His Forever Love Applies to Us

Dannah Gresh: God’s love endures, and God’s people remember that fact.

Samantha: It’s crazy to think that when I could not breathe; I didn’t want tomorrow to come. He’s saying, “Look, it hurts, but it’s beautiful, and I am here with you.” And it will be okay because the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

Carrie: Even when we’re unfaithful, He remains faithful and is pursing our hearts.

Woman: My husband has been giving away the food that I had just bought for my three boys and us for the week. He gave it away Sunday morning. He literally opened our cupboards, ladies, and took it out, put it in a bag and gave it to the gentleman that was standing on our front porch. And that day in the mail was an envelope with no return address, and it had the exact amount of cash in that envelope that I had spent on groceries that my husband gave away.

Dannah: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude, for November 24, 2023. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Well, I don’t know what’s going on in your world today, but I wonder, do you need to be reminded of this truth—God loves you! Apparently, God thought we’d need to be reminded. He inspired an ancient Hebrew songwriter to tell us over and over that “His steadfast love endures forever.”

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks soaking in Psalm 136. Nancy taught verse by verse through this psalm, and His love came to life in some amazing ways. If that’s something you could use, let me remind you that you can listen to the past episodes through the Revive Our Hearts app, or on our website,ReviveOurHearts.com.

When Nancy first recorded this series, a group of women were gathered together at the Revive Our Hearts headquarters. It was so sweet to see the way that the Lord ministered to them throughout the day. So Nancy had them share their reflections. Today we’ll hear from some of those women, and they’ll share how God’s enduring love applies in their lives. Again, this is all based on Psalm 136. Let’s listen.

Christy Hubbard: I’m Christy Hubbard. A small part of our story—which is a big part, too—is my husband and I have been on a cancer journey for thirteen years. Thirteen years ago he was diagnosed with a very rare genetic cancer and had major surgeries—several surgeries in a row. It was several years of craziness, and then everything kind of stabilized for a while.

In the last six months, we learned that it’s not stable anymore. Three weeks ago our insurance situation also turned. Originally, we were at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Because it’s so rare, nobody around really knows anything about it. But our insurance is different now, and we have to stay in the state of Indiana for it to be covered—Mayo is out of network.

So six months ago we found out that a spot in his spine has been compromised and is compromising his spine and potentially his ability to walk. And, yes, that was big. That was serious. For six months we were back and forth with insurance, just trying to let him to Mayo Clinic to see a doctor who actually knows something. And God miraculous opened that door. But three weeks ago we were right on the brink of: Is this going to happen?

I sat in front of my five children (we home school). We were sitting at the table, and I was just being honest with them. I sat there, and tears were just flowing. I said, “Guys, God is good no matter what happens with this.” I couldn’t hold it back. I try not to do that in front of the kids, but I did, I just had a really transparent moment.

In these last three weeks, I mentioned to Nancy earlier today, “I’m a little bit behind in my podcast (because I home school), but it was just exactly what I needed.”

At one point I got off the phone from insurance, and I was, like, “This actually might happen!” I turned my podcast back on, and she was going into the similar idea that, “God is good. He is in control. He’s sovereign.” And I just, oh, it came again.

And now after today, here at the end of the day, I love what you mentioned. Yes, that blanket, that perspective of looking at this. This is good. His love is eternal, steadfast. It’s unchanging no matter what these circumstances look like.

Now we’re looking at surgery on his spine. And, again, it’s looking impossible. Are we going to get to Mayo Clinic where he really needs to be? Or is he going to be in the hands of somebody who’s not as capable, but God is capable? Today I just felt this release coming. All day long it’s just . . . I’ve been saying it, but it hasn’t been deep. And today it’s deep.

Today I’m walking out of here saying, “He is good! He’s got this! And it’s going to be okay whether it’s in Indiana, whether it’s in Minnesota, or whether it’s in Africa. He’s going to be okay according to God’s plan. Maybe okay isn’t what I think is okay, but that’s okay because He’s got this.

Thank you. This study was just so rich, and I will not be forgetting that phrase for a while now as we walk forward the next few weeks and months through surgery and such. Thank you.

