Psalm 136

 ¹Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

²Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!

For His mercy endures forever.

³Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!

For His mercy endures forever:

⁴To Him who alone does great wonders,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁵To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁶To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁷To Him who made great lights,

For His mercy endures forever—

⁸The sun to rule by day,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁹The moon and stars to rule by night,

For His mercy endures forever.

¹⁰To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹¹And brought out Israel from among them,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹²With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹³To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁴And made Israel pass through the midst of it,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁵But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁶To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁷To Him who struck down great kings,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁸And slew famous kings,

For His mercy endures forever—

¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites,

For His mercy endures forever;

²⁰And Og king of Bashan,

For His mercy endures forever—

²¹And gave their land as a heritage,

For His mercy endures forever;

²²A heritage to Israel His servant,

For His mercy endures forever.

²³Who remembered us in our lowly state,

For His mercy endures forever;

²⁴And rescued us from our enemies,

For His mercy endures forever;

²⁵Who gives food to all flesh,

For His mercy endures forever.  

²⁶Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!

For His mercy endures forever.

Preamble: The great Psalm 136 is a Scriptural declaration of the Lord’s everlasting mercies, mercies which began with creation (vs. 1-9) and continue out to His nation (vs. 10-22) and to one and to all (vs. 23-26). In this Psalm then we who believe in Him are assured of the Lord’s everlasting mercies. For the Lord our God is the God of all mercies, He alone has the Sovereignty and the Power to grant this to one and to all who put their faith in Him. For there is but One God and Jesus Christ whom He sent to redeem us all from all our sins and transgressions and restore us to Himself the moment we believe in Him. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ then invite Him in and He will be with you forever. Then you will know that His mercy endures forever!

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.”

We who believe in the Lord must give thanks to Him, for we both know and have experienced His goodness and His mercies in the most deepest and profoundest way, which for us began with our receiving His salvation by God’s grace so that we could be saved from every sin and every transgression that we have ever committed, the moment we believed in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. For it was when we were in the depths of our despair and we were facing all our sins and fears that God’s mercies freely came to us. This Psalm then celebrates that fact, it is then the Psalm of the redeemed. For God’s Son Jesus Christ was Crucified to pay for all our sins and transgressions, then He rose from the dead, (to die no more), so that through His Resurrected life, new and everlasting life by His Holy Spirit could be imparted into us all who believe in Him, without any exceptions, and without any partiality! Truly then the Lord alone is good, for it is by His Work and the Sacrifice of His own life at Calvary that we have eternal redemption and salvation simply by trusting in what He has done for us all. His mercies then alone endure forever! People can take theirs back, but Lord never will! Twenty-six times then that truth will be reaffirmed throughout this Psalm. Believe it all peoples and give Him all your praise and thanks forever!

Vs. 2 “Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!

For His mercy endures forever.”   

Our God is the One and only true God, the Everlasting One, Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is the One to whom all creation owes its being, for it is from Him alone that His mercy comes to one and to all. For if He withdrew His Spirit all things would cease to be. All religions and their "gods" then are nothing but creations of their peoples own minds and will, we owe them nothing but our contempt, but to the Lord our God we owe everything, all our thanksgiving and praise, for His mercy endures forever.

Vs. 3 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!

For His mercy endures forever:”

There is but One Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the Name and Title of our God and Savior, He is the Lord of lords, the One, the only one whose mercy towards us endures forever! Let us all then who believe in Him give Him our thanks and praise forever!

Vs. 4-9 ⁴To Him who alone does great wonders,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁵To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁶To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁷To Him who made great lights,

For His mercy endures forever—

⁸The sun to rule by day,

For His mercy endures forever;

⁹The moon and stars to rule by night,

For His mercy endures forever.

