His Steadfast Love Endures forever

[0:00] Well, if we could, for a short while this evening, turn back to that portion of scripture that we read in the book of Psalms, Psalm 136.

[0:13] The book of Psalms, Psalm 136, and we'll just read the first three verses. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

[0:30] Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever.

[0:43] And as we can see from the opening words of this psalm, we are being exhorted to give thanks to the Lord.

[0:55] For the psalmist says, as we can see, three times, give thanks, give thanks, give thanks. And so from the very outset of this psalm, we can see that this psalm is certainly a fitting psalm for our gathering this evening.

[1:11] Because this, of course, is a harvest thanksgiving service. And therefore it's right and proper for us to gather together and to do as the psalmist is urging us to do.

[1:23] To give thanks to the Lord. And so, we are here again tonight for our annual service of thanksgiving. And we could say that it's our annual routine.

[1:37] But is that all this is? Is that all this is? Is that all that this is about? Our annual routine of harvest thanksgiving.

[1:50] And I think it's a question which we ought to ask ourselves as we begin this evening. Am I here tonight out of an annual routine? Or am I here with a genuine heart of gratitude?

[2:06] Am I here out of an annual routine? Or am I here with a genuine heart of gratitude? And it's a probing question.

[2:16] Because that's what we're being challenged with tonight in this psalm. To give thanks to the Lord. But you know, I always remember when I was in school.

[2:28] And for some of you probably looking at me, that probably wasn't a long time ago. But as youngsters, when we gathered in the school canteen, we all had to stop and say the grace as many of you did.

[2:41] And I don't know if they still do that in schools anymore with the way everything's going. But when we stopped to say the grace, we would all say together the words for what we are about to receive.

[2:54] May the Lord make us truly thankful for Jesus' sake. Amen. And as school children, we said those words because we were told to say them. We didn't say them because we wanted to say them.

[3:07] We didn't say them because we had a desire to say them. Or that we even thought about saying them. Instead, we quoted them parrot fashion out of our routine like it was a religious chant.

[3:19] But it wasn't from the heart. For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. May the Lord make us truly thankful.

[3:31] And looking at this psalm, the question which is now raised in my mind is, what does it mean to be truly thankful? What does it mean to be truly thankful?

[3:43] What does it mean to give thanks? What does it mean to say thank you? To say thank you because we can say those two words so easily and so flippantly.

[3:55] Sometimes the words thank you are reduced to a thoughtless habit. And with our own children, it's one of the first phrases or words that you teach your children to say please and to say thank you.

[4:10] And yet when we teach our children to be thankful, they say it grudgingly. Or they say it because they're prompted to do so. What do you say? You say thank you. But I was reading an article the other day about thanksgiving.

[4:24] And the pastor who wrote the article, he said it's not about the thank you. It's not about the thank you because gratitude is our understanding of what we deserve.

[4:37] It's not about the thank you because gratitude is our understanding of what we deserve. And so when thinking about being thankful and showing gratitude like we are this evening, we need to ask the question, what do I deserve?

[4:53] What do I deserve? And our answer to that question will determine our level of gratitude. Because if we feel that we are entitled to things or we are owed something or we deserve something, then we're actually revealing a level of ingratitude and ungratefulness.

[5:12] But true gratitude is not about what we have or what we've done or what we've achieved for ourselves. Because true gratitude, it flows from the position of no expectation.

[5:28] No expectation at all. We expect nothing based upon who we are and what we have done. That we are sinners who sin in a sinful world.

[5:43] Therefore, true gratitude arises from an understanding that we aren't owed anything. We don't deserve anything. We aren't guaranteed anything.

[5:54] And that everything in life is a gracious act of God. Even life itself. True gratitude and being truly thankful comes when we understand that we deserve nothing from God.

[6:11] And yet, despite the fact that we deserve nothing, God is gracious. God is gracious. And when we describe God as gracious, we mean that God gives to us what we don't deserve.

[6:26] God gives to us what we don't deserve. And looking at this psalm, that's what causes the psalmist to sing praise to the Lord in thankfulness. Because he realizes that he doesn't deserve anything from the Lord.

[6:41] And yet, everything he received from the Lord was the Lord's gracious gift to him. A gift that was freely given all because his steadfast love endures forever.

[6:53] And so as we look at this psalm, I'd like us to see that the psalmist praises the Lord with this heart of gratitude and thankfulness. Because of who the Lord is.

