His love endures forever…His love endures forever…His love endures forever… Psalm 136

This is the time of year when my company asks its employees to reflect on our performance.  One popular acronym that gets throw around a lot is KPI: Key Performance Indicator.  Business has its ups and downs, but if the KPI’s we’re measuring are going in the right direction, typically up and to the right, we’ll consider it a job well done.  But the real challenge is making sure we’re measuring the correct KPI’s, and not just the stuff that only seems to make business look good.  We really want to understand what’s driving success.

As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, it’s not uncommon to hear the typical platitudes about being thankful or counting our blessings.  We might count a promotion at work, or good grades at school as blessings. We might be thankful for good health, a new friend, or change in our finances.  However, when we think about the KPI’s for life, God has a different perspective.

When the Bible repeats something, that’s a sign of its importance.  In Psalm 136, “His love endures forever” is repeated over and over, demanding our attention!  The Psalm gives us one of God’s greatest KPIs: Gratitude.  And it’s not primarily being grateful for our circumstances in life, but grateful for the greatness of God and the love he showers upon us.   

The Psalm first creates a foundation in the goodness of God in the amazing gifts of Creation. Not only is God amazing, but He generously created a wonderful world for us to live and flourish in.  But then our psalm dives into a bit of a history lesson on the Israelites, speaking mostly about the challenges in their lives.

When the Israelites were captive in Egypt, God’s love endured.

When they wandered through the wilderness, God’s love endured.

When they faced fearsome kings, God’s love endured. 

When they were confronted by enemies, God’s love endured.

When they were at their lowest, God’s love endured. 

God’s KPI is gratefulness.  There are times when we can be grateful for many blessings, but even when confronting difficult circumstances, we can still be grateful. In times when we are struggling with life’s challenges, God’s steadfast and enduring love is always there. 

Is there a spot in your life that’s particularly difficult? How can measuring things using the KPI of God’s enduring love help you find joy and gratefulness, even when things are challenging?

To read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can click here.