mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 136.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cxxxvii" n="cxxxvii" next="Ps.cxxxviii" prev="Ps.cxxxvi" progress="68.53%" title="Chapter CXXXVI">
<h2 id="Ps.cxxxvii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cxxxvii-p0.2">PSALM CXXXVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1">The scope of this psalm is the same with that of
the <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.1-Ps.135.21" parsed="|Ps|135|1|135|21" passage="Ps 135:1-21">foregoing psalm</scripRef>, 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, 1. That God's mercies to his people are thus
repeated and drawn, as it were, with a continuando from the
beginning to the end, with a progress and advance in infinitum. 2.
That in every particular favour we ought to take notice of the
mercy of God, and to take favour we ought to take notice of the
mercy of God, and to take notice of it as enduring still, the same
now that it has been, and enduring for ever, the same always that
it is. 3. That the everlasting continuance of the mercy of God is
very much his honour and that which he glories in, and very much
the saints' comfort and that which they glory in. It is that which
therefore our hearts should be full of and greatly affected with,
so that the most frequent mention of it, instead of cloying us,
should raise us the more, because it will be the subject of our
praise to all eternity. This most excellent sentence, that God's
mercy endureth for ever, is magnified above all the truths
concerning God, not only by the repetition of it here, but by the
signal tokens of divine acceptance with which God owned the singing
of it, both in Solomon's time (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.5.13" parsed="|2Chr|5|13|0|0" passage="2Ch 5:13">2
Chron. v. 13</scripRef>, when they sang these words, "for his mercy
endureth for ever," the house was filled with a cloud) and in
Jehoshaphat's time (when they sang these words, God gave them
victory, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.21-2Chr.20.22" parsed="|2Chr|20|21|20|22" passage="2Ch 20:21,22">2 Chron. xx. 21,
22</scripRef>), which should make us love to sing, "His mercies
sure do still endure, eternally." We must praise God, I. As great
and good in himself, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.1-Ps.136.3" parsed="|Ps|136|1|136|3" passage="Ps 136:1-3">ver.
1-3</scripRef>. II. As the Creator of the world, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.5-Ps.136.9" parsed="|Ps|136|5|136|9" passage="Ps 136:5-9">ver. 5-9</scripRef>. III. As Israel's God and Saviour,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.10-Ps.136.22" parsed="|Ps|136|10|136|22" passage="Ps 136:10-22">ver. 10-22</scripRef>. IV. As our
Redeemer, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.23-Ps.136.24" parsed="|Ps|136|23|136|24" passage="Ps 136:23,24">ver. 23, 24</scripRef>.
V. As the great benefactor of the whole creation, and God over all,
blessed for evermore, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.25-Ps.136.26" parsed="|Ps|136|25|136|26" passage="Ps 136:25,26">ver. 25,
26</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136" parsed="|Ps|136|0|0|0" passage="Ps 136" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.1-Ps.136.9" parsed="|Ps|136|1|136|9" passage="Ps 136:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.136.1-Ps.136.9">
<h4 id="Ps.cxxxvii-p1.11">Exhortations to
Thanksgiving.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p2">1 O give thanks unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p2.1">Lord</span>; for <i>he is</i> good: for his mercy
<i>endureth</i> for ever.   2 O give thanks unto the God of
gods: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.   3 O give
thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for
ever.   4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy
<i>endureth</i> for ever.   5 To him that by wisdom made the
heavens: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.   6 To him
that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy
<i>endureth</i> for ever.   7 To him that made great lights:
for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   8 The sun to rule by
day: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   9 The moon and
stars to rule by night: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3">The duty we are here again and again called
to is to <i>give thanks,</i> to <i>offer the sacrifice of praise
continually,</i> not the fruits of our ground or cattle, but <i>the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.15" parsed="|Heb|13|15|0|0" passage="Heb 13:15">Heb. xiii. 15</scripRef>. We are never so
earnestly called upon to pray and repent as to <i>give thanks;</i>
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, <i>to the Lord,</i> Jehovah,
Israel's God (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.1" parsed="|Ps|136|1|0|0" passage="Ps 136:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>),
<i>the God of gods,</i> the God whom angels adore, from whom
magistrates derive their power, and by whom all pretended deities
are and shall be conquered (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.2" parsed="|Ps|136|2|0|0" passage="Ps 136:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), <i>to the Lord of lords,</i> the Sovereign of all
sovereigns, the stay and supporter of all supports; <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.3" parsed="|Ps|136|3|0|0" passage="Ps 136:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. 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 (<i>God, I thank
thee,</i> 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
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.1" parsed="|Ps|136|1|0|0" passage="Ps 136:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>Give
thanks to the Lord,</i> 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
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.4" parsed="|Ps|136|4|0|0" passage="Ps 136:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), he <i>alone 
does great wonders.</i> The contrivance is wonderful, the design
being laid by infinite wisdom; the performance is wonderful, being
put in execution by infinite power. He alone does marvellous
things; none besides can do such things, and he does them without
the assistance or advice of any other. More particularly, [1.] He
made the heavens, and stretched them out, and in them we not only
see his wisdom and power, but we taste his mercy in their benign
influences; as long as the heavens endure the mercy of God endures
in them, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.5" parsed="|Ps|136|5|0|0" passage="Ps 136:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. [2.]
