­­Psalm 136 and the Blessing of Spiritual Speed Bumps

­Does the love of God still feel like breaking news in your life? If we’re honest, sometimes the “old, old story” seems, well, old to us, particularly if we’ve been a Christian for many years. But the writers of Scripture never tire of recounting this theme. They never take it for granted.

Psalm 136 gives us a vivid picture of what keeping God’s steadfast love front and center looks like in the life story of God’s people. It begins with thanksgiving to God (v.1–3) and recites Israel’s history from the creation of the world (v.4–9), through the exodus (v.10–16), and into the promised land (v.17–22). In fact, there are several other psalms that rehearse Israel’s story, including Psalms 78, 105, 106, and 135. But Psalm 136 is unique for the phrase that is repeated in every single verse—a total of 26 times!—“for his steadfast love endures forever.”

In one sense, the story reads more smoothly without the refrain. Just try reading the first half of each verse aloud and skip the refrain, and you will see that it’s quite coherent. Doing this, however, would subvert the inspired poet’s aim, which we start to grasp when we read it aloud all the way through. Try it now. What do you notice? Did the refrain sometimes feel like overkill to you? Did you find yourself impatient to get through the psalm? Were you bored and thinking by the end, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” I’ve certainly experienced that as I’ve read this psalm in the past, but in my most recent reading, I took time to consider: What is the psalmist’s point in keeping this refrain front and center throughout?

In fact, the refrain serves as a spiritual speed bump. It slows us down. Its repetition draws our attention again and again to God. It reminds us that absolutely everything that happened in Israel’s history is purposeful and is tethered to the steadfast love of God. Creation. Rescue from slavery. Sustenance in the wilderness. Inheritance of the promised land. Through good and bad, thick and thin, sin and suffering, God is accomplishing his good purposes in his people. The psalmist beckons God’s people to take notice of this glorious reality. “Slow down, brothers and sisters, and repeat after me: the steadfast love of God endures forever.” Steadfast love. These are the very words of self-identification God used as he spoke to Moses in Exodus 34:6: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” His face looms behind the facts of Israel’s journey.

We are part of Israel’s storyline too, but as participants in an even greater display of God’s steadfast love. As remarkable as Israel’s journey was to this point, the unfolding story of God’s enduring love ultimately ends in the redemption brought through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). That’s where his steadfast love finds its fullest expression. Your very life as a believer in Christ is tethered to his love.

We know this, of course. But it’s easy for it to get pushed gradually to the periphery of our vision. When life is good, we tend to forget his love. When life is hard, we can doubt his love. Either way, his love is no longer the animating center of our life. Even if we recognize a particular manifestation of his love in a given moment, yesterday’s grace and mercy often evaporate from our memory as we face the challenges of a new day.

This is why I need Psalm 136’s prompt to slow down and reframe every day of my life in the glaring goodness of his love. I need the glorious monotony of recounting again and again our triune God’s enduring covenantal love.

Here’s what slowing down recently looked like for me:

The details will look different for you, but know that every aspect of your life story is underscored and interwoven with God’s love. You and I never “move on” from remembering and basking in his steadfast love. We never graduate from the school of his love. It’s the spiritual air we breathe, the oxygen we need as we embrace blessings, endure hardship, and wrestle with sin. How much we need to count on the reality that he’s set his love upon us no matter what, and that he is truly working all things for good for those he fiercely loves.

This invests the twists and turns of our lives with a sense of his gracious presence and purposes. Our lives are not a mere catalog of events, but a highly personal journey undergirded and woven by the particularized love of God. His love is always breaking news for us. So, notice Psalm 136’s speed bump today, slow down, and repeat after me: “for his steadfast love endures forever.”