For His mercy endures forever

Psalms 136 uses this constant refrain: “For His mercy endures forever.” The passage is a set of reasons that God’s mercy lasts forever followed by that refrain. God is praised for creating the world, for creating the stars in the heavens, and for simply being the King of Kings. It is good and right that we should praise the Lord for these things for all things come to us by his hand.

But then we get to some things that aren’t going to set so well in the minds of modern people. 10To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, For His mercy endures forever; and 17To Him who struck down great kings, For His mercy endures forever; 18And slew famous kings, For His mercy endures forever—(NKJV). God has a special people that he watches over, and he brought terrible judgment onto Egypt when they tried to stop Israel from leaving. This is the same God that watches his Church today. He is long suffering and patient with people, but he will judge. Deuteronomy 32:35 “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.” Christians can praise God even for this: when he brings down tyrants and strikes down wicked kings. The God of the Bible is not a like modern people would want him to be. He is a God of both justice and mercy; his is both holy and patient. Of course, this may be too much for those who preach a “gospel of tolerance.”