I’m going to call it “Loyalty”
And specifically – “God’s loyalty to His people”
RC Sproul calls it “God’s Loyal Covenantal Love”
• God was loyal to Lot and so He rescued him…
• Sarah was loyal to Abraham and so she put herself in harm’s way for him…
• God was loyal to Abraham so He provided a wife for Isaac…
• Rahab was loyal to the spies to protect them and expected loyalty in return…
• God is loyal to His people, even when they are not loyal to Him…
And it is so important for you to understand that God is loyal to you.
The passage in the New Testament
That probably best illustrates God’s HESED to us is:
Romans 8:28-31 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
In short, God is for you.
• God is loyal to you.
• He will not forsake you.
• He has set His love and kindness and mercy on you and that will never
change.
Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul knew God was loyal.
God would not quit on you.
And we take a moment to discuss that word TONIGHT
Because here we see perhaps
The most famous chapter in the Bible regarding God’s loyalty.
Psalms 136 uses the word 26 times.
It is a song about the loyalty of God.
It is a song about the covenantal love of God.
It is a song that forces the congregation to see God’s loyal love
Behind everything God does.
Everything from creation to redemption to providence.
It is all an expression of God’s loyal love which never ends.
And so that is the purpose of our study this evening.
It is for you to see that everything God does
Is an expression of His loyal love for His people.
And what a blessing for us to begin to
See God’s Works through such a brilliant light.
We start our look simply by examining the obvious point of this Psalm which is found in verses 1-3
(1-3) “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Let’s start with the simple imperative “Give thanks”
It is (YA-DA) in the Hebrew and it is far more than just to say “Thank you”.
It is a word that has “a hands on” concept.
• It can speak of holding out your hands, or even extending them in worship.
• It can speak of throwing or casting something.
• It can speak of one wringing their hands.
• It can speak of shooting or pointing with the hands.
We might picture it in a game of charades
Where one is using their hands to get you
To acknowledge something or say a certain thing.
And so the idea is more than just saying thank you.
It has more to do with acknowledgment or confession.
It is a word that wants you to contemplate and acknowledge and confess.
What does the Psalmist want you to confess or acknowledge?
• “the LORD…is good”
• That God is “the God of gods”
• That He is “the Lord of lords”
What does that all mean?
It means there is no one like Him.
We have talked about this word “good” enough
That by now you ought to know that it applies to God and God alone.
Matthew 19:17 “And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good…”
Only God is complete.
Only God is perfect.
And He is the highest and best.
The Psalmist describes Him as “the God of gods” & “the Lord of lords”.
It’s as though the title “God” and “Lord” seemed to small.
Namely because others usurp those titles as well.
But in comparison there is none like our God.
There is none like our Lord.
There is none good like Him.
And to that declaration we have to ask: WHY?
• Why do you say He is good?
• Why do you say there is none like Him?
And it is that statement that is repeated throughout the song.
“For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Literally it is: “His HECED has no end”
There is no end to His loyal love.
• There is no end in SUFFICIENCY; that is to say it is never lacking.
• There is no end in DURATION; that is to say it never stops.
God’s loyal love for His elect never fails to be enough
And it never stops working on their behalf.
We think about statements regarding Jesus.
John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
The love of Christ is seen as the greatest of love.
• It is seen as a love that goes to the max.
• It is seen as a love that never stops, even into death.
And it is a love for:
“His own” – “His friends” – “His sheep”
This is NOT the sort of common love of God which the world knows.
• That love of beneficence – “good will”
• That love of benevolence – “providential care”
This is the love reserved only for the elect.
This is the love reserved for those whom He has redeemed.
The point of the Psalm is to get us to acknowledge this great love.
The point of the Psalm is to get us to confess this great love.
And in that confession to declare that God is good
And that there is none like Him.
So the point of the song is to put the great HESED of God on display.
The Psalmist wants you to see how greatly God has loved you.
And here perhaps in ways that you have not contemplated.
There are 4 areas here where the Psalmist wants you to acknowledge and confess and give thanks for God’s loyal love to you.
#1 CREATION IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:4-9
We spot here the marvelous truths of God as the Creator of all things.
“To Him who alone does great wonders”
Like what?
“To Him who made the heavens with skill”
God created the heavens and He created them with skill.
• They endure.
• They run on a perfect schedule.
• Men can navigate by the stars.
“To Him who spread out the heart above the waters”
And we look at the earth which God made.
• We think of the majestic mountains
• We think of the roaring sea
• We think of the towering sequoias
• We think of the mysterious volcano
• We think of the glorious rivers and valleys
“To Him who made the great lights…the sun to rule by day…the moon and stars to rule by night.”
• And certainly we think for a moment of the majesty of the sun and the glory of the moon and the beauty of the stars.
