Псалми 136:1

David thanks God for His benefits, and anticipating a wider extension of God's glory by His means, assures himself of His continued presence and faithfulness. (Psa 138:1-8) I will praise thee with my whole heart--(Compare Psa 9:1). before the gods--whether angels (Psa 8:5); or princes (Exo 21:6; Psa 82:6); or idols (Psa 97:7); denotes a readiness to worship the true God alone, and a contempt of all other objects of worship.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good,.... In himself, and to all his creatures; and especially to his chosen people, who therefore should give thanks to him daily in the name of Christ, for all blessings temporal and spiritual, in faith and fervency, and in the sincerity of their souls, with their whole heart; for his mercy endureth for ever; it is the same with his love, which is from everlasting to everlasting; and continues notwithstanding the sins of his people, the hidings of his face from them, and his chastisements of them; the covenant which is founded on mercy, and all the blessings of it, which are the sure mercies of David, last for ever; and hence the vessels of mercy shall certainly be saved, and not lost; see Psa 106:1.

Like the preceding Psalm, this Psalm allies itself to the Book of Deuteronomy. Psa 136:2 and Psa 136:3 (God of gods and Lord of lords) are taken from Deu 10:17; Psa 136:12 (with a strong hand and stretched-out arm) from Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15, and frequently (cf. Jer 32:21); Psa 136:16 like Deu 8:15 (cf. Jer 2:6). With reference to the Deuteronomic colouring of Psa 136:19-22, vid., on Psa 135:10-12; also the expression "Israel His servant" recalls Deu 32:36 (cf. Psa 135:14; Psa 90:13), and still more Isa 40:1, where the comprehension of Israel under the unity of this notion has its own proper place. In other respects, too, the Psalm is an echo of earlier model passages. Who alone doeth great wonders sounds like Psa 72:18 (Psa 86:10); and the adjective "great" that is added to "wonders" shows that the poet found the formula already in existence. In connection with Psa 136:5 he has Pro 3:19 or Jer 10:12 in his mind; תּבוּנה, like חכמה, is the demiurgic wisdom. Psa 136:6 calls to mind Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24; the expression is "above the waters," as in Psa 34:2 "upon the seas," because the water is partly visible and partly invisible מתּחת לארץ (Exo 20:4). The plural אורים, luces, instead of מארות, lumina (cf. Eze 32:8, מאורי אור), is without precedent. It is a controverted point whether אורת in Isa 26:19 signifies lights (cf. אורה, Psa 139:12) or herbs (Kg2 4:39). The plural ממשׁלות is also rare (occurring only besides in Psa 114:2): it here denotes the dominion of the moon on the one hand, and (going beyond Gen 1:16) of the stars on the other. בּלּילה, like בּיּום, is the second member of the stat. construct.

The duty we are here again and again called to is to give thanks, to offer the sacrifice of praise continually, not the fruits of our ground or cattle, but the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, Heb 13:15. We are never so earnestly called upon to pray and repent as to give thanks; for it is the will of God that we should abound most in the most pleasant exercises of religion, in that which is the work of heaven. Now here observe, 1. Whom we must give thanks to - to him that we receive all good from, to the Lord, Jehovah, Israel's God (Psa 136:1), the God of gods, the God whom angels adore, from whom magistrates derive their power, and by whom all pretended deities are and shall be conquered (Psa 136:2), to the Lord of lords, the Sovereign of all sovereigns, the stay and supporter of all supports; Psa 136:3. In all our adorations we must have an eye to God's excellency as transcendent, and to his power and dominion as incontestably and uncontrollably supreme. 2. What we must give thanks for, not as the Pharisee that made all his thanksgivings terminate in his own praise (God, I thank thee, that I am so and so), but directing them all to God's glory. (1.) We must give thanks to God for his goodness and mercy (Psa 136:1): Give thanks to the Lord, not only because he does good, but because he is good (all the streams must be traced up to the fountain), not only because he is merciful to us, but because his mercy endures for ever, and will be drawn out to those that shall come after us. We must give thanks to God, not only for that mercy which is now handed out to us here on earth, but for that which shall endure for ever in the glories and joys of heaven. (2.) We must give God thanks for the instances of his power and wisdom. In general (Psa 136:4), he along does…

Ps 136 This is the last of the Great Hallel psalms (Pss 120–136). It distinctively repeats the refrain His faithful love endures forever in every verse. The hymn is framed by a call to praise (136:1-3, 26). It proclaims the Lord as the Creator of all and the Redeemer of Israel, both in the distant (136:10-22) and in the recent past (136:23-24). 136:1-3 The psalmist invites the community to praise the Lord, who is good and full of love, the true Lord of humanity. Verse 1 alludes to the poetic expression in 2 Chr 5:13.