[7:06] And what the Lord has done. Not because of who he is and what he has done. But because who the Lord is. And what the Lord has done. And the first thing I'd like us to see is that the psalmist praises the Lord because of his covenant.

[7:20] He praises the Lord because of his covenant. Where he says in verses 1 to 3, Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. For his steadfast love endures forever.

[7:32] Give thanks to the God of gods for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords for his steadfast love endures forever.

[7:45] And when we read Psalm 136, as we did earlier on, I'm sure what immediately strikes us is the repeated phrase, His steadfast love endures forever.

[8:00] And from our knowledge of the book of Psalms, there's no other psalm quite like this one in the whole of the Psalter. Because Psalm 136, it's unique in its presentation.

[8:12] But when reading it, we may be tempted to think that it's a bit repetitious. Or that it's a bit monotonous to be continually repeating the same phrase over and over and over again.

[8:28] His steadfast love endures forever. His steadfast love endures forever. It might seem to us a bit monotonous. But in Jewish tradition, Psalm 136 was referred to as the great Hallel Psalm.

[8:46] Or the great Psalm of praise. And it was known and loved by the people of Israel as this great Hallel Psalm because of this repeated phrase, His steadfast love endures forever.

[9:01] Because when the Psalm was sung, it was this great arousing Psalm of praise, which was sung, I suppose you could say, it was very similar to the way that we would sing Gaelic Psalms.

[9:13] Where the leader or the presenter would sing the first line. And then the congregation would respond with the words, His steadfast love endures forever.

[9:24] And this would go back and forth, back and forth, as the presenter and the congregation would sing this great Hallel Psalm together. where you can imagine it.

[9:37] The presenter says, Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. And the congregation, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.

[9:49] Give thanks to the Lord of Lords, for His steadfast love endures forever. And it would go back and forth, all the way through this Psalm. And what would come through so beautifully as the congregation would sing it together is this repeated phrase, His steadfast love endures forever.

[10:12] And it's this one theme that binds the whole Psalm together. And when we think of it, you can see why it was called the great Hallel Psalm.

[10:25] And that it was such an arousing Psalm of praise to sing to the Lord, because its sole purpose is to remind the Lord's people that everything they are, and everything we have, is all because His steadfast love endures forever.

[10:46] And that's what all of the Lord's people knew. And that's what they rediscovered every time they took this Psalm upon their lips. That they rediscovered His steadfast love endures forever.

[11:00] And what's clear about this when it was originally read by the Jews, is that the last word of every verse in this Psalm, it's the word chesed, steadfast love.

[11:17] A word which we've encountered many times. And it's a word which is found throughout the Bible. And it's translated in various ways, in different translations, whether it's the word love, or steadfast love, or mercy, or covenant love.

[11:33] That's the meaning of the word chesed. And that's what's been expressed here. It's the expression of God's covenant love towards His people.

[11:45] And singing it, every line, you've been reminded of the same thing. This one word, it assured and reassured the Lord's people of His love towards them.

[11:59] Because the word steadfast love, it's a word which, it expresses a marriage. And it's giving us this beautiful picture of a marriage.

[12:10] And there's love. Love that binds it all together. And it's because of that love that there is a desire for commitment and faithfulness.

[12:20] And we know that for ourselves, that when two people enter into a marriage, there's a covenant, a legally binding contract, with promises and vows, where they're standing at the altar, you see, and both parties are presenting their vows, and they're asserting to uphold them.

[12:44] But when it comes to God's covenant with mankind, God knows that we're sinners. He knows that we're sinful. He knows that we're not able to keep our side of the contract.

[12:58] He knows that we will not remain faithful to Him. He knows that we'll let Him down, we'll disappoint Him, we'll be disobedient to Him. And because we will never keep our side of the contract, we don't deserve for God to enter into a covenant with us.

[13:16] We aren't entitled to God's covenant favour and covenant blessing. We have no right or no claim on anything to do with God. And yet, and yet, this is the wonder of wonders.

[13:29] God covenants Himself to us. God covenant, He promises, He binds Himself to His people, and He enters into a covenant with them.

[13:43] Not because we're worthy of it, because we aren't. Not because we deserve it, because we don't. Not because we are better than anyone else in this world, because that's not true.

[13:55] But it's all according to God's gracious act in showing His love towards us. And by entering into a covenant with us, the Lord makes His vow to us.

[14:09] His binding vow. I will be their God. They shall be my people. That's the promise. That's the promise.

[14:20] I will be their God. They shall be my people. And this is why the psalmist emphasizes over and over and over again, it's all because His steadfast love endures forever.

