Psalm 136 1 Oh, give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever: 4 To Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever; 5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endures forever; 6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endures forever; 7 To Him who made great lights, for His mercy endures forever— 8 The sun to rule by day, for His mercy endures forever; 9 The moon and stars to rule by night, for His mercy endures forever. 10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, for His mercy endures forever; 11 And brought out Israel from among them, for His mercy endures forever; 12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, for His mercy endures forever; 13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His mercy endures forever; 14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it, for His mercy endures forever; 15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His mercy endures forever; 16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His mercy endures forever; 17 To Him who struck down great kings, for His mercy endures forever; 18 And slew famous kings, for His mercy endures forever— 19 Sihon king of the Amorites, for His mercy endures forever; 20 And Og king of Bashan, for His mercy endures forever— 21 And gave their land as a heritage, for His mercy endures forever; 22 A heritage to Israel His servant, for His mercy endures forever. 23 Who remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy endures forever; 24 And rescued us from our enemies, for His mercy endures forever; 25 Who gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. 26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.
“The great Hallel.” Many “believe that the Israelites sang this psalm at Passover when they celebrated the Exodus.“ (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) As such, it was part of the liturgy of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem by Jesus to die for the sins of the world. It was “given to the Levites to sing every day: 1Ch 16:41. Solomon his son followed the example, and made use of it in singing at the dedication of the Temple (2Ch 7:3-6); as Jehoshaphat seems to have done when he went out to war against his enemies (2Ch 20:21).” (John Gill) “It will probably be used in the future, when in the new temple Israel will sing the praises of His Name.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
“’His mercy endures forever.’ This is the refrain. “God's goodness is a fountain; it is never dry. As grace is from the world's beginning, so it is to the world's end, à seculo in seculum, from one generation to another. Salvation is no termer; grace ties not itself to times. Noah as well as Abel, Moses as well as Jacob, Jeremy as well as David, Paul as well as Simeon hath part in this salvation. God's gracious purpose the Flood drowned not, the smoke of Sinai smothered not, the Captivity ended not, the ends of the world (St. Paul calls them so) determined not. For Christ, by whom it is, was slain from the beginning,—Saint John saith so. He was before Abraham, He Himself saith so. And Clemens Alexandrinus doth Marcion wrong, though otherwise an heretic, in blaming him for holding that Christ saved those also that believed in Him before His incarnation. The blood of the beasts under the law was a type of His. And the scars of His wounds appear yet still, and will forever, till He cometh to judgment. The Apostle shall end this: he is heri, and hodi, and semper idem: 'Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’” (Richard Clerke)
“’Oh, give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good!’ “‘Good Master, said one, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Yet we are unable. But “His mercy endures forever.’ By ‘mercy’ we understand the Lord's disposition to compassionate and relieve those whom sin has rendered miserable and base; His readiness to forgive and to be reconciled to the most provoking of transgressors, and to bestow all blessings upon them; together with all the provision which He has made for the honour of His name, in the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ.” (Thomas Scott) “‘Give thanks to the God of gods… Lord of lords’ (3) Jesus is Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made.” (Nicene Creed) “‘To Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever.’ (4) There are mirabilia parva, some lesser wonders, that the devil and his instruments, Pharaoh's sorcerers can do; but when it comes to mirabilias magna, great wonders, so great that they amount to the nature of a miracle, facit solus, God and God only does them.” (Abraham Wright)— “’To Him who by wisdom made the heavens… To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endures forever.’ (5-6) “For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities." (Col 1:16a)
“’To Him who made great lights...The sun to rule by day,' which "measures their day, and exerts an influence over animal and vegetable life, which surrounds them with innumerable comforts; and the moon and stars walking forth in their brightness, give direction to them amidst the sable hours of night, and both by land and sea proclaim the wisdom, and benignity, and gracious arrangement of the adorable Creator. By these luminaries, day and night, heat and cold, summer and winter are continually regulated: so that God's covenant with the earth is maintained through their medium. How truly, then, may we exclaim, ‘His mercy endureth for ever!’“ (John Morison)— "'The moon and stars to rule by night,' etc. (9) which 'marks out our months; and by regularly changing its figure at the four quarters of its course, subdivides the months into two periods of weeks, and thus exhibits to all the nations of the earth a ‘watch-light,’ or signal, which every seven days presents a form entirely new, for marking out the shorter periods of duration. By its nearness to the earth, and the consequent increase of its gravitating power, it produces currents in the atmosphere, which direct the course of the winds, and purify the aerial fluid from noxious exhalations; it raises the waters of the ocean, and perpetuates the regular returns of ebb and flow, by which the liquid element is preserved from filth and putrefaction. It extends its sway even over the human frame, and our health and disorders are sometimes partially dependent on its influence.” (Thomas Dick)
