Day 179 or June 28. Some things really do last forever. Our thoughts today are rooted
in Psalm 136 verse 1. His love endures forever.
First the big picture surrounding this verse. There is a psalm included in our selection
for today that became very famous amongst popular music lovers of the 1970s. Jeremiah
possibly wrote the original before members of a Jamaican reggae band rewrote it as a
Rastafarian song. Interestingly, the Jamaicans didn't choose this psalm by accident, as
Rastafarians broadly reject Western society, which it calls Babylon. Then a group called
Boney M. recorded it, and it became a big hit as a single called By the Rivers of Babylon.
The psalm before this one is the most repetitive psalm in the Bible. It has 26 verses, and
every one ends the same way.
And now today's action step. When you try to return a defective piece of electronic
equipment these days that you bought a year or two ago, you are often greeted with the
phrase, Nothing lasts forever. Sadly, that's true, because every electronic item that is
made is automatically improved, within months, and so rendered obsolete. The anonymous psalmist
who wrote Psalm 136 anticipated this, and to make his point par excellence, he wrote
26 verses and repeated the same phrase 26 times.
His love endures forever. What a word of comfort knowing that our God's love endures forever.
In some older versions of the Bible, this is translated, His mercy endureth forever.
Whenever you have to replace or update something, send a quick thanks to your Father in heaven
for never needing to be replaced or updated. Many scientists tell us that the universe
is about halfway through its life, and should last about as long again as it's already
existed. Then they add, of course, Nothing lasts forever, even the universe. To which
I always add, except of course the God who made the universe, because He lasts forever,
and so does His love and mercy.