SEEK DEVOTIONAL

Psalm 136 is an antiphonal “call and response” song. For example, in verse 1:

The song leader sings:
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!”

The congregation responds:
“For His mercy endures forever.”

It is also a folk song, a song that tells a story. Oxford defines a folk song as a “traditional song of unknown authorship, passed orally through generations, often with variants in different regions, reflecting a community’s culture, history, and daily life.” In this case, it is a song that tells the history of God and His people. And the author is adamant that in every stanza we understand this truth: every moment of history is marked by God’s mercy.

Your translation may say “mercy,” “steadfast love,” “faithful love,” or simply “love.” All are true. However, the Hebrew word used here is most often translated as “mercy” elsewhere in Scripture. So what is God’s mercy? Is it steadfast love, forgiveness, and lovingkindness? A resounding yes. But to take it a step deeper, a definition I learned in Bible school that helped me understand its full scope is this: God’s mercy is His faithfulness to His covenant.

When we sing, “His mercy endures forever,” we are declaring that God will uphold His side of the covenant with His people no matter what.

How does that apply today? If you read the entirety of the Old Testament, you will see that people, even God’s chosen people, make a multitude of disastrous mistakes. They constantly sabotage their own legacy through compromise, sin, and idolatry. They were a mess! And yet, God remained faithful to them. He disciplines when necessary, but His ultimate purpose is always to redeem and restore by His mercy and grace. Peter states it beautifully:

“…if we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.”

God’s desire is not merely to rewrite your history, but to cover it with His powerful mercy and redeem you by His lovingkindness. Even if you have lived a completely wayward life, you can turn to God and receive His redemption.

This is the lesson we learn from the thief on the cross, who in desperation says to the dying Savior beside him, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus’ response is full of mercy and grace: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Even someone at the very end of their life, calling on the name of the Lord, received what they could never earn on their own; salvation and eternity with God. God’s mercy, His faithfulness to His covenant, is in fullest view in Jesus’ death on the cross.

Now, does this give us license to live however we want because God will be okay with it? Certainly not. See Titus 2:

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people,
12 teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Whether 2026 is the first year you are committing to follow Jesus, or you have been following Him for decades, your life(past, present, and future) can be marked by the enduring mercy of our great God. How amazing that Jesus is seated upon a throne of mercy.

Prayer:
Father, thank You that You have been merciful to me, and that the mistakes of my past do not define me. What defines me is Your lovingkindness. I see clearly now that You desire to redeem my past, abide with me in the present, and secure my future. I trust You. Today, I choose to fully embrace Your work of redemption in my life, my family, and my plans for 2026. Let every verse of the song of my life be defined by Your enduring mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.