"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.” (Genesis 8:22) But "the day of the Lord will come as a robber comes. The heavens will pass away with a loud noise. The sun and moon and stars will burn up. The earth and all that is in it will be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10)— “‘To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,’ etc. (10) This was an act of justice for using ill the Lord's firstborn, the people of Israel, slaying their sons, and refusing to let them go, Exodus 1:13.” (John Gill)”‘For His mercy endures forever.’ There was mercy even then to Israel—drops of that mercy that forever endureth—at the very time when judgment fell on others.” (Andrew A. Bonar)— “‘And brought out Israel from among them… with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, for His mercy endures forever.’ (11-12) The figure of an outstretched arm is appropriate, for we stretch out the arm when any great effort is required; so that this implies that God put forth an extraordinary and not a common or slight display of His power in redeeming His people ‘for His mercy endures forever.’” (John Calvin)— “’And made Israel to pass through the midst of it,’ willingly, without reluctance; with great spirit and courage, fearless of danger.” (John Gill)—“‘To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His mercy endures forever.’ The children of Israel were encompassed about, and in the utmost distress: the rocks were on each side, Pharaoh and his host behind them, the Red sea before them; and so no visible way of escape; but the Lord cut a way for them through the sea, and saved them.” (David Dickson) “‘But overthrew’— shook off— ‘Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,’ etc. “This translation (shook off) gives an image of locusts. They fell into the sea like a swarm of locusts.” (Zachary Mudge) The word is applicable to a tree shaking off its foliage, Isa 33:9. The same word is used in Exo 14:27 [for this event]: ‘And the Lord… shook off the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.’ He shook them off as if he would no longer protect them. He left them to perish.” (Albert Barnes)
“‘To Him who led His people through the wilderness,’ etc. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness."(1 Cor 10:1-5)
“‘For His mercy endures forever.’ I know that the Gospel is a book of mercy; I know likewise that in the prophets there are many expressions of mercy; I know likewise that in the Ten Commandments, which are the ministration of death, there is made express mention of mercy, ‘I will have mercy on thousands:’ yet, notwithstanding all this, if every leaf, and every line, and every word in the Bible were nothing but mercy, it would nothing avail the presumptuous sinner. Our God is not an impotent God with one arm; but as He is slow to anger, so is He great in power. And therefore though in this Psalm there is nothing but ‘His mercy endureth for ever,’ which is twenty-six times in twenty-six verses: yet mark what a rattling thunder-clap is here in this verse. In our addresses therefore unto God, let us so look upon Him as a just God, as well as a merciful; and not either despair of or presume upon His mercy.” (Abraham Wright)
“To Him who struck down great kings,’ — Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan— great in regard of their stature and strength; for they were of the giants' race. Deu 3; Amo 2.” (John Trapp)— It was Yahweh of hosts, strong in battle. — ‘And gave their land as a heritage to Israel His servant.’ He speaks of all that people as of one man, because they were united together in one body, in the worship of one and the same God. Thus God calleth them all his first-born, Exodus 4:22.” (Matthew Poole)— "For their sakes He hath destroyed great and mighty kings. He can pluck off thy chariot wheels, strike thee in the hinder parts, cause thy heart to fail thee for fear, and in a moment fetch thy soul from thee: better were it for thee to have a millstone hanged about thy neck, and thou to be cast into the bottom of the sea, than to offend the least of these faithful ones; they are dear in his sight, tender to him, as the apple of His eye.” (John Barlow) (21-22)
“‘Who remembered us in our low estate’— God ‘helpeth those who are forsaken of their hopes,’… as Nicephorus saith. ‘And hath redeemed us from our enemies.’ Or, broken us off, pulled us away, as by violence; for they would never else have loosed us. This is ‘a greater mercy than the former,’ saith Kimchi; to redeem is more than to preserve. ‘Who giveth food to all flesh— food agreeable to their several appetites and temperaments, suitable and seasonable [Bread from Heaven]." (Trapp)
"‘O give thanks unto the God of Heaven’— His mercy in providing heaven for his people is more than all the rest.” (Trapp) “’The God of heaven.’ which occur three times in pre-exilic writings (Genesis 24:3; 24:7; Jonah 1:9)… [Yet oft] in the postexilic community (2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 2:1; 5:11-12; 6:9-10; 7:12; 7:21; 7:23; Nehemiah 1:4-5; 2:4; 2:20; Daniel 2:18-19; 2:28; 2:37; 2:44).” (Constable) Mary’s song—> “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is His name, His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:46-55) “Blessed be His name who has remembered us lost sinners, in our low estate, and has provided salvation for us through His Son, and revealed it in His Holy Word. May we experience His redeeming power in our hearts, that being ‘saved from our enemies,’ we ‘may serve Him in holiness and righteousness all our days’ (Zechariah’s Song; Luke 1:67-75). And [ours]: May He who ‘giveth food to all flesh,’ feed our souls unto eternal life; and enliven our affections by His grace, that we may give thanks and praise to His holy name, ‘because he is good, and because his mercy endureth for ever.’" (Scott)