Our Father and our God, I thank you, Lord, for this day that you have given us, another day to praise you, worship you, cherish you, and love you with all of our hearts, mind, soul, and strength, Father. I ask that your Spirit, Lord, be here among us, Lord, and that we all may be edified with the words in this lesson of your beautiful Psalm 136. I would also, this morning, like to lift up our brother, Rafa, this morning, they've all been ill, and I would ask, Lord, that you bring upon them swift healing, that they may return to their normal daily lives. And I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, good morning. Glad you all are here. So, Psalm 136. When we think of loyalty, what do we think of? Maybe a fan, yeah, loyalty. Maybe a fan of some sports team or whoever, who will never watch another sports team unless it's against their own team. Or maybe it's an allegiance to a particular brand of car, truck, computer, or phone. How about one's family, a husband to his wife, a wife to her husband, the children. Loyalty is a constant support for something, a commitment to whoever or whatever it is that is being supported. That is loyalty even to the end, right? Although there may be some loyalty in the secular world, it is flimsy at best and really has no solid foundation on which to stand upon. It can be insignificant in value like supporting a sports team or the brand of a truck, car, phone, or computer. In this world, everything is finite, even loyalty. The sports team might stink for years and lose its fan base. No comment. No comment on that one, but anyway, cars, trucks, phones, and computer manufacturers may change their design, and it may not sit well with their customer base, causing the customer to seek other products. The husband may have an affair with another woman, or the wife may have an affair with another man. All these things are possible in this fallen world. But my friends, there is a loyalty that is unchanging. It is immutable. It is unaffected by time, space, matter, but it can affect time, space, matter. It is a loyalty that is eternally unaffected by the fallen state of creation. This loyalty is for a specific people and will only be given to those who are called by name. The steadfast love in which the Lord loves us is made manifest in His many mercies that are bestowed upon us each day. So as we continue our time in the Psalter, we will be examining Psalm 136. This is the last of the great Hallel Psalms. This song is the last of the great hallel, although there is no hallelujah in it, the Lord still receives the praise. It is a song of praise still that reminds us All how the Lord Almighty is good. It may have been a responsive reading or song during worship where the priests would read the first portion of the verse and the congregation would respond with the second portion, which we're gonna do this morning. Get you engaged. So the psalm begins with a call to give thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one and true living God, the God who in his wisdom created all things. It highlights God's deliverance of his people from Egypt with his power parting the Red Sea for his people to pass, then destroying Pharaoh. We will read how the Lord was a guide to his people in the wilderness, how the Lord went before his people, destroyed powerful kings and their kingdoms, giving his people a land of their own. In closing, the psalmist reminds us how the Lord remembers his people and redeems them from their enemies. How his providence reaches all creatures in creation and to thank the Lord of heaven. The overarching theme is repeated 26 times in this psalm. The Lord's steadfast love endures forever. Some translations will read mercy and others will say steadfast love or loving kindness or the list goes on. This is a reminder to us forgetful creatures how the Lord's covenant loyalty is immutable. Regardless of our disloyalty, he will always be faithful to his covenants with his people. So this morning we will define, so the word mercy that you, or steadfast love that we read is actually, the original word is chesed. So this morning, we will be defining what Chesed is. Then we will examine the structure of this Psalm. So, the first point, or the first, first we'll be defining what Chesed is, and then the next portion we're gonna examine the Psalm, verses one through three, we'll find giving thanks to the one and true living God for his covenant loyalty. Verses four through nine, his covenant loyalty in creation. Verses 10 through 15, his covenant loyalty and deliverance. Verses 16 through 22, his covenant loyalty and journey, and the journey from the wilderness to the land of milk and honey. Verses 23 through 25, his covenant loyalty and provision. And finally, verse 26, giving thanks to the one true living God. for his covenant loyalty. 136, yes ma'am. So, if you haven't already, please open your Bibles to Psalm 136 and I will begin reading in verse one. This will be the read and response portion. I'll read the first portion of the verse and you guys will just read for His mercy endureth forever. Or whatever your translation says. Okay. I'm still gonna read it with you so the people online can hear. So, okay. Psalm 136 and verse one. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods, for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endureth forever. Mercy, steadfast love. Mine is mercy, sorry guys. As to him that by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endureth forever. To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endureth forever. To Him that made great lights, for His mercy endureth forever. The sun to rule by day, for His mercy endureth forever. To the moon and stars to rule by night, for His mercy endureth forever. