Psa 117
Psa 117
Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm and the shortest chapter in the bible. We could call it "The Bullet Point Psalm," for it tells us the two (2) things for which we should praise God, the two (2) things for which he wants us to praise him.
Things? No, attributes! God tells us the two (2) attributes of his that are most important for us to remember, and which should be the basis of our praise to him. Yes, all his attributes are pure and holy and good and should be mediated upon, and should be part of our thanks to, and praise of him, but HE tells us specifically that these two (2) are the most important!
REGARDING MERCY
When the Temple was being dedicated, and the fire came down from heaven, the people cried out, "his mercy endures forever." 2Ch 7:3
Psa 136 ends every verse with "his mercy endureth forever."
In Exo 33, when God reveals himself to Moses, God himself proclaims his name/attributes, and the first one is? Mercy!
"And Moses said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." Exo 33:18-19
Moses wants to see glory, God shows mercy. It is his attribute which he God himself most rejoices in, and is most proud of.
"And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." Exo 34:5-7
This is a real event: the LORD descended and stood WITH Moses.
Sinner, there is forgiveness for your sins, because God's mercy endures forever, and he loves to show mercy! Whether you are a Christian, who like a sheep that has fallen into a mud-hole, or if you are not a Christian, and like a pig wallowing in the mud, if you confess you sin, acknowledge it to be sin, the braking of God's Law, the Ten Commandments, and ask for forgiveness, HE WILL FORGIVE: his mercy endures forever!
If you are a Christian, he will get you up out of the mud, wash you off, and set you back upon the narrow path of life which leads to heaven.
If you are not yet a Christian, he will change you from a pig to a sheep, by the birthing work of the Holy Spirit (you will be birthed-again; born-again), and wash you and put you on that road.
But because he delights to show mercy, do not think that you can or should continue to sin so that his mercy might abound! That is the devil's twisted logic, only meant to lead you away from mercy, not toward it. The bible is clear: do not sin!
Paul so preached mercy and forgiveness, that he was accused of saying "let us sin that grace may abound."
"For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just." Rom 3:7-8
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Rom 6:1-2
Rom 3 regards non-Christians; Rom 6 regards we Christians.
The fact that God's mercy endures forever, and that he delights to show mercy, does not mean God ignores sin! He is merciful, but will not clear the guilty (Exo 34). What does that mean? How can that be? Isn't it guilty people who need mercy?! It means they have not confessed their sin and asked for forgiveness, so their guilt remains!
Mercy is available, God is ready, willing, able and dare we say even anxious to show mercy, but sin must be acknowledged and confessed as sin, and forgiveness and mercy asked for; we must humble ourselves before God, in order to obtain mercy.
"And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." Joh 9:39-41
Here is the wonderful news, part of the Gospel good news: when we confess our sins, he forgives!
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1Jn 1:9
REGARDING TRUTH
God is eternal. The name "God" is like the "name" doctor, it is a title, it tells us who/what the person is, as to their work or office. Think of the "name" Dr. John Jones: Dr. tells us his work, it is his title, but his name is John Jones; the Dr's name is John Jones.
God's name is Jehovah, "I Am that I Am," the eternally self-existent one; and because he is eternal, so too Truth is eternal!
There is eternal, objective, Truth. God is One Being, existing as Three Persons: Father-Son-Spirit, and that Son is the Lord Jesus Christ; the one who has revealed himself to us in the bible, PERIOD!
You may not like that, but frankly, what you like, does not matter, nor does it make Truth, non-Truth.
He is the True God:
"But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation." Jer 10:10
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Joh 17:3
He is the Eternal God:
"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isa 57:15
He is the God of Truth:
The Father: "That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes." Isa 65:16
The Son: "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Joh 18:37
The Holy Spirit: "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." Joh 14:17
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:" Joh 15:26 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." Joh 16:13 "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." 1Jn 4:6
And it is the Holy Spirit who is the ultimate author of the bible:
"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2Pe 1:20-21
God's words reflect him, his thoughts, his desires, etc; he exists, they exist! He is eternal, they are eternal. He is True, they are True; and not just True, as in a true expression of his thoughts etc, but Truth, as in eternal, never changing Truth, objective Truth!
And so Truth, his word, is eternal:
"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." Psa 119:89
If it is of God, the God of the Bible, it is Truth; if it is not of God, the God of the Bible, it is Lie!
You need not doubt or wonder, asking "What is Truth?"
Do you want to fix your life and your eternity on Truth, Truth that exists?, look to Psa 117 which gives us the two (2) facts for which we should continually praise God: mercy and truth.
And if we combine those, we can say, we should praise God because the truth is that his mercy endures forever; if there was a day when his mercy ceased to exist, WE WOULD BE GONERS!
All religions tell men that to get to heaven, they must "Do this, and don't do that!" But that does not cure the dead spiritual nature, which is continually spewing out more sins. That is why our "good works," which the bible calls "filthy menstrual rags; used Tampons" (Isa 64:6), can never off-set our "bad deeds;" our best works stink!
Our only hope is mercy!, and the truth is: God's mercy endures forever, it never ceases, PRAISE GOD!
16 October 2025