It has been truly said that Scripture is never marked by needless repetition, as we sometimes are. It is a weariness to the flesh, and an insult to the congregation, when a preacher, for lack of matter, keeps on repeating what he has already said.
Now Psalm 136 contains far more repetition than any other portion of God’s holy Word. It consists of 26 verses, each of them ending with the words, “His mercy endures for ever,” coupled with an exhortation, several times repeated, to “give thanks to the Lord.” There will be no need whatever to stimulate the saints in glory to render their thanks, for there will be nothing to hinder the outburst of praise; the notes of which will never die nor diminish throughout the ages of eternity. But it is different here on earth, and we do well to bear in mind the exhortations of this beautiful Psalm, for the repetition that marks it is far from being needless.
The prominent word, mercy, is connected in this Psalm with compassion on the one hand, and needs to be met on the other—Divine compassion meeting human needs. In the New Testament we find Divine mercy extending its favours far beyond human needs; but when the mercy contemplated in the Psalm is rightly understood, it leads to an outflow of thanksgiving.
Why, we may ask, are these comforting words repeated no less than 26 times? There must be a reason, and that an urgent one. The answer is that human beings are so easy-going and complacent in accepting the wonderful mercies of God without being thankful. And further, the history of Israel is mainly in view in this Psalm, and they were a people under the law, and forgetful of the fact that the law only brought condemnation on them, whereas all the good things they enjoyed reached them on the ground of God’s mercy.
We too live our lives day by day as debtors to the mercy of God. An infidel was having dinner with his Christian brother. Annoyed that his brother had first given thanks for the food, he brought his fist down with a blow on the table, exclaiming, “I’m not indebted to your God for the food I eat. I work hard, earn wages, and pay for what I eat.”
His brother replied to the effect that not all the money in the world could purchase a single grain of wheat, unless God had created it, giving it the power to reproduce itself, and then to sustain human life when used as food. He created the sun which ripens the grain, and gave water, as rain, to bring it to maturity. This, and more, showed how hopelessly shallow his unthankful spirit was. Alas! countless multitudes are unthankful. Scripture warns us that one of the signs of the last days is that of men being “unthankful, unholy” (2 Tim. 3:2).
Does Scripture say anything on this subject? Yes, we read of food being “sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:5). In Genesis 9:3, we find how ample food supply was placed at man’s disposal by the word of God. Sad indeed it is, if this sanctification is not completed in Christian households by prayer, as the food so mercifully provided is used.
But let us look at the lessons to be learned from Psalm 136, which was written in Old Testament times and is full of allusions to the history of the children of Israel. There is mention of God’s wisdom in creation, in the heavens and the earth; in making the sun to rule the day, and the moon by night. To Noah was given the assurance, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22). If this promise were not kept, how devastating it would be!
Then the Psalmist recounts God’s amazing mercy to Israel, when they were but slaves in Egypt, delivering them from their misery, and slaying the firstborn of the Egyptians. No gentler blow would have broken the stubborn will of Pharaoh. Defenceless as the children of Israel were in themselves, with a strong hand He brought them out, overthrowing Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea.
Verse 16 summarizes their wilderness journey. We know that Manna descended from heaven, and water from the smitten rock followed them, though these things are not mentioned in this short verse. The Psalmist proceeds to remind them of how God led them into the land of their possession, overthrowing great kings to place them there. He had told Abraham that, when the iniquities of the Amorite nations should come to the full, his descendants should be brought into the land; and the Divine promise was fulfilled.
Was ever a story such as this told in all the history of the world? We need not wonder that Israel was called upon to render thanks to God for such abundant and continuing mercy.
But are we, as Christians, as mindful as we should be of the many and abundant mercies that are bestowed upon us? We fear not. And we must never forget that, great as are the mercies we receive in matters pertaining to this life, we have them yet more abundantly in a spiritual way. When the Apostle besought saints “by the mercies of God,” to present their bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,” he was alluding to the great spiritual benefits that are conferred by the Gospel, when it is received in faith. Whether Jew or Gentile we are blessed on the ground of mercy. We, have been blessed “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
And God has blessed us thus, in the abundance of His mercy, not only that we may be moved to offer gratefully our thanks to Him, but that also we might respond to the exhortation that says, “Ye should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).