What are some examples of unfailing love in the Bible?

This Psalm takes up the well-known Israel's chorus, "For his mercy endureth for ever." The present occasion of their praises, proved that "mercy endureth for ever," and that that mercy had really gone on unceasingly, and had preserved them through their rebellions, and remembered them, as said in Deuteronomy, "in their low estate," and "redeemed" them from the hand of their enemies. It still takes up the Almighty Sovereignty of God Jehovah, and takes up the same elements of praise, but adds Israel's sense of mercy, and that its having endured for ever enabled Israel to take up this very praise now. "He remembered us in our low estate" - then indeed it is that praise really comes out from a humble spirit, and mercy known now, and known in unchanging favour in personal blessing, gets more glorious and lovely, because a love which flowed from itself, not caused by the Spirit, is added to the praises as the sinner's only basis for them all. It is a beautiful expression of this. And the mind, thus taught, recounts them all with happy particularity - power, wisdom, skill, grandeur of governance in the objects formed in their proper order. Judicial and mighty power in deliverance to His people - for the Creator looks at them (and they are immediately associated with Creation in its blessing) who did everything in controlling power over creation for them - distinctive in judgment, Israel passed through, Pharaoh overthrown - who led them with unceasing care where there was no way, and smote their enemies when they would have checked their entrance into their inheritance, giving their possessions to them, His people - and, after all, "Redeemed them from their low estate, for indeed his mercy endureth for ever" - and then blessed in Providence all the race of man, and the animal creation too, for to this his mercy reached, "The God of Heaven, whose mercy endureth for ever."

Of course He does, and far more than any of us realise. Did you ever read Psalm 136? It consists of 26 verses, and each verse ends with the words, “His mercy ENDURETH for ever.” The first verse says, “O give thanks to the Lord; for He IS good: for His mercy ENDURETH for ever” If the Psalmist, with his limited knowledge compared with ours, had such confidence in the enduring mercy of our God, we may well with our fuller knowledge take up the strain with triumph and exultation.

"Now to the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God, honour and glory to the ages of ages. Amen" (1 Peter 1:17). Precious indeed that such references to the blessed God should appear in the Epistle which gives prominence to God as Saviour! "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6). Incorruptibility embraces the thought of that which is eternal; everything connected with the blessed God is unchangeably secure and abiding. "With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," and from this unchanging eternal God "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17). His love, incomparable and precious, known and enjoyed by His own in the midst of a godless and passing scene, is eternal in its duration and its character. The whole Hebrew alphabet is used in Psalm 136 to tell that "His mercy endureth for ever." Again and again we read "He is good, and His mercy endureth for ever." "The goodness of God endureth continually." "His truth endureth to all generations." "His righteous judgments endure for ever." "The truth of the LORD endureth for ever." "Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." "The word of the Lord endureth for ever." Every attribute of this blessed God is controlled by and magnifies His love, and His movements of grace and power will eventuate in the scene so preciously outlined in Revelation 21 — the undefiled and incorruptible realm taking its character from God Himself, in which He will eternally tabernacle with men. Something of the joy and purity of that scene is given to us to enjoy even now in the earnest of the Holy Spirit of God.

There is something very affecting in the thought of goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life. I must remind my reader here of a remark, when speaking on the "Valley of the Shadow of Death." I said that a child going by night with its father through a dangerous place, would, in the sense of the danger, cling closer to his father. In our sixth verse, it is not so much the sense of the evil and danger around that makes me cling closer to my God and my Saviour, but rather the sense of His goodness. And just as the eye of a loving mother, passing with her weak little child along a rough road, would watch and follow every movement of the child, so the loving eye of our God, in His unchanging goodness and mercy, follows and watches over our every step. The same gracious eye that was looking out for the return of the prodigal, and recognized him when he looked but as a speck in the distance, follows every movement of the found, accepted, and beloved child, on the way to the Father's House above. And how many children are there on that way? poor and feeble as to themselves, though infinitely rich in Christ; and though marking their daily path with failures; yet, a loving eye, that has counted each hair of those numberless children, follows their every movement, and His "good hand" marks our every-day path with the way-marks of His "goodness and mercy." May grace be given to each beloved child to be guided by the Father's eye, as we know the voice of His blessed Son, our Good Shepherd; that we may not be like horses and mules whose mouths must be kept in with bit and bridle; but may we be kept very close to His good and holy eye, to discern at once whither it bids us to go; and may we have a deeper sense of His good hand upon us. I mean that sense of His good hand which we find in His two servants of old, Ezra and Nehemiah, in a "day of small things," when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin opposed, taunted, or tried to ensnare them in every possible way. Then, with perils and evil without and within, what was it that upheld and encouraged those faithful servants of God in their arduous path? It was the sense of God's goodness and mercy above all the evil around, so fully re-echoed when the foundation of the Temple was laid and the song arose, "Praise ye the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth for ever!" It forms the grand theme of so many Psalms, especially towards the close, anticipating the praises of Israel when, restored to their land and temple, they, on their part, will own and praise the goodness of Him Whose mercy endureth for ever.

