The Terrible Goodness of God Text: Psalm 136:16-22
Introduction: A God Who Takes Sides
We live in a sentimental age, an age that wants a God who is nice but never severe, a God of fluffy clouds and gentle breezes but never of thunder and judgment. The modern evangelical mind has been conditioned to prefer a divine therapist, a celestial butler, someone who exists to affirm our choices and soothe our anxieties. When confronted with a passage like this one, their instinct is to blush, to stammer, to apologize, or to quickly explain it away as some unfortunate remnant of a primitive, pre-enlightened era.
But the God of the Bible is not a celestial moderate. He is not neutral. He takes sides. This psalm, with its relentless, hammer-blow refrain, "For His lovingkindness endures forever," forces us to confront a truth that our soft generation despises: God's covenant loyalty, His hesed, is a fierce and terrible thing to His enemies. It is a protective fire for His people and a consuming fire for those who set themselves against them. The psalmist here is not embarrassed by God's martial power; he is exulting in it. He is giving thanks for it. He is leading the congregation of Israel in a responsive reading that celebrates the fact that their God kills famous kings and gives their land away.
If this makes you uncomfortable, it is because you have likely been catechized more by the spirit of the age than by the Spirit of God. You have been taught to value a generic, universal niceness over a particular, covenantal love. But the Bible knows nothing of such a love. God's love for His people, His hesed, is not a vague goodwill toward all mankind. It is a specific, binding, loyal love that leads Him to act decisively in history. It led Him to lead His people, to strike their enemies, to kill pagan kings, and to secure for them a home. To praise God for His lovingkindness is to praise Him for all of it, not just the parts that fit neatly on a greeting card.
This passage is a call to worship the God who is, and not the God we have manufactured in the workshops of our own sentimentality. It is a call to remember that our salvation was purchased at a great cost, not just to Christ, but to the enemies of God. The cross was the ultimate act of divine warfare, where the great king, Satan, was struck and disarmed. Let us therefore learn to sing this song with the same robust joy as the Israelites, for the God of Sihon and Og is our God forever and ever.
The Text
To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
To Him who struck great kings,
For His lovingkindness endures forever,
And killed mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness endures forever:
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His lovingkindness endures forever,
And Og, king of Bashan,
For His lovingkindness endures forever,
And gave their land as an inheritance,
For His lovingkindness endures forever,
Even an inheritance to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
(Psalm 136:16-22 LSB)
Wilderness Leadership (v. 16)
The litany of God's mighty acts continues, picking up after the Exodus.
"To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness endures forever;" (Psalm 136:16)
The forty years in the wilderness were not a pleasant camping trip. It was a time of testing, judgment, and profound dependence. But through it all, God led them. He was their guide, their quartermaster, and their protector. He gave them water from a rock, bread from the sky, and a pillar of cloud and fire to direct their steps. This leadership was an expression of His hesed, His covenant faithfulness. He had promised to bring them into the land, and He would not abandon them halfway. This is a great comfort. Our God is not one who begins a work and then leaves it unfinished. The one who leads us into the wilderness of this life will surely lead us through it. His lovingkindness is not a fair-weather friendship; it is an all-weather, rock-solid commitment that endures forever.
The Divine Warrior (v. 17-18)
Now the psalm turns from provision to conquest. God's hesed has a sharp edge.
"To Him who struck great kings, For His lovingkindness endures forever, And killed mighty kings, For His lovingkindness endures forever:" (Psalm 136:17-18 LSB)
Here is the stumbling block for the modern reader. We are to give thanks because God struck and killed kings. Notice the adjectives: they were "great" and "mighty." This was no small thing. God did not simply arrange for a peaceful retirement. He executed them. And the reason given is His everlasting lovingkindness. How can this be? It can be because God's lovingkindness is directed toward "Israel His servant." He loves His people, and therefore He opposes those who oppose them. He is a king who defends His subjects.
This is the logic of the imprecatory psalms. It is the logic of a world where good and evil are real, and where God is not a dispassionate observer. To wish for God to strike down wicked rulers who persecute His church is not an act of personal vengeance. It is a prayer for justice. It is a prayer that God would vindicate His own name and protect His own people. The psalmist understands that the lovingkindness of God toward His elect necessitates the judgment of God upon their intractable enemies. To thank God for salvation is to thank Him for defeating that which would have destroyed you.
The Rogues' Gallery (v. 19-20)
The psalm then gets specific, naming the defeated kings as examples of God's power.
"Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His lovingkindness endures forever, And Og, king of Bashan, For His lovingkindness endures forever," (Genesis 1:19-20 LSB)
These are not generic "bad guys." Sihon and Og were the first major military obstacles Israel faced on the way to the Promised Land. They were Amorite kings, and this is theologically significant. Centuries before, God had told Abraham that his descendants would be sojourners, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Gen. 15:16). Now, the cup of their iniquity was full to the brim, and it was time for judgment. God's patience had run its course. The destruction of Sihon and Og was not arbitrary; it was a righteous sentence, long delayed, now executed.
Furthermore, Og was famous for being one of the last of the Rephaim, the giants. His bed was a local tourist attraction, a massive thing of iron over thirteen feet long (Deut. 3:11). The defeat of Og was a giant-killing expedition. It was a demonstration that nothing, no matter how intimidating, can stand against the purposes of God. The very enemies that had terrified the faithless spies years before were now being dismantled by God's mighty hand. And all of this is ascribed to His eternal hesed. His love for His people is a giant-killing love.
The Gift of Inheritance (v. 21-22)
The result of the conquest is the fulfillment of the promise: a place for God's people.
"And gave their land as an inheritance, For His lovingkindness endures forever, Even an inheritance to Israel His servant, For His lovingkindness endures forever," (Psalm 136:21-22 LSB)
God did not just rescue Israel from Egypt; He rescued them for a purpose. He did not just defeat their enemies; He gave them a home. The land was not won by Israel's military might. It was a gift, an inheritance, bestowed by the sovereign Lord of all the earth. He who created the world has the right to assign its property deeds. This was not theft; it was a divine transfer of title. The land was given "to Israel His servant." The word "servant" here is a title of honor, denoting a covenant relationship. God provides for those who are in covenant with Him.
This is a pattern of God's grace. He does not just forgive our sins and leave us spiritually homeless. He gives us an inheritance. He brings us into His family, into His kingdom, into His church. He gives us a place to belong. Our salvation is not just a deliverance from hell, but an inheritance in the heavenly places. And this too is because His lovingkindness endures forever.
Conclusion: The Enduring Hesed
This is our history as well. The God who acted for Israel is the God who has acted for us in Jesus Christ. He has led us through the wilderness of our sin and rebellion. He has, at the cross, struck the great and mighty king, the prince of this world, and disarmed the principalities and powers. He has defeated our most formidable enemies: sin and death. And He has given us an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, reserved in heaven for us.
Every one of these historical acts of deliverance and judgment points to the ultimate deliverance and judgment accomplished in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His death was the ultimate striking of the great king, and His resurrection was the ultimate provision of an inheritance for His people. The reason for all of it is the same refrain that echoes through this psalm: For His hesed endures forever.
Therefore, we must not be timid in our praise. We must not edit the character of God to make Him more palatable to a rebellious world. We worship a God of fierce, covenantal love. We worship a God who saves His people and judges His enemies. We worship a God who kills mighty kings and gives their lands as an inheritance. Let us thank Him for His terrible goodness, for His mighty acts of power, and for the lovingkindness that saw us in our low estate and redeemed us from our enemies. For His lovingkindness endures forever.