10 To him who struck down the Egyptian firstborn; For his loving kindness endures forever;
11 And brought out Israel from among them; For his loving kindness endures forever;
12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm; For his loving kindness endures forever:
13 To him who divided the Red Sea apart; For his loving kindness endures forever;
14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it; For his loving kindness endures forever;
15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; For his loving kindness endures forever:
16 To him who led his people through the wilderness; For his loving kindness endures forever:
17 To him who struck great kings; For his loving kindness endures forever;
18 And killed mighty kings; For his loving kindness endures forever:
19 Sihon king of the Amorites; For his loving kindness endures forever;
20 Og king of Bashan; For his loving kindness endures forever;
21 And gave their land as an inheritance; For his loving kindness endures forever;
22 Even a heritage to Israel his servant; For his loving kindness endures forever:
23 Who remembered us in our low estate; For his loving kindness endures forever;
24 And has delivered us from our adversaries; For his loving kindness endures forever:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 136
Commentary on Psalms 136 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 136
The scope of this psalm is the same with that of the foregoing psalm, but there is something very singular in the composition of it; for the latter half of each verse is the same, repeated throughout the psalm, "for his mercy endureth for ever,' and yet no vain repetition. It is allowed that such burdens, or "keepings,' as we call them, add very much to the beauty of a song, and help to make it moving and affecting; nor can any verse contain more weighty matter, or more worthy to be thus repeated, than this, that God's mercy endureth for ever; and the repetition of it here twenty-six times intimates,
Psa 136:1-9
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,
Psa 136:10-22
The great things God for Israel, when he first formed them into a people, and set up his kingdom among them, are here mentioned, as often elsewhere in the psalms, as instances both of the power of God and of the particular kindness he had for Israel. See Ps. 135:8, etc.
Psa 136:23-26
God's everlasting mercy is here celebrated,