Today we come to the second half of Psalm 136, verses 13-26. This section of the Psalm continues yesterday’s focus and repetition that God’s love “endures forever.” Here again, we see that the Psalm emphasizes God’s mighty acts for Israel as evidence that His love for His people “endures.” What has God done for them? He has “divided the Red Sea asunder” (verse 13); “brought Israel through the midst of it” (verse 14); “swept Pharaoh and his army into the sea” (verse 15); and He “led them through the desert” (verse 16). We have repeated and reviewed these acts many times because repetition is a literary device that teaches us to remember. God does not want His people to forget that He loves them. We also read in verse 23 that God “remembered us in our low estate.” God wants us to remember because “He remembers.” What would our “estate” be like if God were forgetful – like we sometimes are? The Psalm concludes at verse 26 by stating, “Give thanks to the God of heaven” because “His love endures forever.” His love can endure forever because He remembers forever. God’s eternal remembrance for the needs of His people is a public demonstration that arises out of His enduring love. He will not forget us. Thank God that His love and His memory “endures forever!” This is a reason to praise God.
In Daniel 7-8:14, we read about Daniel’s visions of world empires – future to him – but now history to us. These visions include vivid pictures of “four great beasts,” a description of the “Ancient of Days and His court,” and the coming of “the Son of Man,” – followed by an angelic interpretation of these visions (7:3-27). In Daniel 8:1-14, we see another vision – in this one, a ram and a goat. The events of this vision relate to a time when the “daily sacrifice” would be taken away; the sanctuary would be desecrated; the “LORD’s people would be given over” to “the rebellion that causes desolation;” and truth would be “thrown to the ground” (verses 9-12). These descriptions fit into the historical time frame which was fulfilled when Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the Jewish temple in 168 BC. Antiochus and his historical persecutions also foreshadow the future desolations by the Antichrist in the coming tribulation. Today’s Scriptures provide excellent examples of God’s control over men, nations, and events, and they all reveal His enduring authority and power. Another reason to praise God and give Him thanks.
In 1 John 2:12-27, the apostle emphasizes our assurance in Christ Jesus. We are forgiven, and John wants us to know this truth with certainty – “because we know the Father” (verses 13-14). Knowing about God is not the same as knowing God. Anything that separates us from knowing God personally is of this world and is actually a barrier to our salvation. Such a barrier prevents us from knowing the Father intimately (verse 15). “Doing the will of God” is the product and the evidence of knowing Him (verse 17), and it results in life everlasting. Here, John warns us of the dangers of “many antichrists.” Their spirit produces the “lie and the denial that Jesus is the Christ,” and it constitutes the identifying mark of those who do not know God. How could they know God if they deny His Son? Again, John says that eternal life comes to those who “acknowledge the Son” (verse 23), because their open acknowledgment and recognition is likewise a public demonstration of their knowledge – that they know God – Who is able to save us and keep us saved (verse 24). We have so many reasons to praise God.
Comments