Psalm136: An ancient 7-11

When morning broke the other day, what a fashion show the sky put on! Correction: what a show God provided! I thought of the third verse of Psalm 113, one of many written entirely to praise God:
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,  The name of the LORD is to be praised. (v. 3)
My husband has become an early riser, thanks in part to an old codger cat who scratches the wall by our bed for its 4:30 a.m. breakfast (the first one). After that, it’s too noisy for me to sleep much longer, so I stumble out.  Like a diesel engine on a long-haul truck, I need some warming up.  A lot of warming up! And that morning, a tangerine and hot pink sky provided a wonderful wake-up treat.

It’s easy to praise God for beauty on earth and in sky. But I once had a hard time figuring out a psalm just a few pages over, #136. Over and over it says, “Give thanks to the LORD….His love endures forever.”  For a while I decided it was an early Hebrew version of modern praise choruses referred to by wags as 7-11s (for seven words sung eleven times).  Plus, the bulk of the praise went to a trying, bloody time of history: when the Hebrews left Egypt and fought their way to the Promised Land.

Start the cameras.  Zoom in on men, women and children in a worship setting, led by priests and designated musicians. They live in times of oral history. This lesson has several chapters:

*Before creation—God always was, the Highest and the Only (vv. 1-3).

*Creation—“God” is the explanation for the universe, our solar system, and our planet with its divisions of day and night (vv.4-9).
*The Exodus—One special man’s clan went to a foreign land where they ended up slaves. Then God miraculously plucked them out of there and sent them to a new homeland (vv.10-15).
*The Conquest—Yes, there was bloodshed. This was no longer Eden, but lands filled with vile and violent people (vv.17-22).
*God’s Continuing Care—God provided freedom and food for the refugees(vv. 23-25).
And what’s the big lesson of this history? To thank God (v.26) and declare the enduring nature of His love.

Of course, this wasn’t the end of Hebrew history. But in retelling history to that point, the psalm provided plenty of praise-God material. Bible scholar Derek Kidner observed that the Hebrew translated to English as “give thanks” really means “thankfully confess” or “acknowledge gratefully.” As such, it raises the question that Bible teacher James Montgomery Boice articulated: “In our worship of God, are we consistently and joyfully thanking God for his many great and kind acts toward us?” (Psalms Vol. 3, Baker 1998, p. 1180).

It’s not just about tangerine skies.  It’s about courage when life is hard, gratitude for God’s help (often delivered via people who push us deeper spiritually), and anticipation of where all this is going in God’s perfect plan. The last stanza lifts us to eternity:
Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

Will there be tangerine sunrises in that “forever” place with God?  Why not?