The Rhythm of Life

Psalm 136

HJ Heinz changed America, and ultimately the world. In 1898, he completed construction on the world’s first fully electrified factory, allowing him to supply ketchup world-wide, thus solving the taste problem of rotten and outdated meat. Maybe with Heinz-site they could have created refrigeration a few years earlier and avoided the whole issue. I guess Heinz-site is 57/57? What he did while intentionally creating a way to keep his factory running 24 hours, was to unintentionally destroy the natural rhythms of life. Electricity killed the natural rhythm of the day. In the past we worked when it was light out and slept when it was dark. In 1898, that rhythm died for ketchup.

God created this world in rhythm; 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, 12 months in a year. He instituted holidays and seasons to remember things. He created times to laugh, times to sing, times to cry. We read a few moments ago from Ecclesiastes 3 – for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays; all designed to remind us of the One that gave us everything. It’s as if God designed the very rotation of the earth to put humanity in a continual attitude of thankfulness.

God’s Loving Kindness

There is no way to read this psalm and not get caught into the hilariously obvious repetition. We’ve talked in Bible studies many times—repeatedly—about the importance of repeated words/phrases in scripture and how that should point us to the main idea that God is communicating. This passage takes the cake. 26 times in Psalm 136 (that’s once per verse) the phrase “His steadfast love endures forever” is repeated.

Clearly this is an important phrase to understand, so let’s take a moment and dive into that word: steadfast love—in the NIV it’s just “love, in the NASB it translates to “lovingkindness” and the KJV calls it “mercy”. The original Hebrew word is ḥas·dōw – which is best described as undeserved favor. It means kindness from God no matter how we treat Him back. When my daughter was new at her school, she stood up for friends and then got a target on her back, so she responded to the comments to her with compliments back to her rival. It was kindness in the face of meanness. That is ḥas·dōw, not hesed, the “agape” love that is described as unconditional, but could be to a friend or enemy, this is genuine steadfast love that is given regardless of the actions of the other. This is how God treats us, no matter what. This is the beauty of the Gospel, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us anyway (Romans 5:8).

Our Rhythm of Thankfulness

There is this continual, repetitive rhythm of “His steadfast love endures forever”, but that’s not the only rhythm going on here. On a bigger picture scale, this passage breaks down into sections that walk through the journey the Israelites faced: from being rescued from Egypt to their wonderings in the desert, to God’s providence for their every need. We see repetition in the day to day, but also a grouping into larger sections of life. I think Christians tend to forget the necessity of these rhythms. Talk about how people can forget about mourning over death and jump right to celebration. Scripture is clear that there is a time to mourn, even though we know that death does NOT have the victory. It still hurts! The bitter taste of sin still holds its effect in this life. Just like wearing coats in winter, there are seasons of God’s work in our lives that shift and change so that we lean into that rhythm of thankfulness.

Next Steps

But we can’t just lump these verses into sections and see the picture from 80,000 feet. “His steadfast love endures forever” isn’t repeated a few times or at the end of each section, but at the end of each PHRASE. After every moment, every step, God is bringing us back to this attitude of thankfulness and remembrance of His undeserved favor over us; constantly, consistently, with every moment, every day, every breath Why this attitude specifically of thankfulness? Because the psalmist says exactly that: v1-3 specifically say to give thanks to God, then again in v26 it all comes back to thankfulness. The bookend – there at the beginning and then circling back at the end – we are to be thankful in all things and all seasons for His unending mercy to us. We must keep returning to an attitude of thankfulness.

1. Practice rhythms in your quiet times: reading, prayer, listening, journaling, etc. Don’t make it one-faceted or not recurring.
2. Be in the season you are in: some are delightful and others are rough. Don’t fast-forward through them, but seek God in them.
3. Give your thankfulness back to God with service and offerings.

My birthday was Friday; I don’t really like the idea of being older, but I do appreciate how it forces me to remember – where I came from, who I am, and where I am going. For that, I am thankful. I am ooooh so glad to still have this life – so today I am thankful. We can plan for it tomorrow as well; and the next day and the next…for His steadfast love endures forever.