Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. Thank the God of all gods, His love never quits. Thank the Lord of all lords. His love never quits. (Psalm 136:1 MSG)
Do you ever become bored with repetition? I do. For instance, when I’ve read Psalm 136, I tend to read only the first parts of each verse of this call-and-response psalm, skipping over the refrain of “His love endures forever.”
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-3, NIV)
This psalm goes on for 26 verses in the same way: a statement followed by “His love endures forever.”
In my mind I think, “Yes, I know his love endures forever. Blah, blah blah.”
But what if skipping over the repeated part means we’ve missed the thing that we most need to hear? What if repetition like this strengthens us for the challenges we face in life?
Yvon Attia wrote:
“Psalm 136 is not written like a private meditation. It is built like a worship liturgy—often used in call-and-response—because God knows what happens to His people under pressure. We forget. We forget what He has done. We forget who He is. We forget His track record when the strain increases and the unknown stretches out in front of us.
“So, Psalm 136 walks through the story of God: creation, deliverance, provision, rescue. And after every line, it drives the same truth into the soul: “His loyal love endures” (NET). That repetition is not empty. It is a holy reinforcement. It is God training His people to interpret their lives through covenant love so that no matter what they face, they will not lose the plot. In other words, Psalm 136 becomes a spiritual framework:
• When the world feels unstable, His loyal love endures forever.
• When answers take time, His loyal love endures forever.
• When warfare intensifies, His loyal love endures forever.
• When provision is needed, His loyal love endures forever.
• When rescue is required, His loyal love endures forever.”*
Strengthening God,
Thank you for the beauty and intentionality of your Word. Thank you for ways in which you reinforce the reality that your loyal love endures forever, and your faithfulness is to all generations. When our world feels unstable, remind us that your loyal love endures forever. When answers take time, help us to focus on the truth that your loyal love endures forever – even in waiting. When warfare intensifies, show us that your loyal love endures forever through conflict, strife, and pain When provision is needed or rescue is required, help us to trust that your loyal love endures forever. Thank you for these reminders; help them to be deeply rooted within us. In Jesus’s name we pray, AMEN.
*https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=33549#word-truncate