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His Love Endures Forever



Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.
to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
 an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.
 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever. (Psalm 136)
           How far through the psalm did you get before you started either skipping lines or responding with some measure of impatience? Did you get a feeling you were reading a Biblical equivalent of “Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall”? Are those questions sacrilege? Or are they uncomfortably true?                 
           I admit, I find the repetition somewhere between boring and irritating. I want to say, “Yeah, yeah, I got it already.” But did you see what I did? I repeated, in order to emphasize the emotional aspect of the statement. That was a typical literary device for the ancient Jewish people. There’s good neurological reasoning behind this, even if the ancients didn’t think in neurological terms. Repeating something in a meaningful manner builds the neural pathways, which means it’s easier for your mind to pick that road to travel whenever you’re in the mental area. 
          There’s another good reason for the “His love endures forever” refrain. It ties His enduring love to who He is, to what He does, to what He’s like, to good times, to bad times, to big things, to little things. In short, His love endures forever.

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