There is a psalm that says the same thing twenty-six times in a row. If a person did that in conversation you would think something was wrong with them. But Psalm 136 is not stuck. It is doing something on purpose.
Psalm 136 is a great Hallelujah psalm, a song of praise that repeats this powerful truth twenty-six times — not as empty repetition, but as a steady, unwavering reminder. Through every high and low, from creation itself to the deliverance of Israel, this psalm tells the story of God’s faithfulness.
This Psalm Was Never Meant to Be Read Silently
Psalm 136 is what scholars call an antiphonal psalm. It was built for two voices. A leader sang the first half of each line, and the whole gathered congregation answered back with the refrain. Every single time. Twenty-six times.
So picture it properly. One voice calls out “who made the heavens” — and a room full of people answers “His love never quits.” One voice says “who brought Israel out of Egypt” — and the room answers again. His love never quits.
That changes what the repetition is for. It is not the writer running out of material. It is a congregation being trained. You do not learn a truth like that by hearing it once and nodding. You learn it by saying it out loud, over and over, in a room full of people who are saying it with you, until it is in your mouth before you have to think about it.
And look at the range of what the refrain gets attached to. Creation. The sun and moon. A nation walking out of slavery. A sea splitting. Kings falling. Then, near the end, something much smaller and much more personal: who remembered us when we were down. Same refrain. The love that made the stars is the love that noticed you at your lowest.
Four Places That Love Shows Up
From the beginning. Before we took our first breath, God’s love was already at work. God’s love and mercy endures forever.
During our toughest times and darkest hours. When we’ve been in bondage to sin, fear, or worry, God has made a way for our deliverance. God’s love and mercy endures forever.
When we wander through our own wilderness. Even when we lose our way, God patiently leads us back. God’s love and mercy endures forever.
When we face battles, opposition, or hardship. Though enemies rise against us, God is our defender. God’s love and mercy endures forever.
And here is the Good News: that same faithful and enduring love is true for us today through Jesus Christ.
Why the Repetition Is the Mercy
We tend to treat repetition as a weakness in writing. Say it once, say it well, move on. But the human heart does not work that way, and the psalm knows it.
You will not remember this on the hard day because you read it once on a good one. You will remember it because you said it twenty-six times when you did not need it yet. The repetition is not decoration. It is preparation.
What This Looks Like on a Tuesday
Make your own version. Write down the turning points of your life in order — the births, the losses, the moves, the diagnoses, the rescues, the ordinary Tuesdays that turned out to matter. After each one, write the refrain.
Some lines will be easy. One or two will stick in your throat. Write it after those too. That is the whole exercise.
Watch This Week’s Devotional
A Prayer for This Week
Lord, thank You that Your love does not depend on my memory of it. Teach me to say it before I need it. And on the day I cannot say it, be faithful anyway — because You always have been. Amen.
The Passage
“Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. Thank the God of all gods, His love never quits. Thank the Lord of all lords. His love never quits.”
Read the passage in full on Bible.com.
Taking It Into Your Week
- List the key moments of your life — the good ones and the hard ones. After each one, write: God’s love and mercy endures forever.
- Read Psalm 136 out loud, all twenty-six verses. Do not skim the refrain. Saying it is the exercise.
- Pick the moment on your list you least want to look at. That one gets the refrain too.
More Farm Sunday Devotionals
Pass on the Good News. Now that’s BombDiggity.
Written by
Lane and Jules Morris
Authors and University of Tennessee faculty writing from our farm in East Tennessee about gardening, the farm kitchen, faith and designing a flourishing life at any age. More about us
