Give Thanks to the Good and Supreme Lord (Part 2 of the Psalm 136 Series)

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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.

(Psalm 136:1-3 NIV)

Be grateful

The phrase “give thanks” is repeated three times in this stanza. This is the key for determining what this stanza is all about. It is an exhortation to be grateful. Thanksgiving is a form of praise and worship (Psalm 100:4). It is an acknowledgement that you have received favor from YHWH. One indicator of humanity's universal sinfulness is its failure to give thanks (Romans 1:21). The propensity of men to be ungrateful is highlighted in the account of the healing of ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. All of them were healed but only one returned to give glory to God.

Ungratefulness is not only shown by the failure of our lips to utter words of thanksgiving but also in how we act. One may say “thank you” a thousand times but surely remains ungrateful if he returns evil for good (Proverbs 17:13). Men do this all the time. They enjoy all the good things from the Creator: food, sunshine, oxygen, and life itself but they often live in a way that offends the favor-giver.

Since the propensity to be ungrateful is deeply ingrained in human nature, even believers must be urged and called upon to give thanks. It should be the natural response of someone who receive the saving graces of God and other divine favors. But our weakness constantly demands that we should be reminded often and called upon often to be grateful, via our lips and our living. A past pastor of Moody Church remarked, “Praise is the spontaneous outcome of a grateful heart that has experienced the saving grace of God and recognizes His providential dealings and Fatherly care day by day. It is strange indeed that we should need to be urged to praise. But we are so prone to be forgetful of the source of our mercies..." (Harry Ironside, Continual Burnt Offering)

For YHWH is Good

Why should we be grateful? Because the God we worship is good (see verse 1). He doesn't just do good things; he is by nature good. Men can do good things but shall remain contaminated by sin in this present age. Only God is purely good. This distinction could be seen in Luke 11:11-13. In the context of urging the listeners to persevere in prayer, Jesus' point was this: even men, whose hearts are contaminated by sin and are evil in nature will not give things that will harm their children but only what is beneficial, how much more God who is pure goodness in his nature. Since the Father is good, he will give good things to his children (James 1:17). And when he works, he works not for harm but for the welfare of the faithful (Genesis 50:20).

This goodness is even magnified when we think about how it is combined with the Hebrew word “hesed”. Because of modern scholarship, the word is mostly translated now as a combination of “love and loyalty” (faithful love, loyal love, steadfast love). We have tackled that in part one of this series. Yet the old translations are not entirely wrong. They captured some important aspects and nuances of the word. Think about “lovingkindness”-- Coverdale's coined word which is a combination of “love” and “kindness”. Surely God is good and loving and kind! Covenant loyalty was definitely in the relationship of Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 1:8-9), but the concept of kindness is also present (Ruth 2:11-12 and 3:10, ESV). Covenant loyalty was definitely present between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:1-17-- attention on 8, 14, 15), but love was there first and it was the basis of covenant. When Jonathan died and David became king, he showed kindness to Mephibosheth (Jonathan's son) (See 2 Samuel 9:1-13). Love + Kindness = Lovingkindness! Coverdale's coined word is still relevant.

Though we see goodness, love, and kindness in the lives of Naomi, Ruth, Jonathan and David, we also know that they were all mortal sinners like us. Following Jesus' logic I conclude, if the virtues of goodness, love, and kindness could proceed from mortal sinners, then to an infinitely greater degree we have this assurance that God will be good, loving, and kind to his people.

God of gods; Lord of lords

Okay, God is good. But what comfort shall you derive from a good God who is powerless? Surely there is no comfort in a god who says "I love you my son, and I desire good things for you. Unfortunately, I do not have the power to help you." or "There are greater powers and forces outside of me that prevents me from doing good things to you"?

In verses 2 & 3 we read that Israel's God is “God of gods” and “Lord of lords”. God is supreme over all other powers and forces in heaven, on the earth, in the seas and everywhere else. The grammatical construction here is superlative similar to the holy of holies in Exodus 26:33-34 and servant of servants in Genesis 9:25. No so-called god and no so-called lord among their polytheistic neighbors is above Israel's YHWH. The God to whom the thanksgiving is addressed is the Supreme God and the Supreme Lord. He is greater than them all, in fact other gods don't even exist (1 Corinthians 8:4-6). They are powerless and worthless (Psalm 135:15-18). In contrast the Lord of lords is sovereign (Psalm 135:5-6). This good God is able to fight for your good because he is above all entities that may threaten to harm you.

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