[14:36] The covenant love which the Lord has shown to His people, it's an unqualified love. Because the Lord is completely committed to His people.

[14:49] It's an unconditional love. There's nothing we can do to make the Lord love us any more than He already does. And there's nothing we can do to make Him love us any less.

[15:00] It's an unchanging love. Because it doesn't depend upon how we feel. It doesn't depend upon how we view ourselves. Or what we go through in life.

[15:11] It doesn't depend on all our changing circumstances. Because He never changes. His love is unchanging. And it's a love which is unrestricted.

[15:24] Because there's nothing and there's no one that can ever replace the Lord's love for His people. 100% committed.

[15:37] And this is why the psalmist says His steadfast love endures forever. Forever. And is it any wonder to us then having this phrase repeated to us again and again is it any wonder that the psalmist calls us those us those who don't deserve any of this those who don't deserve God's love those who don't deserve God's favour and grace and mercy is it any wonder that the psalmist calls us to come before the Lord with hearts of gratitude through gratitude and give thanks.

[16:17] Give thanks to the Lord he says for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods for His steadfast love endures forever.

[16:30] Give thanks to the Lord of lords for His steadfast love endures forever. It's a wonderful wonderful statement.

[16:43] But what I want us to notice in this opening declaration is that when the psalmist praises the Lord he uses three different titles to describe a king.

[16:58] But in these verses these opening verses God is described as the Lord in verse 1 the God of gods in verse 2 and the Lord of lords in verse 3.

[17:11] And each of these three titles they emphasise the character and conduct of a king. They emphasise who the king is and what the king is like. And the first title which is given to this king is the title Lord with capital letters.

[17:27] It's a title with which we are very familiar because we see it all over the Bible especially in the book of Psalms. And this title Lord when it's used it's always used to highlight that God is in a covenant with his people all because his steadfast love endures forever.

[17:47] And when we see the name Lord we ought to know that it's speaking of the covenant God who is our king. And he is our king and he's our king because in the Old Testament covenants they were always initiated by a king where the king would draw up the legal contract and set the terms and conditions of the covenant.

[18:13] So the king would make the covenant but this title Lord not only indicates that God is a covenant making king it also points out that the Lord is a covenant keeping king.

[18:29] Because the title Lord it means the one who keeps covenant. The one who keeps covenant. And such a title it's very fitting with what the psalmist is saying here about the Lord's enduring covenant love.

[18:47] And so the title Lord it says a lot about this king that he is the covenant making he's the covenant keeping king. But these three titles Lord God of Gods and Lord of Lords it's interesting that they actually these three verses they set the structure for the whole psalm.

[19:09] Because the psalmist appeal in verse 1 give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his steadfast love endures forever. It's the appeal to praise the king for his covenant. Then in verse 2 the psalmist calls us give thanks to the God of Gods for his steadfast love endures forever.

[19:25] It's the call to praise the king for his creation. which we'll consider next. And verse 3 is the psalmist's plea give thanks to the Lord of Lords for his steadfast love endures forever.

[19:39] And this is the plea to praise the king for his salvation. And so these three titles they set the structure for the psalm where we're to praise the king for his covenant.

[19:52] But then secondly we're to praise the king for his creation. That's what we're looking at just now. We're to praise the king for his creation. But he says in verse 2 give thanks to the God of Gods for his steadfast love endures forever.

[20:08] And then in verse 4 to him who alone does great wonders for his steadfast love endures forever. To him who by understanding made the heavens for his steadfast love endures forever.

[20:21] To him who spread out the earth above the waters for his steadfast love endures forever. To him who made the great lights for his steadfast love endures forever. The sun to rule over the day for his steadfast love endures forever.

[20:35] The moon and the stars to rule over the night for his steadfast love endures forever. The second title used in verse 2 to describe who the king is and what the king is like.

[20:49] The title The God of Gods. This title God of Gods is one that should immediately emphasize to us that our king is a creator. He's the creator.

[21:03] Whereas the title Lord in capital letters it highlights the covenant relationship of the king with his people. But the title God or God of Gods when we see it in the Psalms it's always referring to God the creator.

[21:19] And it should draw our attention to the fact that this king is not only a covenant king but he's also a creator king. And that we're to praise him and to thank him and to show our gratitude to him not only for his covenant but also for his act of creation.

[21:38] And as we begin to look at the description of the God of Gods we're immediately indicated in verse 4 by the psalmist that the acts of creation performed by this king they were carried out by him and him alone.

