Unfailing Forever Love

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 
     for his steadfast love endures forever. – Psalm 107:1 (NRSVUE) 

God’s steadfast love endures forever. It’s a reassuring thought, an encouraging promise, a phrase that rings in my ears in times of crisis or anxiety.  

Things weren’t going well in a particular season of ministry? God’s steadfast love endures forever. 

Not sure what comes next for me or for a dear loved one? God’s steadfast love endures forever.   

The world is a mess? God’s steadfast love endures forever.  

Today, though, let’s read further: 

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. – Psalm 107:2-3 (NRSVUE) 

So often I stop at the next half verse, “let the redeemed of the Lord say so,” as if it is a call and response, an assurance and an amen. It’s so appealing to feel like a part of something bigger, something good—the redeemed of the Lord! I fear we may assign a limited meaning, imagining being part of an exclusive club of faithful or enlightened or obedient people who will receive that unfailing forever love from God.  

But we are not redeemed by our own actions, are we? We are redeemed by God, saved from trouble by God, and we come from all over the place, not just my town or your city or our state or their country. God is saving us from whatever the trouble is—wherever we are, and wherever they are, whoever we and they may be.  

God’s steadfast love endures forever. Let the ones who have been saved from trouble say so. 

Prayer
Holy One, call us into your unfailing forever love, we pray. Amen.