Psalm 136:1-26

God's love

Thanksgiving is a foundational building block of Christian discipleship. This psalm calls on the reader to give thanks to the Lord 26 times because of his steadfast love. This repeated summons is profoundly surprising. Who would have thought that God’s love could be so ferocious or universally particular? It is rare that one hears God’s love described as the cause for his creating the universe! This psalm will refresh us in our gratitude to God and so restore what is everywhere, in the Bible, considered to be foundational to genuine Christian spirituality.