And without a doubt the simple pondering of those things
Causes us to say that our God does what no other god can do.
What other god has ever created anything?
Our God made it all.
Now, typically when we think of creation
We do so with sort of a singular TUNNEL VISION.
Typically when we think of creation
We almost always solely attach it to the glory of God.
We “see the stars, we hear the rolling thunder, His power throughout the universe displayed…then sings my soul…How great Thou art!”
And of course this is NOT wrong or misapplied in the least.
Psalms 8:3 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;”
Psalms 19:1 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
Isaiah 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?”
Even Paul tells us in Romans 1:20
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
Paul said that creation shows us God’s “invisible attributes”
And “eternal power” and “divine nature”
So we see that creation reveals the majesty and glory of God.
But that is NOT what the Psalmist points out here.
He says it and he says it over and over.
That creation proves:
“His lovingkindness is everlasting”
The Psalmist says that creation proves that
God’s loyal covenantal love for His own has no end.
Psalms 33:5 “He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.”
There he says that “the earth is full” of God’s loyal love.
And the question we have is:
HOW DOES CREATION TEACH US OF GOD’S LOVE FOR HIS OWN?
Consider this Psalm for a moment.
Psalms 147:15-20 “He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; Who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Praise the LORD!”
We see all these realities about God’s sovereign rule over creation.
Things like:
• “He gives now like wool”
• “He scatters the frost like ashes”
• “He casts for the ice as fragments”
• “He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow”
And you might say, “Yes, but everyone enjoys that.”
I mean, “He sends His rain on the just and the unjust”
We know God does those things, but all men enjoy those things.
Except notice the difference of what God has done for His own
That He has not done for the whole world.
“He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.”
What is the point?
While it is true that all men enjoy the beauty and glory of creation,
Only His chosen are given the capacity to know God through them.
TURN TO: PSALM 19
• Psalms 19 reminds us of the revelation of God.
• (Verses 1-6) show us GENERAL REVELATION
God’s creation is a form of general revelation.
Men see it and experience it and enjoy it.
The problem with unredeemed men is that they do not benefit from it.
• They see the mountains and they learn nothing.
• They see the ocean and they learn nothing.
• They stand at the foot of a giant sequoia…
• They stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon…
• They walk the path at Victoria Falls…
And all they see are colors and the mysteries of nature.
They learn nothing of the Creator.
God HAS ALLOWED them to enjoy creation,
But He has NOT ALLOWED them to know Him through creation.
THAT, GOD DID FOR YOU.
In that sense creation is actually for you and you alone.
It is true that the rest of the world lives in it,
But God has only truly given it to those who know Him through it.
DO YOU WANT AN EXAMPLE?
TURN TO: PSALMS 8
Men throughout history have witnessed the same things David saw there.
• They saw the stars…
• They saw the moon…
• They saw sheep and oxen and beasts and birds and fish…
BUT WHAT DID THEY NOT SEE?
GRACE
David saw grace!
“What is man that You take though of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”
• David saw man ruling creation.
• David saw man created in God’s image.
• David saw man in a privileged position.
David saw in creation what an unredeemed world could not see.
In that moment David must have felt like
The whole of creation was for him alone.
TURN TO: PSALMS 104
The first 30 verses of this Psalm are all about the GENERAL REALITIES OF GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL CARE over creation.
He created it, and He sustains it.
(READ 10-30)
• You see God’s general providence over all creation.
• It is echoed by Jesus when He speaks about God feeding the birds and clothing the fields and knowing when a sparrow falls.
So what is so special about creation for us?
(READ 31-35)
THIS PSALM ENDS WITH A STATEMENT OF JUDGMENT.
The Psalm ends with sinners being eradicated off of God’s earth.
It ends with tares being ripped up, thrown in a pile, and burned.
Why?
• Because all of these things used the earth
• And lived on the earth
• But never recognized “the glory of the LORD” on the earth.
They rebelled against Him, they offended Him, and they will be judged.
They missed the point of creation.
And you might be tempted to sit here and wonder:
“How could they not see God’s glory in creation?”
But that’s the wrong question.
The correct question is: “Why were you able to see it?”
The answer: HESED
God revealed Himself to you through creation.
He opened your eyes to see what the unredeemed world does not see.
Every time you are able to see the majesty of God in creation
It is a testimony to the love which God has shown you.
Let me give you one more.
Romans 8:22-23 “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”
Notice the “we know” there.
Not everyone knows this, but we do.
What do we know?
• That creation is suffering the pains of childbirth.
• Creation is desperately seeking to renew and recreate.
• Every spring creation fights to come to life and yet every fall it descends again
into death.
Why does creation keep trying?
• Why not just give up and say, “It’s no use.”
Because creation remembers.
Creation was here before the sin curse.
And every spring creation strives one more time to return to glory.