Music: 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning . . .¹

Nancy: We’ve seen not only the present steadfast love of God, the past that He demonstrated to His people in the past. We’ve seen a lot of history in this chapter, but also with God’s love for us today.

But then we’ve been given this great vision of a future, that great feast that is ahead for us, that promise of when faith will be sight and prayer will be praise, and there will be no more night, no more tears, no more need for sun or moon or stars, but the Lamb of God will be the lamp. The glory of God will be our light. And we will be with the Lord forever.

Let these things lift your soul and lift your heart and lift your eyes. Are you troubled? Are you concerned? Jesus said, “Don’t be worried. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Samantha: My name is Samantha. In the past year, my life’s been a little turned upside-down, and Jesus is so kind. I can’t stop saying that. He’s so kind. He’s so good. And “His steadfast love endures forever.”

This past summer I’ve just been experiencing a lot of trauma. It was one of those situations where I feel like I didn’t know what was up, what was down, where I’m at. It felt like my ship had wrecked, and it felt like I was just stranded in the waves. But even in that, Jesus was there with me in the waves, and He used the beauty of His creation to remind me, “I’m here with you.”

One of the sweetest places in my life is a little lake cottage that my family has. I realized I was making a bee-line to that cottage over and over and over again because I just wanted to stare at the waves.

I would sit on the pier, and I felt like the pain was going to take me under, that I couldn’t breathe anymore. The anxiety just felt like it was killing me. Sometimes you want the pain to take you out because it just feels like too much. But as I was sitting there, I can see beauty. The sun is shining on waves, and I couldn’t stop looking at waves. I would ride in the boat and would just be fascinated by sun sparkling on the waves.

And on the pier, I realized this summer if I looked to the right, I could see the sunrise. And we have the most fabulous spot on the lake—this is amazing—because if you look to the right, you can see the sun rise, but you can also watch the sun set on the left.

And because I couldn’t really sleep, I would be out there. I would look up what time the sun was going to rise, and I would be out there at 5 in the morning—because it’s July, and the sun rises really early. Then I would be out there watching the sun set at 9:30/10 o’clock at night because I just needed to see that the sun’s going to rise with His mercies, and then it’ll set, and then the next morning it’s going to come back up again, and I’m still here.

I would feel the breeze on my face, and I’d go, “Lord, that’s Your Spirit. You’re still here.” And just “the steadfast love of the Lord” is in the wind, and not in a weird kind of pantheistic way, but in a, “I am keeping this earth moving and turning, and the sun is going to rise, and it’s going to set with My new mercies and My grace.” And “the steadfast love of the Lord” never ceases.

It’s crazy to think that when I could not breathe, I didn’t want tomorrow to come. I did not want 6 a.m. to come at all.

He’s saying, “Look, it hurts, but it’s beautiful. I am here with you, and you are still here, and you’re still breathing. And as the breath of My Spirit and the wind is blowing on your face, that’s My gift to you right now. Hang on to that. The sun is going to sparkle over the waves. And it will be okay because ‘the steadfast love of the Lord’ never ceases.”

So I’m obsessed with waves now and with wind and the sunrises and the sunsets.

Music:

He alone does great wonders.
With one word He formed the sky.
He spread the earth upon the waters.
He made the stars to light the night.²

Margaret: Hello. I’m Margaret. We just recently went through what would be, I guess, a split. It was very hard going through that and saying “goodbye” to some people.

In the midst of that, I kept thinking of this young girl that I had met a few months earlier because when someone comes into the church, I always make sure I greet them. I just think that’s so important in a church that they feel welcomed. This was a young, single girl.

We had a fellowship dinner, and I invited her to the dinner. She even stayed. I just swallowed my surprise. She stayed and sat with us. And every once in a while, she would visit. Well, through the split, I didn’t get to say “goodbye” to her. And so I thought, Oh Lord, she’s going to come back, and she’s not going to see me. She’s going to wonder.

I think about the personalness of God’s steadfast love. It says here that we need to counsel our hearts, but I think about how He counsels ours.