With regard to the creation, we are told in the eighth chapter of Romans that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." There is not an animal upon the earth that is exempt from pain; but we are told in the twenty-first verse that there is to be a different state of things — "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty [or liberty of the glory] of the children of God." This is to my mind the key to the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and other portions which speak of the wonderful blessings of creation that will be connected with the reign of Christ. We are told in Isaiah, that when the King reigns in righteousness, "the wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the failing together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." This will have a literal accomplishment; so that not only the Church of God, and Israel, and the nations, but creation also will be brought into marvellous blessing. The Lord will be King over all the earth. And not only will He bring every thing into subjection to Himself, and put all enemies under His feet, but the whole earth will be filled with blessing. All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. All nations will call Him blessed. Well might the psalmist exclaim in anticipation of that day, "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth." The same time is described also in the eighth Psalm: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" Well may Israel sing then, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all my diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfied thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." The 98th Psalm also refers to millennial times. "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory. The Lord hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen (Gentiles). He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise." In the book of Revelation, too, we find reference to the same period. In the latter part of the fifth chapter we read, "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Then, according to the epistles of Colossians and Ephesians, all things, whether things in heaven or things on earth, will be reconciled unto Himself. Then all things will be gathered together in one in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. So much for the mid-day glory of the millennial reign of Christ. Now for a word as to the shades of evening, the closing part of the thousand years.

This is the well-beloved Psalm, because God's people love it for its precious and beautiful expressions, telling out the full salvation of our Saviour Lord and the gracious compassion which He manifests towards His own. But we must not overlook the prophetic aspect, which but few believers have recognized. It is really the hymn of Praise which will be sung by redeemed and restored Israel. Theirs will be a whole-souled praise. Their iniquities are forgiven, their diseases are healed, their life is redeemed from the pit, they are crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Their youth is renewed like the eagle's (Isaiah 40:28-31), which will be fulfilled then. And then the riches of mercy towards His beloved people! His Throne and His kingdom are seen in the closing verses and everything blesses Him.

God never did and never will turn away from the cry of His people, for He loves them with an unchanging love, and while He must often chasten them because of their waywardness, for "whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son that He receives," yet He will not give them up. It was of these wilful children of Jacob that He said: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and with loving-kindness will I draw thee," and again, "can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of my hands." And if His love to Israel was so great and faithful, and if they always proved it to be so when they turned from their backsliding to Him, how much more shall we prove it in these "more abundant" days of Gospel grace. He has brought us into His family, all who have believed in the Son of His love are His children, and they form His Church in which He is to have glory in Christ Jesus to all the generations of the age of ages.

1st. It assures us that whatever the condition of God's people, His love towards them does not alter. Israel may depart from the Lord, may fall into idolatry, may go into captivity, may be restored and again fall into a low moral condition, but, says Jehovah through the prophet Jeremiah, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3). So, too, disciples may fail, may forsake the Lord, may even deny the Lord, but, "having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1).

This mighty God, He who is "from everlasting to everlasting," has been revealed in Christ in perfect love, and His movements in grace towards us are characterized by what He is in Himself. That which Moses said of God's earthly people can most surely be known and enjoyed by us in our day — "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). The words of David in Psalm 103 — "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him" — would also have their comfort for ourselves. In Him there is "everlasting strength;" His promises are established by an "everlasting covenant;" He leads in the "way everlasting," and finally He says (even to a wayward people), "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3).

(v. 5) Restored Israel recognizes that all the blessing they have been brought into is the outcome of the everlasting mercy and unchanging faithfulness of Jehovah. Through all their long history of failure, the mercy (or “loving-kindness”) of Jehovah never ceased. It “endures for ever” (JND). It had been the hope of the godly in the darkest day. Realizing that God's loving-kindness endures for ever, they knew that finally the nation would come into blessing. At the same time God's faithfulness is as enduring as His mercy: therefore it follows that, while mercy brings them into final blessing, faithfulness must pass them through the great tribulation on the way to the blessing. God shows mercy because of man's need and His own love: God acts in faithfulness because of man's sin and His own holiness.