The Unchanging God and His Unchanging Purpose Text: Psalm 135:13-14
Introduction: A Name That Lasts
We live in an age of manufactured identities and disposable reputations. Men build their little kingdoms, their brands, their legacies, and they watch them crumble to dust before the funeral flowers have even wilted. Fame is a vapor, and the memory of man is a leaky vessel. We are obsessed with "making a name for ourselves," which is precisely what the men at Babel were trying to do. And what is the result? Confusion and scattering. Every attempt by man to secure his own name, to make it permanent, is an act of rebellion against the one whose name alone is everlasting.
The gods of the heathen, as this psalm goes on to say, are idols of silver and gold. They have names, certainly. Baal, Molech, Ashtoreth. In our day, they are called Progress, or Science, or The State, or Self. But their names are temporary because their power is a fiction. They are nothing, and their remembrance will perish with them. They are like the great kings of old, Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, mentioned just before our text. They were mighty in their day, but now they are footnotes in the history of God's triumph. Their names are remembered only because God defeated them.
Into this world of fading glories and forgotten names, the psalmist makes a thunderous declaration. He pivots from the historical acts of God in delivering Israel to the very character and nature of God Himself. He reminds us that our security is not found in our own strength or our own memory, but in the God whose name and remembrance are fixed forever. This is the anchor of the saints. The world is a raging sea of change and decay, but the name of Yahweh is a rock that cannot be moved. And because His name endures, His purposes for His people endure as well.
The Text
O Yahweh, Your name is everlasting,
O Yahweh, Your remembrance is from generation to generation.
For Yahweh will render justice for His people
And will give comfort to His slaves.
(Psalm 135:13-14 LSB)
The Eternal Name and Memorial (v. 13)
We begin with the bedrock assertion of God's permanence.
"O Yahweh, Your name is everlasting, O Yahweh, Your remembrance is from generation to generation." (Psalm 135:13)
The name of God, Yahweh, is not a mere label. In Scripture, a name reveals the essential character and nature of a thing. When God revealed His name to Moses at the burning bush, "I AM WHO I AM," He was declaring His absolute, unchangeable, self-existent being. He is the God who is. Everything else becomes, or was, or will be. He simply is. Therefore, His name, His very character, is everlasting. It does not evolve. It does not improve. It does not diminish. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
This is a profound comfort and a terrifying thought, depending entirely on where you stand with Him. If you are His enemy, then you are fighting against an unchangeable reality. You might as well try to punch the sunrise. But if you are His child, then His unchanging nature is the foundation of all your hope. His promises are backed by His eternal character. He does not make a covenant and then "re-evaluate His priorities" a few centuries later.
The psalmist pairs the "everlasting name" with His "remembrance from generation to generation." The name is His objective character; the remembrance is how that character is known and recalled in human history. God has not just existed in eternal silence; He has acted. He has revealed Himself. And the memory of those actions, the memorial of His works, is to be passed down from father to son, from one generation to the next. What is this remembrance? It is the memory of the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, the conquest of Canaan, the smiting of the firstborn. It is the history of His salvation.
For us, in the new covenant, this remembrance is centered on an even greater act. The name of Jesus is now the name above every name, and our remembrance is of the cross and the empty tomb. We do this every Lord's Day when we come to the Table. We "proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." We are remembering. We are ensuring that the memorial of His great work of redemption is passed down to our children, from generation to generation, until the end of time. His name is eternal, and the gospel is the story of that name, a story that must never be forgotten.
The Vindication of His People (v. 14)
Because God's character is unchanging and His saving acts are remembered, a necessary consequence follows for His people.
"For Yahweh will render justice for His people And will give comfort to His slaves." (Psalm 135:14 LSB)
The word "for" connects this verse directly to the last. Because God is who He is, this is what He does. First, He "will render justice for His people." The Hebrew word for justice here is often translated as "judge." Now, in our modern, therapeutic age, the word "judge" is always heard with a sour note. To be judged is to be condemned. But in the Bible, judgment is fantastic news for the people of God. When God comes to judge, He is coming to set things right. For the wicked, this means condemnation. But for the righteous, it means deliverance, vindication, and salvation.
When the Israelites were groaning under Pharaoh's whip, they cried out for God to judge. They wanted Him to intervene, to crush their oppressors and set them free. That is judgment. When the martyrs under the altar cry out, "How long, O Lord?" they are asking for judgment. For God to judge His people is for Him to act as their champion, to plead their cause against their enemies. It means He will step in and fix the mess. This is a promise that should make the saints sing. In a world that slanders us, persecutes us, and mocks our faith, we have a promise that Yahweh Himself will step into the courtroom and render the final verdict in our favor. He will vindicate His people.
And not only will He vindicate them, but He "will give comfort to His slaves." The word for comfort here can also be translated as "have compassion" or even "repent." Now, we must be careful here. This does not mean God changes His mind in the way we do, admitting He was wrong. As we just established, His name is everlasting and He is unchanging. Rather, it means He relents from a course of judgment or chastisement and turns to His people in tender mercy. It is an anthropomorphism, describing God's actions from our perspective.
When Israel sinned, God would bring discipline upon them. He would hand them over to their enemies. But when they cried out to Him, He would "repent" of the calamity He had brought and would show them compassion. He would comfort them. He is a father who disciplines his children, but His heart is always turned toward them in love. He calls them His "slaves" or "servants" here, which emphasizes His ownership and their duty. But the great paradox of the gospel is that to be a slave of Christ is to be truly free. And this Master does not merely command His slaves; He comforts them. He has compassion on them. He binds up their wounds and vindicates their cause. This is our God. His name is forever, and His nature is to save.
Conclusion: The Unchanging Anchor
So what does this mean for us? It means everything. Our culture is adrift, having rejected the only name that is everlasting. It seeks to build its own remembrance, but it is building on sand. The waves are already washing it away. But the Church is built on the rock of Jesus Christ, the one whose name is eternal.
When we are discouraged by the state of the world, when we feel like the cause of Christ is losing, we must anchor ourselves in this truth. God's name has not changed. His character has not eroded. His promises have not expired. And because His name endures forever, His purpose to judge and comfort His people also endures forever.
The judgment we look forward to is the final judgment, when Christ returns. On that day, He will render perfect justice for His people. Every slander will be silenced. Every injustice will be overturned. He will wipe away every tear. He will vindicate His saints before a watching universe. And He will bring us into everlasting comfort.
Until that day, we are to be the keepers of His remembrance. We are to tell our children of His mighty acts. We are to sing His praises. We are to live as though we belong to the everlasting God, not to this fleeting age. For we are His people, His servants, and He will not abandon us. His name is our guarantee.