[21:54] Because he says in verse 4 to him who alone does great wonders for his steadfast love endures forever. And the psalmist he urges us to give thanks to our king because there is no one like him.

[22:09] There's no one like him in all of creation. He is the creator and everything else in the world is his creation. He is the God of all gods.

[22:19] He is above and beyond all the other gods. There is no other god likened to him. And is that not what we were reminded of when we sang Psalm 96 where the psalmist says all the other gods are but idols done which blinded nations fear but our God is the Lord by whom the heavens created well.

[22:45] And so we're being reminded here that our king he's the God of all gods and he alone does wondrous works. There is no one else in all of creation who helped him bring this world into being.

[23:02] The angels didn't help him bring it into being. The other gods didn't help him bring it into being. We didn't help him. Mankind didn't help him bring this creation into being.

[23:14] no. He affirms to us here he did it and he did it alone because he alone does great wonders. And for that reason we are to give thanks to our king for his wondrous works of creation where he is proclaiming his glory each and every day and the skies are declaring his handiwork day after day night after night.

[23:44] But what we are told in verse 5 as he continues is how our king performed these wondrous works. He says to him who by understanding made the heavens for a steadfast love endures forever.

[24:02] And here the psalmist tells us that everything came into being by the king's understanding or wisdom everything that was created was created with wisdom and skill.

[24:15] And what's interesting with this statement is that the psalmist is describing his king as this master craftsman in which the psalmist gives this beautiful imagery of a potter who skillfully works with his clay moulding it and shaping it and cutting it and bending it into what he has planned.

[24:38] and how this master craftsman he says he spread out the earth upon the water as if it was this lump of clay and he's just began to roll it out with the palms of his hands.

[24:52] He's rolled it out and stretched out the clay so that it would create this beautiful landscape where his fingers intricately formed the hills and they shaped the mountains and he cut the valleys and created them for himself and everything came into being upon the land and upon the sea.

[25:13] But the psalmist he doesn't even stop there because he brings us right into the creation account and he reminds us of the sun and the moon and their roles because he says to him he made the great lights for his steadfast love enjures forever.

[25:30] The sun to rule over the day for his steadfast love enjures forever. The moon and the stars to rule over the night his steadfast love enjures forever. And what we see is that from the very beginning of creation our king has ordered and regulated everything.

[25:49] Everything. He's ordered and regulated even time itself. He's appointed the rising of the sun and the setting of the sun. He's ordered and positioned the moon perfectly and he's counted the number of the stars and he's named them everyone.

[26:07] He's appointed for us even times and seasons. He gave to us seed time and harvest time. He's ordered for us summer and winter.

[26:21] And what the psalmist is saying is that our creator king our master craftsman he's given us everything. Created everything that we can see and everything that we cannot see.

[26:35] And he spun everything on his potter's wheel and he brought it into being by the word of his power. He's brought everything into being and he brought us into being in which he created us from nothing yet he knew us and he loved us when we were in our most primitive beginning when we were being knit together in our mother's womb being fearfully and wonderfully made and through it all he gave us life and he gave us meaning and he gave us a purpose he gave us vitality he gave us dignity our king he graciously gave all this to his creation because his steadfast love endures for him and yet we deserve none of it we deserve none of it our creator king doesn't do us anything we aren't entitled to anything and yet he graciously gives everything we need everything we need he gives it to his creation and even when things in our life take an unexpected turn and what comes into our experience is not what we ever hoped for or planned for ourselves and I believe that the hardest question to ever answer in the whole of creation is the question why why this way why now why here why me and we may never know the answer to that question maybe not until we leave this world but the wonder of this master craftsman is that he knows what he's doing with us and this master craftsman knows what he's doing in us and that everything in our lives is not out with his appointing and his control and I just love those words of Isaiah in Isaiah 64

