Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word » Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty » Studies in Psalms – Psa 136:1-26 “For His Mercy Endureth For Ever”

Studies in Psalms – Psa 136:1-26 “For His Mercy Endureth For Ever”

- Studies

Tony Cullen
3 years ago

Psa 136:1-16 “For His Mercy Endureth For Ever”

[Study Aired October 31, 2019]

PRAISE

Psa 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

CREATION

Psa 136:5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

JUDGMENT

Psa 136:10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

OVERCOMING

Psa 136:16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:17 To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:18 And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:19 Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:20 And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:21 And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.

SALVATION

Psa 136:23 Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:25 Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

PRAISE

Psa 136:26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

The phrase “for his mercy endureth for ever” is mentioned twenty six times in this Psalm (2+6=8 the new man is [8 Christ] who is formed out of the [6 old man] through [2 Christ the true witness and second Adam 1Co 15:45]), and is symbolically described for us by the story of creation in Psalm 136:1-4, and then how that new creation must be judged, typified by Israel’s exodus from Egypt in Psalm 136:10-15 which demonstrates for us how “his mercy endureth for ever”.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

The verses then go on to describe the way God’s elect will overcome the giants of our land as God leads “his people through the wilderness”, revealing how His mercy endures for ever in verses 16 to 22 (Psa 136:16-22). That mercy or goodness shown to Israel are the type-and-shadow events which point to salvation for all, and first for those who are blessed to be nourished by those “great kings” (Num 14:9) which we overcome through Christ who is cleansing our land in this age (our bodies, the body of Christ) expressed in these verses (Psa 136:23-25).

Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

The Psalm 136 then concludes in the last verse as it started in the first verse, with thanks we give to God as we give Him all glory for all He accomplishes in our “heavens” “for his mercy endureth for ever”.

PRAISE

These first four verses are a declaration of the last verse of this Psalm (Psa 136:26), declaring the end from the beginning and acknowledging that it is “him who alone [that] doeth great wonders”, revealing that His mercy that “endureth for ever” is from start to finish (Php 1:6), starting with the elect and then the rest of His creation, the other fold of which Christ spoke in Matthew 22:14 and John 10:16.

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

God’s mercy which will endure forever is something for which we give thanks, because without that mercy or His goodness that leads us to repentance in this age (Rom 2:4) expressed through those wonderful works to the children of men or “great wonders” as they are called in Psalm 136:4, we would simply die in our sins and not be found in the first resurrection (Joh 8:24, Joh 6:29, Joh 8:31-32, Mat 24:13).

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Joh 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

CREATION

This process of overcoming and enduring until the end is now described for us in these verses that speak about the creation week where those things which were created in that week parallel the spiritual creation which is being formed within the body of Christ.

Christ is our “wisdom” (1Co 1:30-31) who is taking the old marred vessel and destroying it and making something new (Jer 18:4) in “the heavens”, or heart and mind, of his children who are maturing in the mind of Christ (1Co 2:16, 2Pe 3:18).

1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

In order for us to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, our lives will need to be stretched with much tribulation (Act 14:22) and fiery trials (1Pe 4:12) that God’s elect are promised we will be able to endure “for his mercy endureth for ever”.

He “stretched out the earth above the waters” describes in symbolic language the suffering that we are enduring as the body [earth] of Christ, and is “above the waters” or the sea of humanity that we are called out of (2Co 6:17), being raised in heavenly places together as God works in our earth both to will and to do of his good pleasure that stretches us (Eph 2:6, Php 2:13, Joh 15:2-3, Psa 107:20, Joh 20:21, 1Jn 4:17, Oba 1:21).

Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

The “great lights” that God made the “sun to rule by day” and the “moon and stars to rule by night” are both within us (Isa 45:7) and are used to “bring forth salvation” (Isa 45:8). God’s mercy is expressed through these lights that rule our heavens, and we are preserved unto judgment with the light that the moon and the stars give us through the night, and then the brightness of the sun of righteousness (Mal 4:2) washes out that light that was really not so glorious in comparison to the glory of Christ within us that far exceeds the light of the stars and the moon (2Co 3:7-14). Regardless, it is Christ who made the sun and moon and the stars, and the lesson we are being shown is that he rules them all “The sun to rule by day” and “The moon and stars to rule by night” (Eph 1:11) . God’s mercy is shown in the careful and loving process that He has ordained for all of his creation to experience, each man in his appointed time (1Co 15:23-25).

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above [Rev 21:2], and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open [Jer 22:29], and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

2Co 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
2Co 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
2Co 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
2Co 3:10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
2Co 3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
2Co 3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
2Co 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

JUDGMENT

“He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” is another way of saying God will judge all mankind until there is no one left to be judged, and in that day your own words will judge you (Joh 12:48). The old heavens and the old earth of the first man Adam are judged by Christ so that a new earth and heaven is formed, but that judgement, we must always remember, begins at the house of God so that we can be that bride of Christ who has been made ready (Isa 65:17, Rev 21:1-2, Rev 19:7)

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready (Rev 20:6).

That “last day” for God’s elect is today because we are being judged first today (1Pe 4:17), and that judgment upon us is typified by Israel who typifies the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) who comes out of Egypt, or the world, first, so that we can be judged and purified by fire in this life and be found in the first resurrection where we will be sent as Christ was to judge the nations (Rev 20:6). All of this judgment is again a representation of this statement: “for his mercy endureth for ever”, meaning that it is throughout the ages. The mercy that we are learning of in these verses and the one event that is common to all men is the judgement that will come upon all men each man in his own order, and God’s mercy will prevail and He will accomplish what He has set out to do “for his mercy endureth for ever” (Ecc 3:1, Jas 5:7, Ecc 9:2, 1Co 15:23-25).