I was in a store a week ago. As I walked out of that store, there she was. That was God personally knowing I cared for His child. It just thrilled my heart when I saw her—just the personalness of Him and how He revealed that to me.

There’s been many things in our life that we get challenged with, but when I saw that, I don’t know why but, I was just overwhelmed with it. I was because that was Him being really personal with me. So I just love the idea of thinking about the personalness of His steadfast love.

Music:

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.²

Krista Maconkey: Hi. I’m Krista Maconkey, and what came to mind to me was just an example of one of God’s everyday graces.

We live in a city neighborhood, so not a lot of green space. Not too much wildlife—an occasional skunk or raccoon. But at the end of our street, there’s a couple who has set up a place for rehabilitating wildlife. And what that’s brought to the neighborhood are a lot of. . .they do several different things, but they have a lot of birds.

So when you were mentioning how God provides for the birds, I see that. These birds are very well taken care of because some of them can never return to the wild because they’d never survive in the wild. And God is using people who probably don’t love Him or believe in Him to steward His creation and take care of them because no matter what your views are, the needs of birds are the same everywhere. And so that’s kind of interesting to see.

But the other interesting benefit, I think, is they have some rehabilitated peacocks that are still hanging around the neighborhood. So we get to see them up close if we’re out for a walk or driving. Sometimes I can stop the car in the middle of the street and take a picture of it as he walks across.

And peacocks, are interesting to see up close because I don’t think they’re thinking about anything except how good they look. (laughter) Really. That’s what you feel when you look at them. And yet God in His tender mercy and care is caring for them. It’s just been a neat thing to see and know that He cares. It’s a small thing, but it’s unique, and it’s His mark on our neighborhood and on our life.

Nancy: That’s neat. Thank you, Krista.

Grace is up here, and after Grace shares, we’ll just open it to anyone—how you’ve seen God’s goodness and steadfast love in creation, in salvation, in preservation, in winning victories in your life, providing food—just any of these categories we’ve talked about. Okay, Grace?

Grace Anderson: My name is Grace Anderson, and I had two knee surgeries in two months. They were major and complex.

I saw God today as you were speaking in how He provides for needs. Like, no one around where I lived could do the surgery. I didn’t understand why at the time, because I didn’t want to take the time to travel down. But God knew that that doctor could do the surgery that was needed to heal my knees so I could walk and run again.

I’m just so thankful, and all the timing has just worked out. They couldn’t have worked it out any better. It’s just so encouraging, and it refreshed my mind about it when you were mentioning how He provides for our food. I know this is not a food item, but it just reminded me of that. So thank you.

Nancy: How old are you, Grace?

Grace: I am fourteen.

Nancy: Fourteen. Let me just say, I hope you’re writing these things down, you younger women who are seeing God do things in your lives. I mean, I’d say this to all of us, but somebody said earlier we have a history with God. And it’s easy to forget these things. So I hope you journal. Just jot things down. You don’t have to be any great writer. But as you see God do things, jot them down so that you can go back and remember and rehearse and review what God has done.

And when you’re an old lady like me—I know I’m not an old lady, but compared to you I kind of am—it’s so good to be able to go back and see, “Here’s what the Lord did,” to remember things He did in your past and your history.

That’s really what we saw in this psalm. Right? They looked back. They thought back to Genesis, to Exodus, to Numbers, to Joshua, “Here’s what God did in providing for this or providing for that.”

So praise God that you younger women are seeing the hand of God in your lives and that you’re realizing it for what it is. And for the rest of your life, you’re going to be able to tell people, “Here’s how God showed His mercy and His goodness to me.” That’s what you call a life message.

You may not be a Bible teacher—you may be a Bible teacher—but even if you are a Bible teacher, you need to be able to share a life message, “Here’s the history I have with God. Here’s how He showed Himself powerful to me.”

So you’ve got a great start on your life message there. Thank you, Grace.

And then, Rachel?