[28:50] I've got them on a plaque in the study where Isaiah says O Lord thou art our father we are the clay thou art potter we are the work of thy hands and I find what better hands to be in than the hands of this potter and you know I always remember the illustration of one of the brethren at Acash not so long ago it was in English that's why I could understand it but one of the brethren spoke about the work of the potter and that when he went to visit this pottery somewhere on the mainland he entered through the door and he went to the reception and when he went to the reception he was confronted with a sign which read that said the workshop downstairs the showroom upstairs the workshop downstairs the showroom upstairs and so he started at the bottom he proceeded to go downstairs to the workshop and in the workshop he he could follow the process of the potter in which he saw a vase beginning its life as this meaningless worthless lump of clay but when it was picked up by the potter and spun on his wheel and shaped and moulded into this beautiful vessel which took time and skill and gentle care and handling from the potter but yet once it was finished there it went into the kiln in a thousand degree heat and after a while it came out of the kiln and the vase it still wasn't finished then because it had to be sanded and painted and then glazed once more in the heat of the kiln and once it was complete the vase was finished so it went to the show room which was upstairs and going following the process of this lump of clay he went upstairs to the show room and he saw the finished article this beautiful vase perfectly shaped and coloured and glazed a vase that was made into a useful container by the hands of the potter it took a lot of work to make a vase look like that but the end product was so far removed from the lump of clay which it was at the beginning and my friend needless to say we can certainly apply the illustration to our own experience where we must pass through the workshop downstairs downstairs in this world you could see we must pass through the hands of our potter who will work in us as the apostle says both to will and to do for his own good pleasure but he'll work in us in order to produce in us something remarkable a beautiful vessel for his own glory a vessel which he will display in his showroom of heaven where there will be many trophies of grace my friend it's a wonderful thought that our creator has created us and he's still creating us he created the lump of clay and he's creating the finished product and he's creating us to praise him to love him to glorify him to enjoy him to follow him to worship him but the reason he's doing it the reason he's doing it is all because his steadfast love endures forever and so we're seeing that these titles in the opening verses

[32:50] we're being called to give thanks and praise to our king for his covenant and we're to praise our king for his creation but lastly we're to praise our king for his salvation we're to praise our king for his salvation because he says the title gives to us in verse 3 give thanks to the lord of lords for his steadfast love endures forever and he says in verse 10 to him who struck down the first born of Egypt for his steadfast love endures forever and brought Israel out from among them for his steadfast love endures forever with a strong hand and an outstretched arm for his steadfast love endures forever so the third title used to describe who our king is and what our king is like is the title lord of lords and this title it refers to our king as the sole ruler of his people in which he is to be our sovereign and we are to be his subject he is to be the king in his kingdom and we are not to belong to another kingdom or to another king and with this the psalmist he draws upon the familiar illustration of the children of Israel escaping from bondage and slavery in Egypt and he says that we are to give thanks to the lord of lords who struck down the firstborn of Egypt and of course this refers to the last plague in Egypt when the lord passed over all the houses of

[34:31] Israel because of the blood of the lamb sprinkled upon the lintel and upon the door post of the house but the lord slaughtered all the firstborn of the Egyptians and by highlighting this major event the psalmist is emphasizing that the lord of the Israelites defeated the lord of the Egyptians in other words the lord of lords struck down the firstborn in Egypt the lord of lords rescued his people from the grip of Egypt the lord of lords has acted alone in his great act of salvation and that's what the psalmist is stressing to us that the creation the work of creation was not the only stand alone act of our king it was also the work of salvation because there's no mention of Moses or Joshua or the armies of Israel it's all the doing of the lord where the lord strikes the firstborn of Egypt the lord brings Israel out from among them with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and of course bringing

[35:42] Israel out of Egypt it's the exodus that's the word which is used the exodus God's great salvific act of rescuing his people from bondage and oppression and slavery and bringing them out where they were set free and their bonds were loosed and the lord did it all with a strong hand we're told and an outstretched arm which is a euphemism for the king's victory where the king defeated his enemy and he led his people to safety he led the captives free but the marvel of this king's salvation is that he not only brought his people out of slavery in Egypt but he made them cross this what seemed to be this insurmountable hurdle of the Red Sea which had been miraculously parted and divided for them before their eyes but this king's salvation was such that he ensured that his people were led not only through the

[36:49] Red Sea but all the way through the wilderness and on towards the promised land and despite the fact that the land of promise was already inhabited by mighty kings with strong armies like Shehon and Og it didn't deter the Lord of Lords from providing the promised inheritance for his people it didn't stop the king defeating his enemies and ushering his people into the promised land it and it was all this glorious demonstration of the Lord's love towards his people it was a glorious demonstration of grace from beginning to end from Egypt to the promised land but what comes across so clearly when we read the history of the people of Israel is that they didn't deserve it they didn't deserve it they didn't deserve to be saved they didn't earn the right to be delivered because of their faithfulness and their good works they didn't merit the promised land because they complained all the way from the banks of the Red Sea to the

