Psalm 136 can be touted as the “The Psalm of Thanks” or the “Thanksgiving Psalm.” It is a Psalm that is rich in content, apropos the character of God and since each verse in the Psalm is suffixed with “For his mercy endures forever”, it is a Psalm that is easy to read and memorize as well. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, giving thanks for the ultimate reason of sending us his only begotten Son, we will be looking at each verse in Psalm 136 and glean out the character of God from these verses, which would be reason enough to be grateful and give thanks to our LORD God.
Today we look at Verses 13 and 14.
To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Though Hollywood often gets it wrong when it comes to the depiction of Biblical accounts, for once, in the 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, I think, that the scene where Moses calls on the mighty (strong) hand of the Lord to part the Red sea, is as accurate as movie effects can capture the event to be. The Red sea is parted with walls of water on either side as the Israelites pass through the midst of it, escaping from the hands of the Pharoah and his Egyptian army. On one side, the Red sea would have been the watery grave for the Israelites, while on the other side, they would have been killed by the Egyptian army. In other words, there was no way out. At this juncture, we see the mighty hand of God at work, wherein God not only made a way for the Israelites, but He made a way for his people, through the midst of their problems. If it was left to man’s wisdom, man would have attempted to build a boat or ark to go over the waters, but that is not always God’s plan. Now also think for a moment, as to what the Israelites would have felt when they saw walls of waters on either side of them. Had they not trusted God, they would have doubted that the watery walls may collapse and they would not have crossed over. God guided and made the people pass through the midst of the Red sea.
Points to ponder:
When the walls of despair and death surround us, let us believe in God, who with his mighty hand, makes a way for us and makes us pass through the midst of the problems of life that threaten to drown us. God made the way out for the Israelites when death surrounded them. On Christmas, he has made a way out for all of us, when spiritual death surrounds us. Jesus say, I AM The Way (and the truth and the life) and no one can come to God the Father, except through him. Trust in God and in Jesus Christ, the Way and you will be led by God to safe haven in heaven. Now, that is reason enough to be thankful to God for. His mercy truly endures for ever – for he is The Way.
Psalm 136:13-14 (KJV)
13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
The movie clip of the parting of the Red sea from the 1956 movie “The Ten Commandments” can be seen by clicking on the picture below.
Copyright © American Broadcasting Company / Paramount Pictures / Paramount Home Video
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