His Love Will Never End

Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” There is a command, a reason, and a promise.

The command is simple: “give thanks to the Lord.” Giving thanks to the Lord does not mean we enjoy this life and merely give God credit, like a tip on the table for good service. It means far more. The Hebrew words for “give thanks” means “confess” or “acknowledge.” Commentator Derek Kidner says this calls for “thoughtful, grateful worship[1]”. Giving thanks to God is like giving glory to God, treating him with the weight he is due. Our lives are what they are not by chance of luck but specifically because of him. Giving thanks to him in the biblical sense is giving thanks to God for the whole of our life—the good and the bad, because, in his wisdom, he is working all things for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). In this sense, giving thanks to God is more than receiving this life as from him and going about our merry way; it is loving him through confession that our life is what it is by his gracious and glorious plan.

Then there is the reason we are to thank the Lord: “for he is good.” The Hebrew word for “good” means “pleasant” or “joyful.” There is a beautiful and beneficial nature to his goodness that fills our lives with pleasantness and joy in all circumstances. Even if our lives were void of all goodness, God would not be. He is good in and of himself. The Bible says God is love (1 John 4:7), and he is holy (Lev. 11:44), and he is just (Deut. 32:4), and he is righteous (Ps. 11:7). Love, holiness, justice, and righteousness are not parts of God, as if they are things he does. He is those things. God does not just do good; he is good. If we think of goodness as pleasant and joyful, then because God is good, we should think of God as pleasant and joyful—not sometimes, but all the time. Goodness is not something he does sometimes; it is part of his very nature. So, how could we not give thanks to him? Our God is the very definition of good.

Finally, there is the promise: “for his steadfast love endures forever.” The Hebrew word for “steadfast love” is hesed, which points us to the covenant love with which God loves us. God has bound himself to us to care for us and stay faithful to us. This plays itself out in what we see and experience all around us. Psalm 136 goes into detail about how God’s hesed love surrounds us. He created the universe because of it; he daily upholds everything because of it; he redeems us because of it; and so on. The idea here is that God’s love has no end. It doesn’t end when we sin because Jesus is our sacrifice. It doesn’t end when we stray because Jesus is our Good Shepherd who seeks us out. It doesn’t end even when we die because Jesus rose from the grave. God’s steadfast love is more than a witness to past love; it is a promise of future love.

We give thanks to God for all things because he is good and because his love will never end.

This Thanksgiving, based on our understanding of Psalm 136:1, what do you want to give thanks to the Lord for today? Maybe it is something wonderful. Maybe it is something that was hard. Whatever it is, he was in it, he was over it, and he provides meaning to it. So, let’s thank him for it.

[1] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 493–494.