Hey friends! Today I want to talk about something that we can all do today to help us grow closer to God. This can help us with our faith and mindset of our relationship with God, as well as our outlook on circumstances in life. Some days, we feel like we're on cloud nine, and other days we realize we've completely forgotten about God. On some days, it can be easy to remember that God has us in his hands, and on other days it can be harder to remember.
In Psalm 136, David mentions twenty-six statements- How good God is, what's happening in his life, what he's thankful for, and how God has shown up for him. I've read this chapter multiple times, and in the past, usually I would read his returning statement, "His steadfast love endures forever", a few times and then skip over those statements.
The other day, as I was flipping through the Psalms, I stopped on Psalm 136 again. As I read, I started to skip by his repeating statement after each verse. About halfway through reading, I felt God tell me that there's a reason why the statement, "His steadfast love endures forever.", is after each verse in the chapter, so I started over and read the entire chapter start to finish.
And then, I realized the whole point of the chapter: We need to repeat this promise from God to ourselves through everything that happens in our life. We need that constant reminder that He will always love us- on the good and bad days.
Psalm 136 has many different statements, followed by the repeating statement. The chapter starts off with David thanking God:
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever."
"Give thanks to the God of gods. His steadfast love endures forever."
"Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His steadfast love endures forever."
David also recalls how God created the heavens and the earth, how he delivered him from his enemies, how he's protected him and shown up for him, and more. Although, this chapter isn't just for David. This chapter is for everyone, and anyone can apply this to their life.
Today, you can participate by doing the same thing that David did. No matter what's happened in your life, the answer will always be the same.
Nowhere in this chapter does God say, "I love you forever because you've been a great Christian.", and then the moment you slip up, God says, "I don't love you anymore."
When sickness attacks, his steadfast love endures forever.
When you feel betrayed, his steadfast love endures forever.
When they're not being loving towards you, his steadfast love endures forever.
When you've fallen into sin and can't find a way out, his steadfast love endures forever.
When you can't love yourself, his steadfast love endures forever.
When you fail to love God, his steadfast love endures forever.
In this chapter, God wants to show you that you are so valuable to Him, and will always be loved by Him. No matter what the circumstances are in your life this week, he loves you and will never stop loving you. He'll never leave.
He made a point to write Psalm 136 this way, so it's guaranteed that applying this to your own life will help you just like it did for David when he needed the reminder. Reminding yourself that God loves you might be all that you need after what's happened this past week or season.
Free journal prompt
You can click the file below to access the journal prompt!
After you've written out all of these answers, make a second list with David's statement about God after each one. The best part about this prompt is that no matter what the answers to these questions were for you, you can put this statement after each one.
I promise that this will uplift you if you sincerely bring your life and heart to God and believe that his steadfast love endures forever through it all.
If any of you have any topics that you would like to read about in the future, comment below what you would be interested in! Thank you for reading!
Stay connected!
Additional bible verses for you today!
Philippians 4:13
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Romans 8:31-39
Matthew 28:20