It takes the “strong hand” and “stretched out arm” of God working in our heavens to enable us to be able to rightly divide the word of God in our heavens, and He “divided the red sea into parts” within us so that the Israel of God could “pass through the midst of it” again demonstrating how “his mercy endureth for ever” through that process that is taking place within our heavens that helps us to rightly divide the word of truth within our “red seas” (Isa 43:15-16).

Isa 43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

It is God who has bound us to the altar (Psa 118:27-29) and “made Israel to pass through the midst of it”, meaning the Red Sea which represents our flesh and all the pulls within our flesh, that God will give us victory over and will “overthrow Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea”, demonstrating again that the new creation is formed through the destruction of the old man of sin typified by “Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea” who are within us but being overcome through Christ (1Jn 4:4).

Psa 118:27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Psa 118:28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
Psa 118:29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

OVERCOMING

God is leading his people “through the wilderness” (Rom_8:14-16) and smiting “great kings” along the way that represent the powers and principalities that we are overcoming through Christ (Eph 6:12). It is those giants or “great kings” who will nourish us as they are systematically destroyed, or overcome little and by little, by the brightness of Christ’s coming who is the one true King of kings and Lord of lords who can accomplish this (Num 14:9, Deu 7:22, 2Th 2:8, Rev 19:16).

There is a progression to overcoming “great kings”, and “famous kings,” and “Sihon king of the Amorites,” along with “Og the king of Bashan”, and God knows that all these kings must be conquered in order for us to be “his inheritance in the saints“, an “heritage unto his servant Israel, his servant” that has been predestined (Eph 1:5, Eph 1:18), and this patient process of overcoming, also called the “patience and faith of the saints”, demonstrates that “his mercy endureth for ever” for those who are called [to be], chosen and faithful until the end (Php 2:12-15, Php 3:13-18).

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Php 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Php 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

An enemy of the cross can be seen described in the context of these verses (Php 3:13-18) where the main subject Paul is talking about is overcoming. A true overcomer takes nothing for granted and does not boast of the morrow, and recognizes that although our salvation is secure in Christ, if it is predestined, this should not be something that demotivates but rather makes us fight a good fight of faith as though our salvation did depend on our own effort in every instance, knowing that Christ is the one working within us both to will and to do of His good pleasure as our hope of glory (Col 1:27).

Seven crowns are worn by kings in Revelation 12:3 which represent our initial complete confidence in our flesh to make choices independently of God as we are under the strong delusion that we are masters of our own destiny not yet seeing the inheritance promised and given by the One who is working all things according to the counsel of “his own will” (Eph 1:11).

Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

It is the great dragon that has “seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” of (Rev 17:12-18) who is ultimately going to “make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful”; and these “called, and chosen, and faithful” help in that overcoming process as the body of Christ (Col 1:24, Col 1:27).

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The wars that are taking place are in our heavens which are being cleansed (Heb 9:23), and those who are given to conquer that religious beast which has two horns like a lamb but speaks as a dragon will be very few in this age (Rev 13:11, Mat 22:14). The end result of this witness of overcoming, demonstrating that we are more than conquerors through Christ alone (Rom 8:37-39) and that great mercy shown to us, is expressed in the words “for his mercy endureth for ever”, a mercy in the final analysis that caused us to overcome all the various kings within us so we could be found with His righteousness and not our own (Eze 33:13, Php 3:9, Gal 2:20-21).

Rom 8:37 But in all these things we more than conquer through him that has loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
Rom 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Eze 33:13 When I say to the righteous that he shall certainly live, and he trusteth to his righteousness and doeth what is wrong, none of his righteous acts shall be remembered; but in his unrighteousness which he hath done, in it shall he die.

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate^G114 [Gen 25:34] the grace^G5485 [Mat 20:12-16] of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

G114 ath-et-eh’-o
From a compound of G1 (as a negative particle) and a derivative of G5087; to set aside, that is, (by implication) to disesteem, neutralize or violate: – cast off, despise, disannul, frustrate, bring to nought, reject.

G5485 khar’-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

SALVATION

This next section of our study brightly reminds us that God will be merciful to His kind of first fruits remembering us “in our low estate“. That low estate can only be understood by being given a humble and contrite heart (Isa 66:2) that sees our need to be saved and “redeemed” “from our enemies” within (law prevents us from seeing what must be abolished 2Co 3:13), even as we recognize that daily deliverance with grateful hearts to the one “who giveth food to all flesh” (Psa 107:29-31, Eph 2:15, where this abolishing happens Eph 5:30, 1Co 10:16). That ongoing work He is doing in our lives as His workmanship (Eph 2:10) also demonstrates that “his mercy endureth for ever” (Mat 6:9-15).

Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread. [“food to all flesh“]
Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

PRAISE

Psa 136:26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Our study finishes off as it started, giving thanks to God for the wonderful works unto the children of men whom he is working with today. Those children are experiencing his love being shed abroad in their hearts (Rom 8:28) that reassures us that we can be more than conquerors through him “that loved us” (Rom 8:37), overcoming all fear as we realize that we are being redeemed as His children whom he loves (Psa 107:2, Rom 5:5, Rom 1:16, 1Jn 3:1).

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth [Joh 6:29]; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Studies in Psalms – Psa 136:1-26 “For His Mercy Endureth For Ever”

Psa 136:1-16 “For His Mercy Endureth For Ever”

[Study Aired October 31, 2019]

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