Rachel Ward: My name is Rachel Ward. There’s a lot of things God has been teaching me recently, but in terms of His goodness, I was thinking through different things. One of them is His faithfulness in sanctification and how He’ll bring to mind certain verses. And I know I can’t have faith on my own, and I know I can’t do these things, but when I ask Him to give me faith and grow me in my relationship with Him, He always responds. He’s always good in that.

Nancy:

To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
   for His steadfast love endures forever.
To Him who made the great lights,
   for His steadfast love endures forever.
The sun to rule over the day,
   for His steadfast love endures forever.
The moon and stars to rule over the night,
   for His steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:6–9)

Woman 1: I’ve been thinking how much I appreciated your illustration about creation. And when you shared about how Robert did some fix-up jobs for you around your house and that those were an expression of love.

And then the connection . . . First of all, it’s exciting to hear those illustrations, and for those of us that have followed your ministry for many years, it’s a blessing. It’s exciting to see how God has blessed you in your marriage to Robert. But then to tie that illustration into that was part of God’s creation, His creative efforts were an expression of His love for us.

I had not really thought about creation that way. And through creation, God gives us beauty. For the scientific person, there’s a lot to ponder and learn. There’s the consistency of that. And just to think that those many aspects are a way that He shows that He loves us and things that we can enjoy in creation.

That was a powerful illustration that I’m sure I will carry with me when I see those beautiful sunsets and stuff.

I also appreciated the point today about one of the major themes of the Old Testament being God’s steadfast love. I’ve been working with a high school girls’ Sunday school class at church. We’ve been going through a chronological curriculum in the Old Testament. And just recently, we have come out of the exile and the children of Israel going back into the land.

And you think, Oh, surely they have fully learned those lessons about turning to God fully in obedience and embracing what God has promised for them. And yet, the sobering fact is that they didn’t quite learn all their lessons. And to realize that is a message about our human hearts. We are prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. But, yet, greater than those failings of man is Your steadfast love for us.

So, in a couple of weeks when we have our lesson on Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, I’ve decided today that I’m going to bring them after that lesson back to Psalm 136 as a way to just remind them: God is faithful. He is good. And He is working things out for His glory and our best.

So, thank you for the message today.

Music:

Oh thank the Lord, for He is good.
For His steadfast love endures forever.
Oh give thanks . . .³

Carrie: As I was praying for our day this morning, the Lord reminded me of a quote that I read earlier. And the quote is this: It says, “When Scripture speaks of God’s loving kindness, His steadfast love, it is often in the context of His doing and His showing and keeping the covenant when every word that has been sworn to it is being put to the test.”

And I thought, That’s the beauty of what we’ve heard here. So many of the stories are: Even when we’re unfaithful, He remains faithful and is pursuing our hearts, as you shared today Nancy.

Nancy: His goodness and steadfast love will pursue me all the days of my life. When we deserve to be pursued by His judgment, He pursues us with goodness and steadfast love.

Hannah: So last night at our house, we had in a young girl and her young son who’ve been coming over to our house for a Bible study. She’s unsaved. She hasn’t read the Bible. But she really is seeking the Lord after some very difficult circumstances that she’s been through.

I had the privilege of going with her through John 3 last night. When we got to the verse about, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved,” I asked her if she knew what the word “condemn” meant.

And she said, “No.”

So I was trying to think about how to explain this to her. And I said, “Well, it’s like Jesus could have walked into this world and said, ‘Everyone here is guilty and deserving of death, so here it comes.’ He could have done that. He had every right to do that and instead, the verse said that through Him the world might be saved. He walked in and said, ‘Everyone here is guilty and deserving of death, and I’m going to rescue you.’”

And I said, “Why would He do that?”

And I said, “Let’s look back one verse. ‘For God so loved the world.’ It was just His love. It wasn’t us.” Like Carrie was saying, we were unfaithful. We were deserving of death. And it’s only His love that saves us.

And then this psalm connects salvation with the Red Sea, and what a picture of God’s salvation and deliverance through Moses and the Red Sea. There’s a verse in Exodus 14 that says, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation that the Lord will accomplish for you” (v. 13). And that’s such a beautiful picture, too, that it was not anything we did. We were just to stand still and watch His salvation. That’s just so beautiful.

