Psalm 136

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
  for his steadfast love endures forever.
² O give thanks to the God of gods,
  for his steadfast love endures forever.
³ O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁴ who alone does great wonders,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁵ who by understanding made the heavens,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁶ who spread out the earth on the waters,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁷ who made the great lights,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁸ the sun to rule over the day,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁹ the moon and stars to rule over the night,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁰ who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹² with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹³ who divided the Red Sea in two,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁴ and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁵ but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁶ who led his people through the wilderness,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
who made water flow from the rock,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁷ who struck down great kings,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁸ and killed famous kings,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁹ Sihon, king of the Amorites,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁰ and Og, king of Bashan,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
²¹ and gave their land as a heritage,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
²² a heritage to his servant Israel,
  for his steadfast love endures forever.

²³ It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁴ and rescued us from our foes,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁵ who gives food to all flesh,
  for his steadfast love endures forever.

²⁶ O give thanks to the God of heaven,
  for his steadfast love endures forever.

There are words that we utilize all the time that are sometimes the hardest to define. The Hebrew word hesed (NRSVue “steadfast love”) is used 245 times in the Hebrew scriptures and 127 times in the Book of Psalms. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 948) But if you ask people who study the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures to define this word you will get a variety of ideas: steadfast love, covenant faithfulness, enduring commitment, or lovingkindness. What no one disagrees with is that hesed is a defining characteristic of God’s relationship with God’s people. It appears twice in Exodus 34: 1-10 when God declares who God will be in what is known as the thirteen attributes of God (frequently repeated or alluded to throughout the scriptures):

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The LORD.” The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:5-8.

But like love, this term is difficult to put limits and boundaries on. Arthur Green, a Jewish scholar defines hesed as “a free-flowing love that knows no bounds.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 948) So perhaps trying to put limits and boundaries around the meaning of hesed is like trying to catch the wind, but it is constantly seen in action throughout the scriptures and particularly the psalms. In this psalm where refrain continually reminds us that “for his steadfast love endures forever” or as Nancy deClaissé-Walford renders the phrase, “because for all time is the LORD’s hesed.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 950) I am a believer that love is as much a verb as it is a noun, and the pattern of this psalm which matches the story of God’s actions with the enduring quality of God’s hesed “makes it clear that hesed is action; the wonders are a performance of hesed.” (Mays, 1994, p. 420)

The structure of Psalm 136 lends itself to being utilized in liturgical use where the leader most likely spoke the first half while the worshippers responded with the repetitive second half of each verse as a refrain. As Nancy deClaissé-Walford notes:

The same refrain occurs in a number of liturgical passages in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chr. 16:34; 2 Chr. 5:13; 7:3; 20:21; Ezra 3:11) and in other psalms (106:1; 107:1; 118: 1-4; 100:5). (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 948)

Most modern readers gloss over the refrain after the initial verses, but as Leslie C. Allen reminds us that this repetition in the congregation becomes, “the regular heartbeat of the congregational refrain.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 951) Creation, exodus, the promised land, the provision of daily bread are all a part of the enduring hesed of the LORD the God of Israel.

Psalm 135 and 136 share common themes and language in expressing the praiseworthiness of the LORD. Psalm 136 only mentions the name of God in verse one, and throughout the rest of the psalm is referred to by titles (God of gods, Lord of lords) or by action. As in the previous psalm, creation and the exodus narrative are linked together. This linkage brings together Israel’s unique origin story where God chooses them with God’s purpose for the entirety of creation. As J. Clinton McCann, Jr. states it,

In other words, the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (that is, from death) and entry into the land (that is life) is still the story of the fulfillment of God’s creational purposes. (NIB IV:1224-1225)

Israel was, through their covenantal faithfulness, to embody a way of living in harmony with God’s will for the world. The ways of Egypt and other kingdoms and empires throughout history that opposed God’s will would find out that this love of God is not sentimental but will resist the powers that work against the enduring hesed of God for the world and God’s people.

The psalm ends with God remembering the people in their low estate, rescuing them from their foes, and giving food to all flesh. That God’s provision of ‘daily bread’ is now linked to God’s incredible acts of hesed in the creation of the cosmos, the rescue from Egypt, and the overcoming of the barriers to reaching the promised land. Yet, the ending of this psalm and the content of Psalm 137 invites us to ponder the people of Israel at their lowest point: the beginning of the Babylonian exile. Even in this godforsaken moment the hesed of God is unending. In their low estate they are still remembered, God can and will rescue them from their foes and provide for them and all creation because the hesed of God endures forever. For that unending hesed they can give thanks to the God of heaven.