Psalm 136/Commentary

Psalm 136 “His Love Has No End”

In Jewish tradition this psalm is often known as the Great Hallel (“the Great Psalm of Praise”). “The focus is on the Lord’s continuous involvement in redemptive history, beginning with the Exodus and the Conquest. However, the Lord’s majesty and ‘love’ are not to be limited to His people, as they extend to all of His creation by virtue of His being the Creator (vv. 4-9,25)” (Gaebelein p.

823).

Immediately when you read this psalm you notice the reoccurring expression, “For His lovingkindness is everlasting”. Other translations render this expression, “for His mercy endureth for ever” (KJV); “for His steadfast love endures for ever” (RSV); “for His covenant love is everlasting” (Ber): “He is eternally constant” (Har); and “His kindness never fails” (Mof).

The word that is used for “lovingkindness” is a powerful Hebrew term hesed, which means “covenant love” or the favor God shows to those with whom He has entered into a covenant relationship. Sometimes it is translated “steadfast” or “enduring love”. It is enduring because God is a God of His word. He is forever good, and He does not break His covenant.

Points To Note: 1.

This means that God keeps His promises and that God will always keep up His end of the covenant. The righteous will always be rewarded and the unrepentant will always be punished in the end. 2. It also means that while we are alive, if we sin, God will always accept genuine repentance (2 Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 18:24ff). 3. For the nation of Israel this meant that even though the nation had sinned, God had clearly stated that He would bless them again if they returned to Him with all their heart (Deuteronomy 30). 4. The term hesed has absolutely no comfort for the person who is unwilling to repent or depart from false teachings, for the term says that God will always honor His covenants, which means that God will honor His promises as well as His threats. 5. Unfortunately, some have virtually argued that the expression “steadfast love” means that God will always love us no matter what we do or how we live, but Jesus clearly rejected this idea (Matthew 7:21-23).

God is Good

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136:1 “Give thanks is not the whole meaning of this word…it basically means ‘confess’ or ‘acknowledge’, and therefore calls us to thoughtful, grateful worship, spelling out what we know or have found of God’s glory and His deeds. The psalm proceeds to do this, speaking here of His character (1) and sovereignty (2,3); then of what He has made and done (4ff), and what He continues to do (25)” (Kidner p. 457).

Here we are told basically why we should worship and serve God, “He is good”.

Hence God never has any ulterior motives, and He would never command us to do something which was harmful, and neither would He ever forbid us from doing something which is truly good and right. Are we thankful that a “good” God rules the universe instead of a tyrant? “He is good beyond all others; indeed, He alone is good in the highest sense; He is the source of good, the good of all good, the sustainer of good, the perfecter of good, and the rewarder of good. For this He deserves the constant gratitude of His people. If you want to know what real goodness is, and enjoy it, the place to find goodness is in God” (Boice p. 1181). See James 1:17; John 1:5; Acts 14:15-17 and Luke 6:35.

Point To Note: Is gratitude an inherent part of our private and public worship? In our worship of God are we consistently and joyfully thanking God for His many great and kind acts toward us?

136:2-3 He is the “God of gods” in the sense that there are no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). He is the true God in contrast to all the false gods which men have created (1 Corinthians 8:4-6). He is the “Lord of lords” in the sense that there is no dominion or authority above Him. Since this is true, then only God is to be thanked for the beauty of this creation and the blessings which we receive. The God revealed in the Bible is solely responsible for the existence of this universe and all its wonders.

God Is Creator 136:4 God alone does great wonders, and one of the wonders immediately mentioned is the Creation (5-9).

136:5 Notice the statement, “with skill”. Anyone who studies the physical universe and concludes that they cannot find any order in it, or that it looks like the universe is simply the product of a chance explosion, has immediately disqualified themselves from having any credibility in the scientific realm.

Honest men in the past who studied the universe saw the wisdom and power of God (Psalm 19:1; Proverbs 3:19; Romans 1:20). Dishonest men, men with ulterior motives, try to argue otherwise (Romans 1:18).

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136:6 “He also laid out (spread out by beating, like a thin layer of metal), the earth above the waters.

136:7-9 The great lights are defined as the sun, moon, and the stars (Genesis 1:16). “Though God’s creation on earth reflects great glory, His work in space is overwhelming to man in all ages (Psalms 8:1,3; 19:1-6). Heaven, with the sun and moon, affects life on earth and hence is evidence of God’s goodness to all creatures on earth” (Gaebelein p. 824).

Point To Note: “What a difference there is between the biblical approach to creation and the approach we see taken by the world. Because the unregenerate world does not acknowledge God as the creator of the universe, it does one of two bad things.

Either it bows down to creation itself and worships it, making mere things into a god or gods (idols), perhaps worshipping some impersonal ‘force’ in nature; or it treats creation as something to be exploited, ‘ripping it off’, as it were, for personal benefit….The Christian understanding of creation is that God has made everything and that it therefore has value and should be valued by us because of its origin in God. We should delight in it. Delight is related to being thankful, but it is a step beyond it. It is a step that many Christians do not seem to have taken. Frequently Christians have looked at nature only as one of the classic proofs of God’s existence….but the believer also needs to go beyond viewing creation as proof and really enjoy what he or she sees because God has been good in what He has created for us. We can delight in creation even more than the non-Christian, even more than so-called ‘nature worshippers’, because we have knowledge of the God who stands behind everything” (Boice pp. 11811182).

God The Rescuer 136:10-22 These verses repeat Psalms 135:8-12 and the events of the Exodus and the Conquest. Of the many wonders in Egypt, the tenth plague receives particular mention (v. 10). Note, that plague killed every Egyptian male, including children, yet the writer praises God for His love. There are times when showing love to His people means that God must bring judgment, including death, upon God’s opponents. Do we praise God for His mercy and our salvation, even though such means that the vast majority of mankind is going to hell? “Our God is a God of redemption and judgment. As He executes His wrath upon our enemies, He is faithful to His covenant to deliver us and keep us” (Williams p. 469).

Points To Note:

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1. Whenever the Bible mentions previously recorded Biblical events, remember that the writer is endorsing those events. Today we have people who deny the miraculous elements in the Exodus, yet this inspired writer records that God really did strike every Egyptian firstborn, God really did part the Red Sea and God really did drown the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Obviously, the Red Sea wasn’t some shallow marsh.

2. How do we maintain our gratitude? It seems clear that we will remain thankful to God as long as we vividly remember all the times that God has delivered us in the past. Do we still appreciate our salvation? (2 Peter 1:9).

3. And if God did all of this for His people in the past, how much more will God take care of His people in the New Testament! Kidner notes, “The overthrow of Pharaoh and his host…Is also a part of our own history, illuminating our own redemption and the meaning of our baptism and pilgrimage (1 Corinthians 5:7; 10:1-13)” (p. 458).

God: A Friend In Need 136:23-24 The “lowly estate” might refer to when Israel was in Egyptian bondage. God also remember our “low estate”, when we were lost in sin (Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1-3).

God The Provider 136:25-26 God providentially sustains His whole creation (Matthew 6:25-31).

His steadfast love to all of creation is evident in that He continually cares for His creatures. In fact, we see proof of God’s faithfulness toward mankind every day (Genesis 8:22; 9:8-17).

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