Read Psalm 136. What is the obvious point of the chapter?
“His love endures forever.”
Write a phrase and reference from each of the 26 verses of Psalm 136. For example, verse 1, “He is good,” shows His compassion.
1. God the Creator
“4 – does great wonders
“5 – made the heavens
“6 – [made] the earth
“7 – made the great lights
“8 – [made] the sun
“9 – [made] the moon and stars”
2. God the Conqueror
“2 – God of gods
“3 – Lord of lords
“10 – struck down… Egypt
“11 – brought Israel out of Egypt
“12 – mighty hand
“13 – divided the Red Sea
“14 – brought Israel through
“15 – swept Pharoah
“17 – struck down great kings
“18 – killed mighty kings
“19 – King
“20 – King
“26 – God of heaven”
3. God the Compassionate One
“1 – He is good
“16 – led His people
“21 – gave their land
“22 – their inheritance
“23 – remembered us
“24 – freed us
“25 – gives food”
Write true or false based on information or inferences from the passage:
The point of studying God’s Word is to figure out God’s ways. “True – As much as we are capable of it.”
We will never grow in the Word so much that faith is unnecessary. “True”
We can know God so well that we will begin to think His thoughts. “False”
No rhyme or reason exists for the ways of God. “False – We just can’t know it.”
God’s thoughts and ways always have purpose, but many of them are beyond our understanding. “True”
Write four statements reflecting variables in your life.
“Loved ones will pass away. But His love endures forever.
“Daniel may go away to college. But His love endures forever.
“Friends may move away. But His love endures forever.
“Accidents and breakages will happen. But His love endures forever.”
What things do you fear most? Rewrite Romans 8:38-39, exchanging some of Paul’s examples for some of your own:
“For I am convinced that neither “death, illness, accident, public speaking, separation from loved ones, natural, disasters (especially floods), loss/damaging of stuff” will separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What does Proverbs 19:22 say we desire? “Unfailing love”
What does Proverbs 20:6 suggest about unfailing love? “It is difficult to find in people – we are all fallible sinners, so our love isn’t perfect.”
Describe what the adjective unfailing means to you, as it describes love. Try to be as specific and descriptive as you can.
“Always being there as much as you need it, yet not too much either, and at the perfect time and length of time. Never flawed or needy and self-seeking.”
Turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Does your idea of unfailing love sound anything like Paul’s description of unfailing love? “Yes”
According to 1 John 4:18, what does perfect love accomplish when we’re willing to accept it? “removal of fear”
Have you ever feared that someone would cease loving you? “Yes – grade school friends, mostly”
The Word of God uses the phrase unfailing love 32 times, and not once is it attributed to humans. “Even Proverbs 20:6?”
How would you explain the difference between God’s love and human love, even at its best? Offer several examples of how God’s love differs.
“God’s love is perfect. It is incapable of being sinfully selfish and self-seeking or manipulating.”
Dearest Rachel –
Some day I may spend the Sundays between Christmas and New Years going through material you’ve written that’s more germane to the season. For now, however, I think I’ll let that wait until I run out of studies you put together like this. Besides, on the eve of our commemoration of Christ’s birth, the topic of God’s love seems perfectly evergreen (albeit perhaps lacking in tinsel and ornamentation, but isn’t it sufficient as it is?)
Speaking of evergreen topics, when you list the variables in life through which we need to remember that God’s love for us endures forever, that of loved ones passing away is as front of mind right now as it’s ever been, to say nothing of both illness and accident keeping us from Him and His love. As much as we might think that things change from day to day, there are certain things we deal with that are no less scary than they ever were when the scriptures were written, yet the reassurances contained within them are as sound as they were when Paul set his pen to parchment in the first place. We just happen to be unable to understand it; like being unable to find the exit in a maze when we’re in the midst of it, as opposed to seeing it from above.
On the lighter side, I know you’re acknowledging that it’s a common fear, but the idea of public speaking being something that would keep us from God and His love is so absurd as to be funny. I wonder if you were laughing to yourself as you wrote it down. For what it’s worth, I still think you did a wonderful job eulogizing both of your parents in turn, despite your fears – and despite the fact that we didn’t keep recordings of either speech (which I deeply regret, by the way).
And as for your assessment of the concept of unfailing love, I’m sure you’ve seen letters from me (and heard me say, back in the day) how I always doubted that we humans were capable of love, given the standard that word represented. I know it eventually became easy to the point of second nature to tell you “I love you,” but I think you understood and accepted that it included an implicit “to the best of my ability.” I’m not sure I’m ready to say that to too many others, as they might not realize how short I’ll come to the true meaning of the word. Then again, it may be that some don’t have such a high standard when it comes to its meaning in the first place; I don’t know.
In any event, honey, keep an eye on me today, and wish me luck. As always, I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 