Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalms 136:1

His mercy endureth for ever. God's goodness is a fountain; it is never dry. As grace is from the world's beginning (Ps 25:6), so it is to the world's end, à seculo in seculum, from one generation to another. Salvation is no termer; grace ties not itself to times. Noah as well as Abel, Moses as well as Jacob, Jeremy as well as David, Paul as well as Simeon hath part in this salvation. God's gracious purpose the Flood drowned not, the smoke of Sinai smothered not, the Captivity ended not, the ends of the world (Saint Paul calls them so) determined not. For Christ, by whom it is, was slain from the beginning, —Saint John saith so. He was before Abraham, he himself saith so. And Clemens Alexandrinus (tom. 5. page 233) doth Marcion wrong, though otherwise an heretic, in blaming him for holding that Christ saved those also that believed in him before his incarnation. The blood of the beasts under the law was a type of his. And the scars of his wounds appear yet still, and will for ever, till he cometh to judgment. The Apostle shall end this: he is heri, and hodi, and semper idem: Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. —Richard Clerke, 1634.

Verses 1-3. The three first verses of this Psalm contain the three several names of the Deity, which are commonly rendered Jehovah, God, and Lord, respectively; the first having reference to his essence as self existent, and being his proper name; the second designating him under the character of a judge or of an all powerful being, if Aleim be derived from Al; and the third, Adoni, representing him as exercising rule. —Daniel Cresswell.

Verses 1-3. O give thanks.

What! give God thanks for everything,

Whatever may befall —

Whatever the dark clouds may bring?

Yes, give God thanks for all;

For safe he leads thee, hand in hand,

To thy blessed Fatherland.

What! thank him for the lonely way

He to me hath given —

For the path which, day by day

Seems farther off from heaven?

Yes, thank him, for he holds thy hand

And leads thee to thy Fatherland.

Close, close he shields thee from all harm;

And if the road be steep,

Thou know'st his everlasting arm

In safety doth thee keep,

Although thou canst not understand

The windings to thy Fatherland.

What blessing, thinkest thou, will he,

Who knows the good and ill,

Keep back, if it is good for thee,

While climbing up the hill?

Then trust him, and keep fast his hand,

He leads thee to thy Fatherland. —B.S., in "The Christian Treasury," 1865.

Verses 1-9. Like the preceding Psalm, this Psalm allies itself to the Book of Deuteronomy. The first clauses of Ps 136:2-3 (God of gods and Lord of Lords) are taken from De 10:17; Ps 136:12, first clause (with a strong hand and stretched out arm) from De 4:34, and De 5:15. Ps 136:16, first clause, is like De 8:15 (cf. Jer 2:6). —Franz Delitzsch.

Verses 1-26. All repetitions are not vain, nor is all length in prayer to be accounted babbling. For repetitions may be used,

1. When they express fervency and zeal: and so we read, Christ prayed over the same prayer thrice (Mt 26:44); "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." And another evangelist showeth that he did this out of special fervency of spirit (Lu 22:44); "Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly."

2. This repetition is not to be disapproved when there is a special emphasis, and spiritual elegancy in it, as in Ps 136:1-26 you have it twenty-six times repeated, For his mercy endureth for ever, because there was a special reason in it, the Psalmist's purpose there being to show the unweariedness, and the unexhausted riches of God's free grace; that notwithstanding all the former experiences they had had, God is where he was at first. We waste by giving, our drop is soon spent; but God is not wasted by bestowing, but hath the same mercy to do good to his creatures, as before. Though he had done all those wonders for them, yet his mercy was as ready to do good to them still. All along God saved and blessed his people, "For his mercy endureth for ever." —Thomas Manton.