What's the Name of That Song?

My daughter, Amy, usually checks in with me every morning after dropping off the precious ones at school. This morning, when the phone rang a little earlier, I thought maybe someone was ill but was nicely surprised that the two of them just wanted to talk to me before they headed off to school. They wanted their MaMa to tell them a story so I shared a funny one about their Uncle Mark and their Mommy when they were little kids. Alicia and Landon really enjoy the escapades of these two as they grew up.

On many Sunday afternoons after church, the kids loved to go visit a man who lived in Roswell who owned horses. He would let them get close and pet their noses and they got a real kick (not literally) out of it. On this particular afternoon, as we rode to the farm, Amy was in a singing mood as she was most of the time, especially in the car much to her brother's sensitive ears. :)The lyrics went like this: "Going to the barn to see the horses, going to the barn to see the horses, going to the barn to see the horses, going to the barn to see the horses....................................".  You get the picture, right? Mark was begging us to make her hush when Danny said to me "I bet you that I know the name of that song!"  About that time, our two-year daughter chimed in "Yes, Daddy, it's called the Hattachoochee Fiver." (aka  the Chattahoochee River.)  I quickly quipped to her Daddy that he would have lost that bet.

Now, I don't know if that story is as funny to you as the two grands who were belly-laughing in the backseat of their car this morning but I thought of it again as I took my Bible down this morning and was meditating on Psalm 136. In all of the 26 verses, this phrase is repeated: "For His mercy endureth forever." In my last blog, I made mention of the singers in 2 Chronicles 20:21 and that was their song too. I noted that in one translation that the words are: "His steadfast love endures forever." I looked up the word in the Hebrew concordance and it is "chesed", kheh'sed and can be translated in these terms- lovingkindness, steadfast love, grace, mercy, and faithfulness. I like the sound of all of those, don't you, dear one? One author writes: "In general, three basic meanings of the word which always interact are  strength, steadfastness and love."  Be blessed as you contemplate those three character aspects of our wonderful Lord today.

Oh, people of God, it is a good thing to remember and a wonderful song to sing today that our God's steadfast love endures forever. Matthew Henry said it is "an inexhaustible fountain." This Psalm was probably sung in two parts- one group proclaiming the truth of the beginning of the verses and another responding in worship with "His mercy endures forever." If we had a choice as the worship leader was teaching us the song, I would have wanted the second part- easy to remember. :) Or, is it? Do our lives reflect that truth that we know that His mercy endures forever? We have a song to sing today concerning God's goodness- vs.1-3. We worship Him today because of Who He is, the God of gods and the Lord of lords.  He's to be exalted today in our lives because of His greatness- vs. 4-9. We stand in awe of only Him- He Who spoke and created this world and did so according to this Psalm because of His steadfast love. Ps. 33:8 tells us to "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."  The older that I get, the less impressed that I am with anyone or anything but my fascination with His greatness increases all the time. He's good and He's great and that is a comforting combination to this traveler.

He is our guiding God today, just as He was and is to His people, Israel- vs. 10-22. He led them out of Egypt and destroyed their enemies. He will again! Nations may gather and are rallying to the cry of destroying God's chosen people but they will not prevail. God is the Victor and we, as His redeemed people, are more than conquerors today. Let's not be dismayed nor anxious, Christian friend, as we see the uprisings and the tumults around the globe. God's steadfast love endures forever and He is not taken by surprise this day by any leader nor country's plan. God is our governing God! HALLELUJAH!!!!  I see in verses 23-26 that He is our gracious God. Praise Him for that today- that He found us and remembered us in our low estate. "Who am I that a King would bleed and die for?"  He rescues us from our foes and feeds us- oh, yes, our daily benefits are bountiful, aren't they?

Well, children of the living God, we know the name of the song- let's sing it in our hearts today- "O, give thanks unto the LORD: for He is good : for His mercy endureth for ever. His mercy endureth forever. His mercy endureth forever and ever and ever.............."

He's worthy of our praise!

Deborah