WONDERS OF GOD’S MERCY

“To Him who alone does GREAT WONDERS, for HIS MERCY endures forever” – Psalm 136:4

It’s important that Believers in Christ better appreciate the GREAT WONDERS of GOD’S MERCY: “To Him who alone does GREAT WONDERS, for HIS MERCY endures forever” (Psa.136:4). No one can compare with God in His wonder-working ability! It’s therefore vital that we become more intimate with the Great God of Great Wonders revealed in Scripture, and His Mercy. One of the most exciting passions possible for any created being is to know and think about God aright, such that all of our Praises and Thanksgiving would be to the God of Wonders and Him alone. We must learn to thank Him continually for the wonders He has done, is doing, and has promised to do.

In Psalm 136, God’s people were invited to praise Him as the God of true power, miracles, and wonders. The rest of the psalm described many of these great wonders that were and are an expression of His great Mercy: as Creator (vv.5-9); in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (vv.10-15); from the wilderness to the Promised Land (vv.16-22); and in ongoing deliverance and help (vv.23-25). The Lord God does great wonders; He, without the help of any other person or thing; whereas no one else can do anything alone or without His help: “Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who does wondrous things!” (Psa.72:18). Wonders are miracles or marvellous things, which spring from God’s direct and absolute power; things lying beyond the range of natural laws. All the works of God are wonderful, and they testify of Him alone as their author.

God is the matchless Wonderworker. None can be likened to Him. He is the Creator and Author of true marvels, compared with which all other remarkable things are as child's play. His works are all great in wonder even when they are not great in size. Indeed, we behold His great wonders in the minute, microscopic objects. All the works of His unrivalled skill are wrought by Him alone, unaided; and to Him, therefore, must be exclusive Honour. No other entity helped the Lord in creation, or in the redemption of His people: His own right hand and His holy arm wrought for Him the great deeds: “For He has done marvellous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory” (Psa.98:1). Even when the Lord uses men as vessels, the wonder of the work is His alone, not anyone else’s, “for His mercy endures for ever."

Psalm 136 is a special psalm in which each of its 26 verses repeats the affirmation, “His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 118 repeats it five times. The same is used several other times in the Old Testament, always in the context of public praise or declaration: In David’s psalm of praise (1Chr.16:34); in Israel’s praise at the dedication of Solomon’s temple (2Chr.5:13; 7:3, 6); and in the record of the Lord’s victory over the Ammonites as they praised (2Chr.20:21). Often, this affirmation was part of a responsive singing among God’s people, such as in the dedication of Ezra’s temple: “And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel” (Ezr.3:11). The Mercy of the wonder is the wonder of the Mercy; and the enduring nature of that Mercy is the central wonder of that wonder!

The Lord causes us often to sit down in amazement as we see what His mercy has wrought out and prepared for us! Spurgeon suggested many things that Psalm 136 as a whole teaches about the Wonders of God’s Mercy:

The past, present, or future will not end His Mercy.

The storms of life will not end His Mercy.

Distance from loved ones will not end His Mercy.

Death itself will not end His Mercy.

God’s never-ending Mercy should make us merciful to others.

God’s never-ending Mercy should make us hopeful for others.

God’s never-ending Mercy should make us hopeful for ourselves.