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for His mercy endureth forever. And brought out Israel from among them, for His mercy endureth forever. With a strong hand and with a stretched out arm, for His mercy endures forever. To Him which divided the Red Sea into parts, for His mercy endures forever. and made Israel to pass through the midst of it, for his mercy endureth forever. But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his mercy endureth forever. To him which led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy endureth forever. to him which smote great kings, for his mercy endureth forever, and slew famous kings, for his mercy endureth forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his mercy endureth forever, and Og, the king of Bashan, for his mercy endureth forever, and gave their land for an heritage, for his mercy endureth forever. and heritage unto Israel, his servant. Mercy endureth forever. Who remembered us in our lowest state, for his mercy endureth forever. Who hath redeemed us from our enemies, for his mercy endures forever. Who giveth food to all flesh, for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven, for his mercy endures forever. Amen. The Lord is good and he is merciful. Forever and ever. We just read that. Hey, I already forgot. No, I'm just kidding. No, but for His mercy endures forever, right? So, let's jump into the first portion of this study. The first portion is, what is hesed? Hesed. Hesed. Love and kindness. Okay. Unfailing love. Good. Anybody else? Chesed, so mercy, goodness, mercy, okay, all of those, all of those are good answers, okay? So I'm gonna give you a couple, a definition of chesed, okay? Chesed, chesed. You have to say it right, you have to say it right. Kindness by implication towards God, piety, rarely by opposition, reproof, or subjectively, beauty, favor, good deed, kindly, loving, kindness, merciful kindness, steadfast love, love and trustworthiness, unfailing desire, faithful love, loyal love, mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing, depending, it's a contextual word. So hesed can mean any of the different definitions I read in English. It is a contextual word, meaning that it depends on the word or passage that immediately follows it that will clarify its meaning. Though chesed has many translations, it is understood to be directly related to covenant. God keeps commands, shows, continues. God keeps commands, shows, continues, remembers, and gives chesed. God keeps Chesed by fulfilling his promises to the uttermost. He commands Chesed from his people through reverence and obedience to him to be loving, kind, compassionate, and merciful to each other. To each other, okay. He shows Chesed in his mercy, love, kindness, faithfulness, and loyalty by preserving his elected people through the ages. He continues He remembers chesed by never forgetting his covenant. Through all circumstances, God is chesed to his word, faithful to his word. He gives chesed by expressing his mercy and compassion through deliverance and by working on behalf of his chosen for their sake and for their good. Since we know God is loyal to his covenant, the best definition of the word chesed would be covenant loyalty, which we didn't read in any of those things, but covenant loyalty will, embodies all those English words that we read to begin with. So there are 241 verses in the Old Testament where chesed is used, but the book that contains the most references to chesed is the book of Psalms with 127 verses and 127 instances of the use of chesed. So steadfast love, mercy, loving kindness is what you'll read in your English translations. Now that we have Chesed defined, let us move to the psalm, which we'll find in verses one through four, we'll see giving thanks to the one true living God for his covenant loyalty. So verse one, and I'm not gonna read the last portion because we already know his steadfast love endures forever, okay? We just, but just for the sake of time. I'll give thanks unto the Lord. And we'll stop there. I'll give thanks unto the Lord. The psalm begins with a call to praise the Lord in a spirit of thanksgiving. What should we be thankful for? What should we be thankful for? His blessing of a new day of life, that He is kind, that he is the Lord, the ruler of creation, that he is merciful? Yes, be thankful to the Lord for all these things and more, but the verse says to be thankful to the Lord for his goodness. So, oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. The absence of evil is what we should be thankful to the Lord for being, and that goodness is all that he is and does. Psalm 118 verse 1, 1 Chronicles 1634, Psalm 107 verse 1 are some examples where we find The same praise to the Lord for His goodness, His righteousness, and being loyal to His covenant for all eternity. So we read the same verse, we find the same verse in those five or four verses I just read to you. So, oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Verse two. Give thanks unto the God of gods. Another reason to be thankful is he is the only true living God. If you take notice to the spelling of the phrase God of gods, the true God is identified with a capital G, and the other spelling of God is with a lowercase g, referring to the idols of the heathen, of the heathen that are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not, have eyes, have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not, neither is there any breath in their mouths. That's