God’s Word for You
Psalm 100:5 generation to generation
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, March 31, 2026
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy endures forever,
and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
The Lord’s name, “the LORD,” teaches his eternal nature, for it means the God who was, who is, and who always shall be. It means, “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). God is eternal, and therefore he is no older today than when he spoke with Abraham. He was eternal then, and he remains eternal now. What is eternity plus four thousand years? It is nothing else but eternity. All of that eternal time, he has had mankind’s good at heart and in his mind. But let us put that another way, equally true. All of that eternal time, he has had your good at heart, and your good in mind. He loves you.
This verse teaches us three other facts about our God in addition to his name. First: He is good (Matthew 19:17). This means that he has no needs of his own; he has no imperfections to be corrected, none at all in his being, in his thought, or in his will. David speaks as a prophet: “Good and upright is the LORD, therefore he instructs sinners in his ways” (Psalm 25:8). This leads us to see that “God is not only good in himself but he also radiates and communicates his goodness outside himself, which in view of this communication, is called kindness” (Gerhard).
Second, we are taught that God’s mercy endures forever. It is characteristic of God that he condemns and throws down the most powerful and shakes the bravest, even though they are his creatures. He does this to frighten the ungodly and to snap us awake with many frightening accounts of his wrath, so that we will despair of ourselves and look to him alone for mercy and salvation. For either man must live under the shadow of God’s wings, or he must perish. But we must be careful: the more gifts he gives, the greater one’s pride grows. This was the sin of the angels who fell, and even of the generations that sprang up quickly after the Flood, when after perhaps a hundred years they had multiplied into the tens of thousands and resolved to built a tower as high as heaven, which caused God to confuse their language and made them stop building their tower and their city.
But his mercy endures for those who put their trust in him, and it endures forever. And for this reason we also find the hope of heaven and of everlasting life in this verse and in this little Psalm. For God’s design for mankind has always been that we would live with him in his heaven for all eternity (John 14:1-3).
Third, this verse teaches us that God’s faithfulness is not only for eternity in heaven, but that it continues for us here below in this lifetime as well. He watches over us and he protects us always. For just as his will is to do whatever according to his wisdom is good, his will is also to prevent whatever is evil. So he provides for us, accomplishing his two main goals: to give himself glory by doing so, and to see to the welfare of humanity.
This One Hundredth Psalm has instructed us in the worship of God, both by man and by the rest of creation (100:1-2). It has reminded us of God’s love in creating us and our wonderful world, and has comforted us with the certainty that we belong to him as his dear people (100:3-4). And finally, this psalm has displayed his name, his goodness, his mercy, and his faithfulness.
In our hymnals, a common tune appears, called “Old Hundredth.” It is probably best known as the tune of “Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow,” which my sons and I sang at the grave when we buried their mother.
The tune was written by Louis Bourgeois for Psalm 134 in the Geneva Psalter (1539) and adapted by William Kethe for Psalm 100 (the “Hundredth” of “Old Hundredth”) in the Scottish Psalter of 1561 (Kethe was one of the translators of the Geneva Bible). Here is Kethe’s text of the Psalm. Using the melody by Bourgeois, the Psalm becomes four stanzas long.
1 All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
2 Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell, Come ye before him and rejoice.
3 Know that the Lord is God indeed; Without our aid he did us make:
We are his flock, he doth us feed, And for his sheep he doth us take.
4 O enter then his gates with praise, Approach with joy his courts unto:
Praise, laud, and bless his name always, For it is seemly so to do.
5 For why? the Lord our God is good, His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood, And shall from age to age endure.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.