Nancy: Delivered from the wrath of God by the grace of God who bore the wrath of God for us. How amazing is that!

The goodness of God and the steadfast love of the Lord comes at a huge cost to Himself. It doesn’t cause Him to just overlook our sin. By extending His steadfast love to us, somebody had to pay the price for our sin, and that’s what He did.

That’s why we give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. There’s none righteous, no not one—not among us. But He is good. He alone is good. And His steadfast love . . . who’s He loving steadfastly? Sinners. By taking upon Himself the cost, the price for our sin. That’s the gospel in the psalms, right there.

Woman 2: First I have a confession. I went to read Psalm 136 in preparation for coming today, and I had said to my sister, “I’m even more excited to go now because I cannot fathom how she’s going to get eight lessons out of that chapter.” (laughter) I was so completely wrong.

So I would like to go to the last two days’ worth and the verse that says, “He feeds His people.” I’m going to paraphrase that. The first thing that struck my heart, a little bit before that, was when you made the statement, “Don’t let how familiar you are with Scripture make you miss the amazingness of it.”

And that little verse, “He who gives food to all His flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever,” my husband and I have been in ministry for thirty-five years, and we can say, “We’ve seen Him literally put food on our table.” I have some amazing God stories, but I won’t take . . . because there’s thirty-five years of them, so we won’t do that today. (laughter)

Nancy: I hope you journaled those.

Joette: I do have most of them I’ve journaled, but here’s a tiny little one. My husband gave away the food that I had just bought for my three boys and us for the week. He gave it away Sunday morning. The only thing he didn’t give away was the roast that was in the oven for dinner which, if he could have figured out a way to put it in their hands, he would have, and the half gallon of milk that was in the fridge .I mean, he literally opened our cupboards, ladies, and took it out, put it in a bag and gave it to the gentleman that was standing on our front porch.

This was Sunday before church, and I had to get my heart right before I could go to church and praise God because I was so angry at my husband. I was actually saying, “Lord, I want our kids to go hungry tomorrow morning just so he knows what a stupid thing that was to do!”

Well, our kids did have breakfast the next morning, and that day in the mail was an envelope with no return address. It was stamped, with no return address, and the exact amount of cash in that envelope that I had spent on groceries that my husband gave away.

We’ve been homeless twice, and the home we live in today is also a testament of God’s taking care of our soul. He didn’t totally give it to us, but He might just as well have. It was handed to us on a silver platter, so to speak.

But God doesn’t just stop at feeding our physical bodies. We have experienced Him feeding our spiritual soul as well over and over again, including a time when my husband, as the pastor, lost it. He was just completely depleted, and we went on a little sabbatical—and that’s got amazing God stories, too.

But all of that to say: Thank you for reminding me that the things that seem familiar or simple should never be taken for granted. And that first verse will now be the first words out of my mouth when I get out of bed in the morning because if that’s the truth in my heart, I’m not going to need to worry about what comes out of my mouth because it’s already planted there. So, thank you, Nancy.

Nancy: Thank you, amen.

Music:

Your love will last forever.
Your love will reach beyond this life.
Your love will last forever.
It never ends. It reaches the end of time.⁴

Mrs. Dean: Thanks, Nancy. When you got to the end and said, “God can do and will do whatever He needs to do”—talking about bread coming down from heaven—I was reminded two weeks ago in AWANA.. Qe had one precious boy. He’s an eight-year-old third grader, and he cannot stay still or not stop talking.

So our wonderful children’s pastor says, “You know, if you get three warnings, you’re going to be home.”

And I said, “Come sit by me. I don’t want you to get warned.”

And he said, “Okay.”

And so they were talking about if you peel an orange, can you bring it back together? And he said, “Mrs. Dean, God can do that.”

And I was, like, “I know.” And I’m thinking, “Be quiet.”

And he kept saying, “God can do anything He wants to do. You just need to say the word. Right?”

I thought about it then, and I thought about it more today. because. I texted his mom and said, “I wish you could have sat next to sweet David with me and heard how he is so positive that God can do whatever He wants to do with just His words. And so I did say, ‘Yes, you’re right. He can do whatever He wants to do with just His word.’”

