Love for the Lowly (Friday Devotional)

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever…It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

- Psalm 136:1-3, 23

Sometimes the only way to learn something is to repeat it over and over and over again. I have a terrible memory for directions, so when someone calls me telling me where to meet them and how to get there, then if writing their instructions down is not an option, I will repeat those instructions out loud to myself again and again until I arrive at the destination. If you were to pull up next to me in one of those moments, you’d probably think you were driving next to a crazy person, because you’d see me not only talking to myself, but saying the same three things over and over again. But that’s the risk I have to take in those situations, because repeating the directions is the only way I’ll remember what I’ve been told.

Psalm 136 uses repetition in just such a way. It begins by offering thanks to God, then recounts the ways He has been faithful to His people, from the creation of the world to the exodus from Egypt to the defeat of rival kings and armies. In tracing Israel’s history from the beginning to the present, the psalmist punctuates every single act of God with the same profound statement: “for His steadfast love endures forever.” Everything God has done for His people, every victory He has won for them, the psalm says He has done for one simple reason: because He has always loved them and He always will.

But as the psalm draws to a close, the 23^rd verse reminds the people of something powerful—even in their “low estate,” when they were not victorious, God still remembered them, because His love is steadfast and it endures forever. Even when they felt lost and abandoned, God was with them, because His love is steadfast and it endures forever. Even when victory was a distant memory and humiliation an ever-present reality, God had not forsaken them, because His love never falters or fails—it is steadfast and it endures forever.

This season is the time in which we celebrate the fulfillment of this psalm’s promise, when we look for inspiration to a virgin of low estate whom God loved, when we wonder alongside a carpenter of low estate whom God loved, and when we sing with shepherds of low estate whom God loved. As we marvel at their roles in the story of Jesus’ birth, we celebrate most of all that in Christ, God gave us the ultimate proof of His promise. By coming to be with us as a child of low estate, He showed us that He remembered us where we were—that His love was not only with us when we were triumphant, but also when there seemed to be no hope in sight.

The steadfast, enduring love of God is a hope and a promise that extends from the Old Testament to the manger bed to today, from the people of ancient Israel to the churches of North America. No matter how high or low your estate, no matter whether your Christmas is marked by joy or grief, God’s steadfast love endures forever. At your most alone, He still has not left you. When you are ready to give up, He remains there to lift you up. So this Christmas, may the message of Immanuel resonate—no matter how low your estate, God is with you, and His steadfast love endures forever.