In these verses (vs. 4-9) then we have a brief retelling of the Lord our God’s merciful works in creation. For all the great wonders in all of creation; from the tiniest atomic particles to the largest galaxies and beyond; all have their origins and receive their directions (the laws by which they function) from Him alone. For it was by His wisdom that He created all things, whether in the heavens or on the earth (Prov. 8:22-26). And so He laid out the earth above the waters (vs. 6), then He created great lights in the heavens sky to govern it (vs. 7-9), and He does many great wonders in and through them. Some we clearly know and see, and some which we have yet to understand and see. For all the magnificence in all of creation is of the Lord our God who does all His great wonders in His creation that captivate us, and ultimately should move us all to believe in Him. For by them we know His mercy endures forever,  because the sun never ceases to shine, and the stars never cease to glow.

Vs. 10-22 ¹⁰To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹¹And brought out Israel from among them,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹²With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹³To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁴And made Israel pass through the midst of it,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁵But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,

For His mercy endures forever;

The Lord our God’s mercies towards His people and nation was most magnificently manifested when during Israel's' lowest point in their history, He brought about their deliverance from their cruel taskmasters the Egyptians. That is what is being recalled here, How He brought about Israel’s deliverance by striking the firstborn in Egypt. For not until He did so were Pharoah and the Egyptians hardened hearts humbled (vs. 10). For Egypt had killed, and were killing all of Israel’s male children. Thus, God exercised His Sovereign justice on their behalf (vs. 10-12) and brought out His people from amongst them loaded with the riches of Egypt (again a just response to how the Egyptians had cruelly enslaved and robed them for 400 years). The passage then moves to what seemed like an impossible escape for them when standing on the shores of the Red Sea and with Pharoah and the Egyptians closing in on them (seeking to return them to their enslavement) the Lord our God divided the Red Sea and caused His people to pass through on dry land. Now as the Egyptians pursued them, He having brought His people safely to the other side then closed the waters in on them drowning all their Egyptian pursuers (vs. 13-15) thus showing Himself strong on their behalf, showing them and showing all who will believe in Him that His mercy endures forever, for He does not forget nor abandon His people, ever!

Vs. 16-22 ¹⁶To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁷To Him who struck down great kings,

For His mercy endures forever;

¹⁸And slew famous kings,

For His mercy endures forever—

¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites,

For His mercy endures forever;

²⁰And Og king of Bashan,

For His mercy endures forever—

²¹And gave their land as a heritage,

For His mercy endures forever;

²²A heritage to Israel His servant,

For His mercy endures forever.

From the banks of the Red Sea, to their 40 years in the wilderness, the Lord our God never forsook them, even after all of their complaints and rebellions, He still led them through the wilderness with a cloud to protect them from the extreme heat of the day, and a fiery light to guide them on their journeys through the night. He even fed them with His manna, For His mercy endures forever! And so when they were confronted by famous kings and the great and powerful Canaanite kings, it was the Lord our God who slew them, from Sihon king of the Amorites (an ancient warrior people who were greatly feared) to Og king of Bashan (the last of giant kings who ruled sixty cites) the Lord our God defeated them all before His people Israel, and gave them their land (His land) to His people as an inheritance forever, because His mercy endures forever! (see Psalm 105:26-45 for a brief retelling of these things).

Vs. 23-26 “Who remembered us in our lowly state,

For His mercy endures forever;

²⁴And rescued us from our enemies,

For His mercy endures forever;

²⁵Who gives food to all flesh,

For His mercy endures forever.  

²⁶Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!

For His mercy endures forever.”

From Israel the Psalm now looks outward and beyond to us all who in our lowly state when the Lord looked upon us and granted us His salvation through God’s grace alone (Eph. 2:8-9). For the Lord does not forsake the downtrodden and poor; He does not forget the meek and humble, His mercy endures forever. Indeed, how many times has He rescued Israel from their enemies? This alone is proof that His mercy endures forever. For even during Hitlers most heinous plots to annihilate all the Jews, the Lord preserved them and rebuilt that people in a mere generation into the mighty nation that it now is. What other nation can claim that? And this is Israel’s history time and again, because the Lord’s mercies endure forever. Indeed, it is of the Lord to not only extend mercy to us His people but all flesh; both man and beast, sea creatures and land animals, even the birds of air are fed by His hand, because His mercy endures forever. What more needs to be said except: “Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.”

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.