Psalm 135, 15 through 17. The Lord is uncreated. He speaks, sees, hears. He is alive and breathes the breath of life, which we learned in last week's psalm. As Ben also mentioned in last week's lesson, the Lord says in the book of Isaiah 45, five through six, I am the Lord and there is none, and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. To give thanks to the uncreated God that has no equal in the world for his everlasting loyalty to his promises. Verse three, O give thanks to the Lord of lords. A lord in this world is a master or a ruler, a person of authority who is appointed his title of lord from someone who has the authority to do so. But God is the unappointed master of masters, ruler of rulers, authority of the authority. He is the ruler of the Lords. He is just and good in all that He does. He is the one true living, speaking, hearing God who breathes life in His words. His steadfast love is infinite and is worthy of the praise of thanksgiving. Okay, verse four. To him alone doeth great wonders. In this section of the song, the psalmist is paying tribute to God, to the God who doeth great things and unsearchable, and unsearchable marvelous things without number job five nine who by himself does tremendous works uh... that are beyond our understanding the things that remain mysteries to us to this day uh... things that he does that remain mysteries to us this day uh... works uh... that can only be done by the one god that possesses greatness uh... he is honoring the Lord's supernatural activity, the special manifestation of His power in the great and wondrous works that we will see in the next five verses. I think the wondrous part of His work is how He speaks and things come to existence. Verse five. This is his covenant, loyalty, and creation. To him that by wisdom made the heavens. So this verse is a tribute to God's wisdom in creating space or the heavens. No chaos, no chance. He created the space necessary for the rest of creation. He knew the exact dimensions needed for all that He would create. There is no wasted space in the heavens. With the knowledge of the heavens being perfect, He would begin to create all the pieces of existence needed to perfectly fill this creation we have come to know as the cosmos or the universe. Verse six, to him that stretched out the earth above the waters. This tribute to God is about his creation of matter or the earth, knowing the perfect dimensions of the earth needed to sustain all that he would put on the earth. He created the perfect place in the universe to place the earth, the perfect place for the waters, Genesis 1, 9 through 10. And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters called he seas. And God saw that it was good. That just blows my mind. He said, let there be, and it came, and it was. Come on guys, that's our Lord. That's His greatness. So verse 7. to him that made great lights. As the tribute continues, his creation of great lights is what is magnified in this section. Verse eight, the sun to rule by day. He knew his creation would need the light of sun. Green plants use it for a process called photosynthesis, in which the plants process sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water and generate oxygen as a byproduct. Hey, look at that, now we can breathe. The Lord is, in his wisdom, he did that, guys, in his wisdom. All creatures on the earth need oxygen to function properly or to live. The sun is a way that we keep track of time, season, time and seasons. It provides warmth and most of all it provides light for his creatures to see. Now I'm pretty sure there's a lot of other things that I missed or left out. But you guys can research that on your own and just let it be known that the Lord is the one who did that. Verse nine, the moon and the stars to rule by night. The Lord in all of his wisdom created the moon and the stars to provide light in the night. Without the moon and stars traveling at night would be impossible. The moon is necessary for the ocean tides, keeping track of seasons for the agricultural purpose of harvest. The stars are used to navigate the lands and ocean at night. Their purpose was all predestined in their creation, which again happened as a product of God saying, let there be light. And there was light. and God saw the light and it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness, and God called the light day and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1, three through five. The next portion of the structure of this psalm is verses 10 through 15, which highlight God's covenant loyalty and deliverance. Verse 10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, As a tribute to the Lord continues, the great Exodus is remembered. Honor is given to the Lord for striking down with a firm blow the nation of Egypt. He heard the cries, the Lord heard the cries of his people in bondage and remembering his covenant and staying faithful to it, he passed. through the land of Egypt this night and smited all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and beasts, and against all the gods of Egypt, God executed judgment. Exodus 12, 12. Verse 11. And brought out Israel from among them, the Lord The Lord's judgment on Egypt had delivered Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh. Israel will then be separated from the world. His chosen people set apart from evil, fulfilling his loyalty to his covenant. Verse 11. I'm sorry, I just read verse 11. Verse 12, with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm, After the 10th plague, God's power and judgment was placed on display for Pharaoh and all of Egypt