[38:03] Jordan River they disobeyed repeatedly which left them wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and even when they entered into the promised land the people of Israel they failed to listen to the Lord then but my friend the marvel of this salvation is that the Lord of Lords saved them the Lord of Lords redeemed them the Lord of Lords rescued them he ushered them he carried them he led them he brought them he gave to them the inheritance he did everything for them all because he loved them he loved them his steadfast love love endures forever but I love what's said in verse 22 about the salvation of the king it says a heritage to Israel his servant for his steadfast love endures forever

[39:11] I love those words because in them the psalmist directs us to the true servant of Israel he directs us to the true king of his people Jesus Christ and what comes together so beautifully as the psalmist brings this great hallel psalm to its conclusion is that everything that the psalmist has spoken of is a description of who Jesus is and what Jesus is like because these three titles Lord God of Gods and Lord of Lords they're all titles which are applied to Jesus in the New Testament because Jesus he's the covenant king he's the covenant king who loves with an everlasting love greater love says John has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends and his love is such that he is the one who keeps covenant with his people where he remains faithful to all his promises and he is faithful towards his people but we're also reminded in

[40:22] Philippians that it's at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Jesus is Lord but not only that we're told that Jesus is the God of gods he's the creator he's the king of all the creation who spoke this world into being he's the word who spoke everything into being and as the apostle Paul reminds us in Colossians by him were all things created that are in heaven that are in the earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist but this is not only the sovereign ruler over his works of creation he's also the sovereign ruler over his works of providence he's the

[41:31] God of gods who rules over and over rules every event and every circumstance in our lives but looking at this description of our king Jesus he also assumes the title lord of lords because we're reminded in the closing words of the bible in the book of revelation where john he affirms the identity of jesus and he says for he is lord of lords and king of kings and those with him are called and chosen and faithful and faithful he is lord of lords and king of kings and those with him are called and chosen and faithful and my friend this is the wonder of our salvation that anyone should be described as those who are with jesus as those who are with jesus those who are with the lord of lords that they've been delivered from bondage and slavery to sin they've been rescued from death they've been drawn to himself they've been led through the wilderness those who are with jesus he says they've been brought home to emmanuel's land oh the wonder the wonder of salvation and the hope for the christian that anyone should be described as those who are with jesus and this description is given not because of who we are or what we have done but all because his steadfast love endures forever and with jesus in our mind and his covenant and his creation and his salvation it's no wonder that the psalmist concludes this great hallel psalm with a doxology where he seeks to glorify jesus his king by pointing to him you can almost imagine him pointing to him and saying it is he who remembered us in our low estate for a steadfast love endures forever it is he who rescued us from our foes for a steadfast love endures forever it is he who gives food to all flesh for a steadfast love endures forever give thanks to the god of heaven for a steadfast love endures forever my friend it's only fitting only fitting that we come before this king with true hearts of gratitude to give thanks for his covenant to give thanks for his creation to give thanks for his salvation all because his steadfast love endures forever may the lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray oh lord our gracious god we give thanks to thee for our great privilege of knowing that thou art one who loves us with an everlasting love and lord help us we pray thee to confess with the apostle of old and say thanks be to god for his unspeakable gift through our lord jesus christ oh help us to see him as the one who who promises to us his covenant and who guides us in this life and who keeps us each and every day oh lord help us we pray thee to cling to him to keep looking to him despite everything that we may go through in this world help us to look to him with thankful hearts

[45:31] that he is the one who watches over us who neither slumbers nor sleeps who promises to us as the psalmist said that the lord shall keep thy soul he shall preserve thee from all ill henceforth thy going out and in god keep forever will do us good then we pray thee and cleanse us for jesus sake amen we shall conclude by singing in that psalm in psalm 136 psalm 136 that's in the scottish psalter page 428 it's the second version of the psalm psalm 136 the second version of the psalm and we're singing verses 1 to 4 and then 23 to 26 and you'll know the tune

[46:35] I think when it starts praise god for he is kind his mercy lasts for he give thanks with heart and mind to god of gods always for certainly his mercy is due most firm and sure eternally these verses to god please praise god for he is kind his mercy lasts for it give thanks with heart and mind to god of gods always for certainly his mercy love who yucky to podang his mercy leg still endure.

[47:42] Great wonders only He doth work by His great power.

[47:52] For certainly His mercy's due prosper and surely deliver now He who hath remembered us in her low estate and has delivered from folks which in us gave for certainly His mercy's due most firm and sure eternally.

[48:40] The two of flesh gives food for His grace faileth never give thanks to God most good the God of heaven forever for certainly His mercy's due most firm and sure eternally.

[49:15] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.