The God worshiped in the Old Testament is the same God worshiped today. Worshipping our Creator cannot be divorced from His identity and power.
In Psalm 136, the writer addresses God’s goodness (1), superiority (2-3, 26), creative power (4-9), deliverance (10-20), and provision (21-25). The worship of our Creator is far too important for our checklists. After all, the God that the psalmist lauds for His superiority is the same God who reigns today.
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. -1 Timothy 6:15b-16
The God that the psalmist lauded for His creative power and ability is the same God Christians worship today.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
-John 1:1-3
The God that was praised for His power to deliver His people is the same God who has delivered Christians from the bondage of sin.
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:22-23
The God exalted for His faithful providing is the same God providing Christians a home in Heaven and an eternal inheritance.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. -Philippians 3:20-21
Psalm 136 is often referred to as a “responsive” psalm. The speaker would read a line and the people would then respond with the preset line:
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
Repeating this line caused the people to remember how God has worked throughout Israel’s life. The word translated “lovingkindness” is the Hebrew word Hesed which carries a meaning of “covenant faithfulness.” The people’s portion of the Psalm refocused them on the most crucial reason they had to praise God-His meticulous care in keeping His part of the bargain.
The God that the psalmist lauds is the same God who reigns today. With a God like this, Christians truly have a reason to be thankful. Yet, He is far too important simply to be checked off. He deserves to be actively praised as we remember His covenant faithfulness even today.