Psalms 136:17

136:10-22 The great things God did for Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt, were mercies which endured long to them; and our redemption by Christ, which was typified thereby, endures for ever. It is good to enter into the history of God's favours, and in each to observe, and own, that his mercy endureth for ever. He put them in possession of a good land; it was a figure of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To him which smote great kings,.... Either the thirty one kings in the land of Canaan; or those who are after particularly mentioned; which seems best, since the kings of Canaan were petty kings, when these were greater ones; for his mercy endureth for ever; the smiting of those kings were in mercy to Israel; both to preserve them from falling into their hands, and that they might possess their countries, as is later declared.

To him which smote great kings - On this passage see the notes at Psalm 135:10-12 . There is little difference in the two places, except that here the statement is divided by the refrain, "For his mercy endureth forever." The idea in the whole passage, in view of the divine interposition in slaying the mighty kings, and in giving their land for a possession to the Hebrew people, is, that it was a proof of mercy and benevolence. It is benevolence to mankind and to the church of God - it is in the interests of humanity, of domestic peace, and of the charities of life, to remove wicked people from the world. This mercy may be manifested further, not merely in removing the wicked, but in transferring their possessions to those who will make a better use of them. Thus the possessions of these mighty kings, Sihon and Og, were transferred to the people of God, and lands which had been devoted to the service of blood, ambition, crime, pollution, and idolatry, became devoted to the service of religion and righteousness. In like manner, through the removal of a wicked man from the world by death, God may cause his wealth, accumulated by avarice and dishonesty, to be transferred to the hands of children who will make a good use of it - children converted as if in anticipation of this, and with a view to this.

Up to this point it is God the absolute in general, the Creator of all things, to the celebration of whose praise they are summoned; and from this point onwards the God of the history of salvation. In Psalm 136:13 גּזר (instead of בּקע, Psalm 78:13 ; Exodus 14:21 ; Nehemiah 9:11 ) of the dividing of the Red Sea is peculiar; גּזרים ( Genesis 15:17 , side by side with בּתרים) are the pieces or parts of a thing that is cut up into pieces. נער is a favourite word taken from Exodus 14:27 . With reference to the name of the Egyptian ruler Pharaoh (Herodotus also, ii. 111, calls the Pharaoh of the Exodus the son of Sesostris-Rameses Miumun, not Μενόφθας, as he is properly called, but absolutely Φερῶν), vid., on Psalm 73:22 . After the God to whom the praise is to be ascribed has been introduced with ל by always fresh attributes, the ל before the names of Sihon and of Og is perplexing. The words are taken over, as are the six lines of Psalm 136:17-22 in the main, from Psalm 135:10-12 , with only a slight alteration in the expression. In Psalm 136:23 the continued influence of the construction הודוּ ל is at an end. The connection by means of שׁ (cf. Psalm 135:8 , Psalm 135:10 ) therefore has reference to the preceding "for His goodness endureth for ever." The language here has the stamp of the latest period.

It is true זכר with Lamed of the object is used even in the earliest Hebrew, but שׁפל is only authenticated by Ecclesiastes 10:6 , and פּרק, to break loose equals to rescue (the customary Aramaic word for redemption), by Lamentations 5:8 , just as in the closing verse, which recurs to the beginning, "God of heaven" is a name for God belonging to the latest literature, Nehemiah 1:4 ; Nehemiah 2:4 . In Psalm 136:23 the praise changes suddenly to that which has been experienced very recently. The attribute in Psalm 136:25 (cf. Psalm 147:9 ; Psalm 145:15 ) leads one to look back to a time in which famine befell them together with slavery.

Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever. Oh give thanks unto the God of gods; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever. Oh give thanks unto the Lord of lords; By the rivers of Babylon, I will give thee thanks with my whole heart: Before the gods will I sing praises unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. Deliver me, O Jehovah, from the evil man;

6:14 To pass through the midst of it, to wit, without fear or danger, by comparing this with the next verse. Psalms 136:15 No text from Poole on this verse. ## Psalms 136:16 Through the wilderness; through that vast howling wilderness, where there was neither way nor provision; through which none but the Almighty God could have safely conducted them. Psalms 136:17 No text from Poole on this verse. Psalms 136:18 No text from Poole on this verse. Psalms 136:19 No text from Poole on this verse. Psalms 136:20 No text from Poole on this verse. Psalms 136:21 No text from Poole on this verse. ## Psalms 136:22 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 , Exo_4:22. Psalms 136:23 No text from Poole on this verse. Psalms 136:24 No text from Poole on this verse. ## Psalms 136:25 To all flesh; either to all mankind, or to all living creatures. For which God deserves great praises, which the psalmist by his example teacheth us to render to God for them, because those who are most concerned either cannot or do not perform this duty. Psalms 136:26 No text from Poole on this verse. ## Psalms 137:1 PSALM 137 The penman of this Psalm is uncertain; the occasion of it was unquestionably the consideration of the Babylonish captivity; and it seems to have been composed either during the time of that captivity, or presently after their deliverance out of it.