to see and feel. Pharaoh literally kicked Israel out of Egypt because how strongly they had been judged by the Lord, the God of Israel. He is not to be mocked, and they found that out fairly quickly. This deliverance, or even to be disobeyed, right? Disobedience was the direct response. or the 10th plague, all the plagues were a consequence for disobedience and rebelliousness. But anyway, moving on to the next sentence, the deliverance was done in faithfulness to his covenant. Verse 13, to him which divided the Red Sea into parts, This part of the psalmist's tribute to God remembers God's authority over his creation, imparting the Red Sea. The sea in ancient times symbolized chaos, calamity, and death. His sovereignty is magnified in that he has complete dominion over death by causing the very symbol of death, in this case, the Red Sea, to get up and move from where it was. Verse 14, and made Israel to pass through the midst of it. Surrounded, now I'm speaking metaphorically now, guys, so surrounded by the walls of death on two sides, okay, which is the Red Sea, held up by God's sovereignty, His chosen people passed from bondage through the midst of death into what will become the beginning of a new life. That all should sound familiar to everybody. Or that should sound familiar to those who are belonging to Christ. Let's put it like that. So this next phase is a journey. That part reminded me of Psalm 23, verse four. 23, verse four. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, and thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. As the Israelites passed through the over dry land, dry land, not wet, it's dry. They passed through dry land in the midst of death, They did so in confidence in Christ. I mean, sorry, yes, Christ, but the Lord, I'm sorry. I'm breaking up here. The Lord's telling me, reveal me to my people. Okay, sorry. So, the next phase is, okay, so I went through that, okay. The Lord's trustworthiness was made manifest to his people. He divided the sea and made safe, dry passage. The sea, which symbolizes death, could not resist the power of the Lord. Verse 15, but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea. As a result of wickedness, the judgment or penalty is death. Pharaoh's army was destroyed by the sea. The Lord released his grip on the sea and it collapsed, destroying his army. The people did not have to fight. The Lord fought on behalf of his people. The Lord made the path from bondage to freedom and set his chosen on a path to journey in freedom to a place called the land of milk and honey. the land of Israel, Zion, and spiritually, heaven. The next portion of our psalm is verses 16 through 23. We will read about God's covenant loyalty and the journey from the wilderness to the land of milk and honey. Verse 16, to him which led his people through the wilderness. I like how the psalmist is coming in and saying, to him, you know, he's making this great tribute to the Lord, to him, to the Lord, God of hosts, right? To him which led his people through the wilderness. The wilderness is a place in which one can be come lost quickly without the knowledge of where to go or without guidance. The Lord is a guide to his people. He knows the wilderness because he created it. He knows what dangers are in the wilderness. The journey through the wilderness is hard and it lasts for 40 years. And well, for our journeys last longer though, our lives. from being born again, but moving on. Even when his chosen people grumbled and their faith dwindled away, the Lord's faith to his covenant never failed. Never failed. He kept his own, delivering them in love through the hard journey of the wilderness. To him, I'm sorry, verse 17. To him which smote great kings. The Lord destroyed with a heavy hand the strength of Pharaoh, and he will not stop for the sake of his people. When the Lord swears an oath, he is faithful in seeing it through to the fullest. No powers, no authority, no kings or kingdoms will be able to stay the hand of the Lord who is loyal to his promises. verse 18, and slew famous kings. The irony of the famous kings is that when they rebelled against God, their failed rebellion made the God of Israel famous to the nations. So famous that the Lord of Israel was known for his strength among these people. His power and authority was made known to the nations as he fought for his people and was victorious. Excuse me. So verses 19 through 22, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, and gave their land for an heritage, even a heritage, unto Israel his servant. Sihon and Og, I don't know, I would say Sihon, Sihon and Og were both famous kings. They were both mighty, and they were both destroyed by the Israelites. Sion did not allow Israel to pass through his kingdom. Instead, he attacked them. And Israel, led by Moses, destroyed him and took the land he had taken from the Moabites. Og, the king of Bashan, who was also a giant, also opposed the Israelites, who who was destroyed by them, Numbers 21, 34. And the Lord said unto Moses, fear him not for I have delivered him into thy hand. I have delivered him into thy hand and all people, and all his people and his land. and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Zion the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon. The Lord will never turn his back on his people. As we all heard, the Lord went before Israel and won the battle. He handed it over to Israel and said, you're going to win. I gave them to you. I gave their land to you. Don't fear." So from Pharaoh to Sion to Og, the giant, the Lord fights for his own on all fronts. The land was given to Israel