Psalms 136:1-26 - Homilies By S. Conway

Does his mercy endure forever?

How many voices there are that seem to deny the blessed declaration which is repeated in every verse of this psalm, and in so many other psalms and Scriptures beside!

I. THE VOICE OF EARTHLY SORROW SEEMS TO DENY IT . "What!" says one, "his mercy endureth for ever? And I, once so happily placed, and to whom all life was bright, and now so utterly poor, a ruined man: how can his mercy endure forever? I cannot believe it." And here is another who has been bitterly bereaved, the light of his home gone out. And another whose heart smarts within him from a sense of cruel wrong which has been inflicted on him, and which has embittered all his life. And another whose existence is one long pain. And another racked with anxiety. Oh, how many such there are to whom the talk of God's mercy seems as an impossible and an idle thought!

II. AND THE VOICE OF THE POPULAR THEOLOGY HAS PRACTICALLY DENIED IT . For it represents God as a moral Governor who has attached a tremendous penalty to sin—a penalty at the very thought of which the heart shudders, and who would inflict this on mankind generally, for that all have sinned, only that mercy interposes, and by the sacrifice of Christ opens a way of escape for all who will believe. Now, in this representation there is very much that is scriptural and true, but it errs in representing the foundation of the Divine character as that of the magistrate rather than of the father. As if his great purpose were to maintain a law rather than to train and to teach, to restore and to redeem. And hence they limit this salvation to the baptized, or to the elect, or to those who dwell in Christian lands. And they limit it likewise to the present life. Thus, practically, they seem to deny the ever-enduring character of God's mercy.

III. AND THERE IS MUCH IN SCRIPTURE THAT SEEMS TO SUPPORT THIS DENIAL . Certainly there are no direct statements that teach that outside the limits of faith in Christ, and of the present life, there is yet salvation, and there are many which seem to distinctly say there is not.

IV. AND THERE ARE AWFUL FACTS IN LIFE WHICH POINT IN THE SAME DIRECTION . Men, many of them, do, so far as we can see, die in their sins, having no part nor lot in the kingdom of God.

V. BUT , IN SPITE OF ALL THIS , GOD 'S MERCY ENDURETH FOREVER .

1. It must be so because of his declared character . God is love. He is our Father. His mercy is not an attribute external to himself, something that he has assumed; but it is what he is in his own inherent nature. Therefore so long as God exists, his mercy must exist likewise, that is, must endure forever.

2. Because of his declared purpose . He has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth. He will have all men to be saved. He gave his only begotten Son to die for us all, and to him every knee shall bow. "The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil." Can his purpose, then, be forever thwarted?

3. The manifest design of all his dealings with us . His perpetual goodness. The afflictions and sorrows he sends, they are for good, not ill; for healing, not harm. And the punishments he inflicts, they are not in vengeance, but to subdue the perverse will Love is at the heart of things, the ultimate reason of them all.

4. What he has already done . The most stubborn wills he has subdued, and does subdue day by day. The resources of his mercy are not exhausted or exhaustible.—S.C.

Psalms 136:1-26 (every verse)

The Church's antiphon.

There can be no doubt that this psalm was sung antiphonally in the Jewish temple, some of the priests reciting or chanting the first portion of each verse, and then the whole congregation responding, "For his mercy endureth forever." But this oft-repeated declaration belongs not to the Jewish Church alone, but to the whole Church of God throughout all the ages and in all the world. "One February night, A.D. 358, the great church at Alexandria was bright with lights far into the night, and still the congregation did not disperse. The Bishop Athanasius was there, and the service was to be prolonged till morning; for next day the Holy Communion was to be celebrated, and it was the frequent custom among the early Christians to spend the preceding night in prayer and singing hymns. All knew that further troubles were hanging over their beloved bishop, and that the time of his presence with them would probably be very short. Suddenly a clashing noise broke the stillness. The church was surrounded by armed men. With calm presence of mind, Athanasius rose and gave out the hundred and thirty-sixth psalm, which has to every verse the response, For his mercy endureth for ever. The whole congregation joined in thundering forth those grand words, when the door was burst open, and the imperial envoy, at the head of a body of soldiers, walked up the aisle. For a moment the soldiers drew back in awe at the solemn sound of the chanting, but again they pressed on, and a shower of arrows flew through the church. Swords flashed, arms rattled, and rough shouts interrupted the music. Athanasius retained his seat till the congregation had dispersed, then he too disappeared in the darkness, and no one knew where he was gone. He found a refuge among his old friends the hermits of Egypt" (quoted from Perowne). The blessed truth it declares is—

I. THE EXPLANATION OF ALL THAT GOD IS AND DOES . After each recital of what God is or of what he has done, it is added, as if by way of explanation, "For his mercy," etc. And it is declared, not in connection alone with statements as to the holiness, the greatness, the majesty, and the love of God, not alone in connection with his acts of creation and of beneficence, but with those of judgment and awful punishment as well All are included. And they all must have some explanation. The psalm gives this, "For his mercy," etc. Can any one find a better, or one that so meets the manifold aspects of the problem of human life? Even his judgments, his "strange work," have mercy at the heart of them, as a little reflection will perceive.

II. THE CLAMANT NEED OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF GOD . For who is there of woman born that does not need mercy, that can say he has no sin, that God has nothing to accuse him of? Where, but for God's mercy, should any of us have been? And not only do we need mercy, but enduring mercy. We can give God no guarantee that if he forgive us we shall need his forgiveness never more. Alas! it is our daily need. Even as we are taught to ask day by day for daily bread, so also are we to pray daily, "And forgive us our sins."

III. THE INSPIRATION OF ALL THE SERVANTS OF GOD . "The love of Christ constraineth us," said St. Paul; and as it was with him so is it with all God's servants. It is not the lack of fear, the goading of conscience, the command of duty, that impel the servant of God, but the inspiration of the love this antiphon declares.

IV. THE GLAD CONFESSION OF ALL THE REDEEMED OF GOD . They confess it here on earth; in heaven, "Worthy is the Lamb," which is but another form of this same blessed truth, is the perpetual theme of the ransomed there.

V. THE ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ALL WHO DESIRE TO RETURN TO GOD . See the prodigal. it was the memory of his father's house that determined him on returning home. He felt sure that his father's love would not fail him. And so still, it is the proclamation and the belief of the mercy that endureth forever which emboldens the contrite heart to cast itself upon God ( Psalms 51:17 ).

VI. THAT WHICH THE BELIEVER KEEPS TELLING OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNWEARIEDLY . See in this psalm how perpetually it is repeated, and this is but an example of what the heart of God's redeemed people ever delights in. What are the favorite hymns, the most blessed portions of Scripture, but those which tell most clearly and fully of the mercy that endureth for ever? And when we come to die, there is nothing else that so soothes and strengthens the departing soul as this same truth as it is seen in Jesus Christ our Lord.—S.C.