It is a testimony to us that one day redemption is coming.
One day it will be made new permanently.
One day the curse will be totally removed.
THE WORLD DOESN’T SEE THAT.
WE SEE THAT.
God’s creation is an ongoing work of love toward His redeemed.
Creation is a work of God’s loyal love
#2 DELIVERANCE IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:10-15
Now this one is not as difficult for us to see.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
We have been trained to see deliverance as work of love on our behalf.
Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.”
We see God’s deliverance and redemption as an act of love pretty easily.
But here is why I really find this portion of the Psalm interesting.
You have to be a Calvinist to understand this Psalm.
The Psalmist here just sang about
An act of judgment performed by God and called it love.
You may be familiar with the popular contemporary Christian song inspired by this Psalm.
“Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King; His love endures forever. For He is good He is above all things, His love endures forever. Sing Praise! Sing Praise! With a mighty hand and outstretched arm, His love endures forever. For the life that’s been reborn, His love endures forever. Sing Praise! Sing Praise!”
And people sing that song boasting about the great love of God.
I wonder why they don’t sing the whole Psalm?
“Give thanks to the Lord who killed the Egyptian firstborn; His love endures forever. Who then drowned Pharaoh and His entire army; His love endures forever. Sing Praise! Sing Praise!”
If you try to make this song about the universal love of God
It falls apart in verse 10.
This song is NOT ABOUT God’s love for all humanity.
It IS ABOUT God’s love for His elect.
AND HERE IS THE FACT!
God crushed the Egyptians to demonstrate His love to Israel.
Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”
Pharaoh was a sinner used by God
To demonstrate glory and love to Israel.
Romans 9:22-24 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”
There God is seen as a God who lets sinners live simply so that
He can use them to show glory to those whom He has chosen.
I know, people everywhere BALK at that and CRY FOUL!
BUT IF YOU DO, you are failing to see God’s great love for you.
• God delivers His people from their enemies.
• God crushes those who afflict His people.
• God will crush the god of this world and all those who afflict His people.
What do you think the Second Coming will be about?
Have you heard the cries of the martyred?
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
And God will one day avenge them!
God’s deliverance is a testimony to His great love for His own.
He does for His own what He does not do for every man.
• Not every man is delivered from sin.
• Not every man is delivered from Satan.
• Not every man is delivered from judgment.
SOME spend their whole life in Egypt under Pharaoh’s thumb
And then they die and go to hell.
It’s a harsh reality, but it is reality none the less.
WHY HAVE WE BEEN DELIVERED?
HESED
Deliverance is a work of God’s loyal love.
#3 THE WILDERNESS IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:16-22
Here we get a reminder of our time in the wilderness.
• You remember Israel there.
• It was a difficult time.
But it was also a time where God’s HESED was displayed.
Deuteronomy 8:2-5 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. “Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.”
Did you catch how God let them get hungry?
• So He could show Himself as their provider.
Did you notice how God made them where the same shoes for 40 years?
• So He could show Himself as their caretaker.
God was showing His faithfulness to never leave them nor forsake them.
He was teaching them His HESED
BUT YOU ALSO REMEMBER THAT
During that wilderness God also continued to deliver His people.
• The Psalmist reminds of what God did to Sihon and Og
• And how God gave Israel their land.
THAT HARDLY SEEMS FAIR.
It’s not like the Israelites were more moral or less idolatrous
Than the Amorites or people of Bashan.
THEY WEREN’T.
But God had set His loyal love on them.
He was showing HESED to them.
He “slew mighty kings”
He “gave their land as a heritage…to Israel His servant”
Clearly God favored Israel over the Amorites.
Clearly God favored Israel over the people of Bashan.
IT WAS HIS LOYAL LOVE.
Why is there joy in your life?
Why is there peace in your life?
Why is there such favor in your life?
Because you’re just better than those sinners out there?
NO!
Because God has poured out His loyal covenantal love on you.
And He does it all the time.
#4 CONSTANT CARE IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:23-25
Regardless of what you go through in life.
• God always remembers you.
• God rescues you from the enemy.
• God provides for you.
• It is daily bread.
• It is daily presence.
• It is daily comfort.
• It is new mercy every morning.
• He never leaves or forsakes.
God is constantly there showing you His loyal love to you.
Just as He did to Abraham, so has He done for you.
DO YOU SEE IT?
Can you recognize it in your life?
Well…
“Give thanks (acknowledge; confess) to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
This is the call.
God’s love has no end for His redeemed.
• He never fails them.
• He never leaves them.
• He never forsakes them.
HE IS LOYAL TO THEM.
HE IS LOYAL TO US.
Follow the point of this Psalm this week
And meditate upon the loyal love of God toward you.
Acknowledge it!
Confess it!
Give Him thanks for it!
