At the start of our series on historical psalms, we looked at some of the points of studying history. There are many reasons why history continues to be so useful to us. History provides us with yet more evidence of who God is and what He is capable of. The historical psalms help us (as 2 Tim 3:16-17 reminds us) in different ways.

1. They give us information about the past in a condensed form (often very helpful to have the ‘important’ bits highlighted for us, as any student revising for exams will testify!)
2. They caution us to remind us of past disobedience (which hopefully prevents us from making the same mistakes again!)
3. They instruct us as to how to live to please God (in obedience and thanksgiving, remembering God’s character and actions.)
4. They are powerful teaching aids for the next generation. ‘Often in the Old Testament, when a child asks a father about a particular memorial, stone, feast, or location, the parents must be ready to explain the significance of the past event and provide the relevant application to them so as to live appropriately in response. Thus, the relaying of the past should prompt the parents to present Israel’s history to the next generation so as to instruct them walk in the ways of God and warn them to flee from the ways of sin.’ (Geoffrey R. Kirkland) I am passionate about passing on truths of God to the next generation so that they too may know and praise God for themselves.
5. They prompt us to worship and adore God. ‘The same God of old remains exactly the same God today because He is immutable. The God of creation is the same God of the Patriarchs. The God who loved Jacob is the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt by parting the Red Sea miraculously. The God who split the Red Sea preserved an entire nation of people for 40 years in the hot, dry, troublesome wilderness. This same God who led His people dwelt among them in the Tabernacle and remained faithful even when they sinned — incessantly.’ (Geoffrey R. Kirkland) History is not an end in itself. Worshipping God is part of the aim of mankind: ‘man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever’, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it.) The historical psalms aren’t there to simply teach us about the past. They are there to inspire us to worship a God whose faithfulness, power, sovereignty and love are the solid foundations for a blessed life.

I think God’s goodness is the one thing we so easily doubt when misfortune knocks at our door. Spurgeon once said of John Bunyan, “Prick that man anywhere and his blood runs bibline.” He meant that Bunyan’s thinking and life were both inextricably shaped by the Bible, and this is why it is so important for us to be soaked in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus. (2 Tim 3:15) When adversity calls and we are knocked over by life’s hurricanes – illness, bereavement, financial desperation, persecution, rejection and so on – we need to have a solid foundation if we are to continue in faith and hope.

Ps 135 and Ps 136 provide us with a core of Biblical truth to hold us up in those times of testing. It can be hard to believe that God is good when tragedy hits us. Perhaps that is why the Bible repeats this fact so many times. I have many favourite Bible verses, but I think Ps 119:68 is up near the top of my list (‘You are good, and what You do is good.’) If we grasp this fact and hold on to God’s goodness and the fact that His love is unfailing and lasts forever, we will find the strength and courage to continue when the dark night of the soul comes upon us and we enter the cold season of winter. God is good. We may not understand what He does; we may doubt His love and kindness to us, but the psalms affirm again and again this repeated refrain. Greater even than a trust in God’s sovereignty and power is the security that comes from being in a loving relationship with God. God ‘will have compassion on his servants.’ (Ps 135:14) He ‘has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.’ (Ps 135:4; see also 1 Pet 2:9-10) His faithful, steadfast, covenantal love (which means ‘he remembered us in our low estate’ Ps 136:23 and which is celebrated throughout that psalm in the refrain ‘his love endures for ever’) is the foundation of all confidence and hope. Paul reminds us, ‘For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’ (Romans 15:4) If we want to remain positive through life’s trials and faithful to the end, we need to be soaked in the Scriptures which tell us who God is so that when the doubts come, we are able to maintain confidence and hope.

[Some songs I have found helpful in affirming God’s character in all seasons are: ‘Even If’ (Kutless), ‘When the Tears Fall’ (Tim Hughes), and ‘Weep With Me‘ (Rend Collective). Click on the title to listen to the song.]

In concluding our Bible studies on the historical psalms, tonight we looked at Psalms 135 and 136, understanding that these psalms combine a rich vein of thanksgiving with historical facts about God as creator (Ps 135:6-7, Ps 136:5-9) and redeemer. Both psalms refer again to the exodus, that all-defining moment of Israel’s history (Ps 135:8-9, Ps 136:10-16), but also look to God’s continued help throughout the wilderness wanderings (Ps 135:10-12, Ps 136:17-20). These historical references help to root us in God’s character. Both psalms are calls to praise and both remind us unequivocally of reasons to praise and give thanks (‘for the Lord is good’ Ps 135:3, ‘give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.’ Ps 136:1) Ps 136 is unique in its repeated refrain (‘His love endures forever’, which features in every one of the 26 verses) and whilst we may find such repetition tedious at times, it is a fact that we need to be reminded constantly of God’s love and goodness, because we tend to doubt these so much (and have an enemy whose favourite tactic is casting doubt on God’s goodness, a tactic which has had much success since Eve first believed it…)

Both psalms, therefore, root us in the immutable nature of God. The God who made promises to Israel also made good on those promises, leading His people into a rich inheritance (since He is good, His gifts are also good as Deut 1:25 testifies; see also Ps 84:11, James 1:17). He is far superior to any man-made gods we care to come up with (Ps 135:15-18; see also Is 44:1-20), for He is the God who spoke creation into being and who does whatever pleases Him (Ps 135:6; see also Ps 115:3). Because God does not change (Mal 3:6), we can trust Him to be good to us and to fulfil His promises. Just as He led Israel through the wilderness, He will lead us; just as He freed them from their enemies; He will free us. Our response, therefore, should be the same as theirs, to give thanks and praise to the God who is good and whose love endures forever.

We had three special birthdays to celebrate tonight, with all three special people reaching ‘significant’ milestones tomorrow and Tuesday. Our very best wishes to all three!

Thanks to Alan for these photos from Scarborough.

On the coach…

Sights from Scarborough…

Ice-cream is a common theme…

Fun and games on the beach…

One photographer posing for another…

Victor Frankl, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, concluded that people can endure great suffering if there is meaning in the suffering for them, that life perceived as meaningless is one of the hardest things for the human spirit to bear. The good news is that God has created us all for a purpose; our lives are not meaningless. He has good works for us to do (Eph 2:10); He wants us to be involved in His great work of salvation.

This is astonishing, for God has no intrinsic need of us and yet longs for us to be His hands and feet, His shining face to a world desperately in need of significance and purpose. Matt 25:40 demonstrates that we can show God to others through our actions. God’s plan is that we are all involved in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20), that we all serve as His ambassadors (see 2 Cor 5:17-21). We may wonder how we can do this, but every gift and talent we have, when surrendered to God, can be used by Him (after all, even Ehud’s left-handedness served God’s purposes, as we read in Judges 3:13-20!) Jesus said, ‘if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.’ (Matt 10:42) Our service will inevitably come in different shapes and sizes, for God loves diversity, but we can all serve Him in ways that will reflect His nature and allow others to see Him (see Matt 5:13-16).

One of the devil’s favourite lies is that life is pointless and we can’t make a difference. History tells us otherwise; it’s littered with the names of people whose actions had huge impact on families, societies and even the whole world. As we live in our true identity in Christ and fulfil His purpose for our lives, we will find that we all matter enormously. We can all make a difference.