And so, as you were telling us that toward the end of the day, I was reminded of him being so sure, and I reminded myself, too, that is a wonderful privilege I have to say to him, “Yes, that’s correct,” and not to be so worried about him being quiet. I know that’s important, but also to say, “You’re right.”

As somebody without kids but has worked with kids for years, to tell the sweet mom because I think sometimes you need to be encouraged. Right?

So I was reminded of how God can do whatever He wants to do. As you said, “God can do and will do whatever He needs to do—like feed us with ravens or whatever He needs to do.”

Nancy: A lot of times it’s children who believe, or are more inclined to believe, some of those things than adults. We’re just too sophisticated. Right? But they haven’t learned yet to walk in doubt.

Dannah: Now, I need to explain that on the day this was recorded, there was beautiful snow falling outside. That will help you understand Sarah’s comment.

Sarah Ryder: My name is Sarah Ryder. As we were talking about the creation piece, it seems pretty relevant at this point, but I love fresh snow. Every time we would wake up in the morning at our house, I would say, “Though our sins be as scarlet, He has washed us whiter than snow.”

And every time I see the snow, I can’t help but be reminded of that verse. And I think God does. The poor people that don’t have snow. (laughter)

Nancy: Well you’re about to head out into some snow.

Ladies, this has been so rich, so sweet. I feel like you could go on and on. This has been just so encouraging to me to hear you taking this truth and connecting it to life—your lives.

Thank you to these precious teenagers. And the moms and grandmoms, too, single women, so many different seasons of life represented here. Right? And we’ve seen together . . . say it with me, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

Music:

Your love will last forever.
Your love will reach beyond this life.
Your love will last forever.
It never ends. It reaches the end of time.⁴

Dannah: Wow! It’s so good to hear how God’s Word is making an impact in the lives of our listeners.

If you’d like to review any of Nancy’s teaching based on Psalm 136, you can do that in the Revive Our Hearts app or at our website, ReviveOurHearts.com.

Isn’t it good to remind ourselves of His love and His goodness? That’s what we hope to do through our podcasts, books, studies ,and more. Speaking of different resources, right now, we’re having a special Friday Five Sale that you don’t want to miss. For five dollars, you can get our Christmas card set just in time for the holiday season. The sale is happening today only, so be sure to head to our website, ReviveOurHearts.com and grab your Christmas cards! 

Well, Thanksgiving Day is officially over, but I hope we continue to have thankful minds and hearts. With Giving Tuesday coming up next week, I want to encourage you to be thinking about what the Lord might have you give to Revive Our Hearts. Any donations that come in on Monday or Tuesday will be used to fund our Portuguese podcast. I’m excited for what the Lord will do with this project as we continue helping women thrive in Christ. 

Just a reminder, we can’t reach women with the hope of the gospel without your support, and we are so grateful. With your gift of any amount this month, you’ll receive our new 2024 ministry calendar, all about reflecting on Jesus, the Incomparable One. Just request it when you visit ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. 

Monday we’re continuing our theme of gratitude as we talk about cultivating a heart for sacrificial giving. 

May the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend be blessed. I hope you’ll remind yourself of many ways you see God’s steadfast love at work in your life. Join us again on Monday as we, once again, trust God to Revive Our Hearts.

Music:

Your love will last forever.
Your love will reach beyond this life.
Your love will last forever.
It never ends. It reaches the end of time.
You can't escape beyong the reach of Christ.
It never ends. It reaches the end of time.⁴

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is calling you to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

¹ Annie Herring. "Steadfast Love." Follow the Leader ℗ 1978 Sparrow Records.

² Mark Baldwin. "Give Thanks (Psalm 136)." I Will Bless the Lord ℗ 2012 Discovery House Music.

³ "Psalm 136 (feat. Steve Rees), Perregrinnatti." Keys of David ℗ 2020 586406 Records DK.

⁴ Jason Silver. "Psalm 136 (Remastered)." Love the Psalms, Vol. 9 ℗ 2019 Silver Ink. 

 

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