The Unblinking Liturgy of Reality Text: Psalm 136:4-9
Introduction: The Drumbeat of Hesed
We live in an age of cosmic amnesia. Our generation is perhaps the most catechized in history, but it has been catechized by fools. We are taught, from our cradles, a grand and sweeping narrative of meaninglessness. We are told that we are the accidental byproduct of a blind, purposeless cosmic process. The universe, in this telling, is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. And so, modern man wanders through a world he believes to be empty, and is then surprised to find that his own heart is empty as well.
Into this bleak and sterile landscape, Psalm 136 marches with the relentless, rhythmic force of a legion. This is not a psalm for quiet, sentimental reflection. This is a corporate liturgy, a responsive reading designed to be shouted. It is a call-and-response where the truth is hammered home, blow after blow, until it reshapes the very way we see the world. The refrain, "For His lovingkindness endures forever," is not a gentle suggestion. It is a declaration of war against all despair, all chaos, and all ingratitude.
The Hebrew word here is hesed. It is one of the most important words in the Old Testament, and it is notoriously difficult to translate with a single English word. "Lovingkindness" is good. "Mercy," "steadfast love," "covenant faithfulness" are also good. It is a love that is not based on the worthiness of the beloved, but on the sworn oath and character of the lover. It is a rugged, loyal, unbreakable love. And this psalm tells us that this hesed is the foundational truth of the universe. The original Hebrew doesn't even have the verb "endures." It is more stark: "For His hesed forever." It is a statement of eternal reality. The psalm begins by applying this reality to the work of creation. Before we can understand God's work in redemption, we must first understand His work in creation. The two are woven from the same cloth. The God who redeems is the God who made all things, and He made them as a staggering display of His eternal faithfulness.
The Text
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness endures forever:
The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness endures forever,
The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
(Psalm 136:4-9 LSB)
God the Sole Wonder Worker (v. 4)
The first stanza in our section establishes the exclusive nature of God's creative power.
"To Him who alone does great wonders, For His lovingkindness endures forever;" (Psalm 136:4)
The psalmist begins by clearing the stage of all rivals. God "alone" does great wonders. This is a direct assault on every form of polytheism and idolatry. The ancient world was crowded with gods, little tribal deities who were assigned their various tasks and territories. But the God of the Bible is not one god among many. He is the only God. There is no one else in His league; there is no one else in the stadium. He does not share His glory with another.
A "wonder" is not just an impressive feat. It is a sign, something that points beyond itself to the nature of the one who performed it. The creation itself is the great, foundational wonder. It is the primary evidence that we are dealing with a God of infinite power and intelligence. And why did He do it? The refrain gives the answer: "For His hesed forever." The creation of the world was not a clinical, sterile exercise of power. It was an act of covenantal love. He created the world as the theater for His glory and the home for His people. The very existence of rocks and rivers, of gravity and light, is a testimony to the steadfast love of God. He built a stable world because He is a stable God. He built a reliable world because He is a reliable God. This is the bedrock of all science. Science is only possible because the universe is orderly and predictable, and it is orderly and predictable because it was made and is sustained by a God of unbreakable covenant faithfulness.
The Skillful Architect (v. 5-6)
Next, the psalm directs our attention to the heavens and the earth, the two great realms of the created order.
"To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness endures forever; To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His lovingkindness endures forever;" (Psalm 136:5-6 LSB)
The heavens were made "with skill" or "by understanding." This is not a chaotic accident. This is divine architecture. The universe is not the result of a cosmic spill. It is the product of infinite intelligence. Think of the staggering, mind-bending complexity of the cosmos, the fine-tuning of the physical constants that make life possible. If any of these were altered by the tiniest fraction, the universe would be a sterile wasteland. This is skill. This is wisdom. The materialist looks at this and has to invent an infinite number of other universes in a desperate attempt to make our existence a statistical probability. The Christian looks at it and says, "My Father made that." And He did it because of His hesed.
Then we have the earth "spread out above the waters." This is a direct reference to the third day of creation, when God commanded the dry land to appear out of the global sea (Gen. 1:9). This is another polemical jab. In the pagan myths, the land is the result of a violent battle between the gods. But here, the waters are not a rival deity to be subdued. They are God's creature, and they obey His voice instantly. He spreads out the land as easily as a man spreads a blanket. And He does this to make a stable place for His creatures to live. This act of separation, of bringing order out of the unformed, is a fundamental expression of His faithful love. He builds a home for us, and He does it because His hesed is forever.
The Great Lights as Governors (v. 7-9)
Finally, the psalmist points to the rulers God established in the heavens.
"To Him who made the great lights, For His lovingkindness endures forever: The sun to rule by day, For His lovingkindness endures forever, The moon and stars to rule by night, For His lovingkindness endures forever." (Genesis 1:7-9 LSB)
On the fourth day of creation, God made the "great lights." Notice that they are not given their pagan names here. They are simply "lights." This is a deliberate demotion. The sun and moon were among the chief deities in the ancient Near East. Egypt worshipped Ra, the sun god. The Babylonians worshipped Sin, the moon god. But the Bible will have none of it. The sun and moon are not gods to be worshipped; they are creatures, tools, servants appointed to a task. They are lamps that God hung in the sky.
And what is their task? They are "to rule." The sun rules the day, and the moon and stars rule the night. This is a delegated authority. They are governors, viceroys, put in place by the great King to order the rhythm of life on earth. They govern the seasons, the tides, the cycles of work and rest. Every time the sun rises, it is a sermon on the faithfulness of God. It is a declaration that God's covenant with the day and the night has not been broken (Jer. 33:20-21). The steady, predictable, reliable movement of the heavenly bodies is a constant, visible reminder of the steady, predictable, reliable hesed of God.
The alarm clock goes off in the morning because the sun was appointed to rule the day, and the sun was appointed to rule the day because God's lovingkindness endures forever. The entire chain of cause and effect rests on the character of God. The pagan worships the creature, the sun. The Christian worships the Creator who made the sun and gave it its job. And he understands that the sun's faithful service is just one more iteration in the unending song of God's covenant loyalty.
Conclusion: Creation's Unending Sermon
These verses are not simply a poetic description of nature. They are a theological argument. They teach us how to look at the world. The world is not a neutral collection of facts. It is a symphony of praise. Every part of it, from the quasars in the distant galaxies to the tectonic plates beneath our feet, is shouting the same refrain: "For His hesed forever."
The unbeliever looks at the sun and sees a thermonuclear furnace. The believer looks at the sun and sees a governor appointed by the King of Heaven as a testimony to His unbreakable faithfulness. The unbeliever looks at the order of the cosmos and calls it "law," as though the law wrote itself. The believer looks at that same order and calls it "obedience," the obedience of the creation to the constant, sustaining Word of its Creator.
This is why we give thanks. We give thanks because the world is not an accident. We give thanks because we are not accidents. We were made by a God of skill, a God of wonders, a God whose fundamental nature is covenant-keeping love. And this God who demonstrated His hesed in creation has demonstrated it supremely in redemption. The one who made the great lights is the one who is the great light (John 8:12). The one who separated the land from the waters is the one who separates us from our sin. The God of creation is the God of the cross. And His lovingkindness, His hesed, revealed in both, is forever.