from the Lord and it is reemphasized in verse 22. It is a gift of God to show his mercy and compassion, his steadfast love to his people and his covenant loyalty. And his loyalty or his eternal loyalty to his covenant. Which brings us to the next section, which is verses 23 to 25, where we will read about God's covenant loyalty and provision. Verses 23 through 25. Who remembered us in our lowest state and hath redeemed us for our enemies? who giveth food to all flesh. In verses 23 through 25, the psalmist is repeating everything that he has stated in this God-honoring song, that the Lord hears the cries of his people in bondage, and he used his might in the in delivering his elect from their enemies, he is recognized as a creator because he sustains all of creation with his provision. Whether it be food, water, oxygen, the necessities to sustain life are provided and available to all creation in which we see his mercy is extended to all, not just Israel. Okay, our last section and the closing of the song is verse 26, and we will read that we are called to give thanks to the one true living God for his covenant loyalty. Psalm 136, 26. Oh, give thanks unto the God of heaven for His mercy endures forever. In closing, the psalmist calls God's people to thank the Lord who reigns in heaven over creation, a merciful, kind, loving, oath-keeping, chesed-giving Lord whose covenant loyalty endures forever. Brothers and sisters, this psalm is very encouraging. The main point being God is eternally loyal to his covenant with his people. He is loyal through all circumstances. His mercy extends from eternity past to eternity future. So, eternity. No difficulty, no affliction, no suffering, not even death can end His covenant loyalty or His mercy, steadfast love, compassion. Whichever words you'd like to use. I just think that hesed is a stronger word. Even our own disloyalty does nothing to shake his. Take hold to this truth, brothers and sisters. The Lord will teach you his ways and you will learn. When we are out in the world, we should remember that his mercy endures forever. Whenever doubt, fear, anxiety start to set in, remind yourself that the Lord's mercy endures forever. We should remind each other that His mercy endures forever. Most of all, it is a guarantee of the hope which we possess, a hope that is never ending. We have been freed from the bondage of sin and delivered from the city of destruction. We were set upon the path that goes through the wilderness that is long and difficult to navigate. Don't trust your own wisdom, you will get lost. You will get lost in that wilderness. Trust on the wisdom of God. We are on the road to Zion. He will never fail us and never turn his back on us. He will guide us there for his mercy endures forever. Now, as we wrap up this lesson, I would like to conclude with one last point. Bear with me. This is a long lesson. I'm sorry, but that's just the way the Lord planned it out. And this point is that our Lord Jesus Christ is God's Chesed. Christ is the ultimate display of God's Chesed. From his position in the Godhead his hand in creation mentioned in John 1, to his incarnation and tabernacling among us in the flesh. Jesus is the embodiment of Chesed. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am come to destroy, but I am not come to destroy, but fulfill, Matthew 5, 17. He fulfilled the law. In wisdom, Jesus taught his disciples goodness of Chesed in their lives in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, chapter 2 through 12. He freed the captives from bondage to sin and death. He gave life to the death. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8, 2-4. His righteousness and sinless life is what He clothed us in on the cross, the cross where chesed was at its fullest. Our Lord's ultimate display of chesed for His people in the perfect life of Christ Jesus, beaten, scourged, mocked, and nailed to the cross. The perfect obedience and love for His Father and loyalty to His covenant is why He bore the wages of sin on the cross. His covenant loyalty, chesed. By this we know what love is. Jesus laid down His life for us. and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3, verse 16. In his death, he showed us chesed and how we ought to express chesed for our brethren. Follow his lead, his guidance and wisdom, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, agapeo, Another, just, and that's the Greek word that's used for love here, just as I have loved you, You also are to love one another by this. All people will know that you are my disciples. And if you have agape for, and if, well, sorry, that you are my disciples, if you have agape for one another. Agape is the closest Greek word that we get to chesed. So let's read that last part. By all people, by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have chesed for one another. Brothers and sisters, have chesed towards each other. Chesed for our Lord in fear and trembling love him, love each other, build each other up. And that's how the Lord has taught us chesed. And he's fulfilled that in us. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, I thank you, Lord, for this wonderful and beautiful psalm that you have shared with us today. We've learned that Christ is your ultimate embodiment of chesed and you shared with us. Father, I pray, Lord, that your spirit be here as we move on to the next portion of our session today in corporate worship to you, Father. I ask that your spirit may be with Pastor Greg as he feeds your sheep, Lord, that your words may flow to him as they should. And I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.