He raised the earth out of the waters when he caused the dry land
to appear, that it might be fit to be a habitation for man, and
therein also his mercy to man still endures (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.6" parsed="|Ps|136|6|0|0" passage="Ps 136:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); for <i>the earth hath he given
to the children of men,</i> and all its products. [3.] Having made
both heaven and earth, he settled a correspondence between them,
notwithstanding their distance, by making the sun, moon, and stars,
which he placed in the firmament of heaven, to shed their light and
influences upon this earth, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.7-Ps.136.9" parsed="|Ps|136|7|136|9" passage="Ps 136:7-9"><i>v.</i> 7-9</scripRef>. These are called the
<i>great lights</i> because they appear so to us, for otherwise
astronomers could tell us that the moon is less than many of the
stars, but, being nearer to the earth, it seems much greater. They
are said to <i>rule,</i> not only because they govern the seasons
of the year, but because they are useful to the world, and
benefactors are the best rulers, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.25" parsed="|Luke|22|25|0|0" passage="Lu 22:25">Luke
xxii. 25</scripRef>. But the empire is divided, one <i>rules by
day,</i> the <i>other by night</i> (at least, <i>the stars</i>),
and yet all are subject to God's direction and disposal. Those
rulers, therefore, which the Gentiles idolized, are the world's
servants and God's subjects. <i>Sun, stand thou still, and thou
moon.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.10-Ps.136.22" parsed="|Ps|136|10|136|22" passage="Ps 136:10-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.136.10-Ps.136.22">
<h4 id="Ps.cxxxvii-p3.12">Divine Mercy Celebrated.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p4">10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn:
for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   11 And brought out
Israel from among them: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:
  12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his
mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.   13 To him which divided the
Red sea into parts: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:  
14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy
<i>endureth</i> for ever:   15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his
host in the Red sea: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.  
16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his
mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.   17 To him which smote great
kings: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   18 And slew
famous kings: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   19
Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:
  20 And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy <i>endureth</i>
for ever:   21 And gave their land for a heritage: for his
mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   22 <i>Even</i> a heritage
unto Israel his servant: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for
ever.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5">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 <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.8" parsed="|Ps|135|8|0|0" passage="Ps 135:8">Ps. cxxxv. 8</scripRef>,
&amp;c. 1. He brought them out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.10-Ps.136.12" parsed="|Ps|136|10|136|12" passage="Ps 136:10-12"><i>v.</i> 10-12</scripRef>. That was a mercy which
endured long to them, and our redemption by Christ, which was
typified by that, does indeed endure for ever, for it is an eternal
redemption. Of all the plagues of Egypt, none is mentioned but the
death of the first-born, because that was the conquering plague; by
that God, who in all the plagues distinguished the Israelites from
the Egyptians, brought them at last from among them, not by a wile,
but with a strong hand and an arm stretched out to reach far and do
great things. These miracles of mercy, as they proved Moses's
commission to give law to Israel, so they laid Israel under lasting
obligations to obey that law, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.20.2" parsed="|Exod|20|2|0|0" passage="Ex 20:2">Exod. xx.
2</scripRef>. 2. He forced them a way through the Red Sea, which
obstructed them at their first setting out. By the power he has to
control the common course of nature he <i>divided the sea into two
parts,</i> between which he opened a path, and made Israel to pass
between the parts, now that they were to enter into covenant with
him; see <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.18" parsed="|Jer|34|18|0|0" passage="Jer 34:18">Jer. xxxiv. 18</scripRef>.
He not only divided the sea, but gave his people courage to go
through it when it was divided, which was an instance of God's
power over men's hearts, as the former of his power over the
waters. And, to make it a miracle of justice as well as mercy, the
same Red Sea that was a lane to the Israelites was a grave to their
pursuers. There he shook off Pharaoh and his host. 3. He conducted
them through a vast howling wilderness (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.16" parsed="|Ps|136|16|0|0" passage="Ps 136:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>); there he led them and fed
them. Their camp was victualled and fortified by a constant series
of miracles for forty years; though they loitered and wandered
there, they were not lost. And in this the mercy of God, and the
constancy of that mercy, were the more observable because they
often provoked him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert.
4. He destroyed kings before them, to make room for them (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.17-Ps.136.18" parsed="|Ps|136|17|136|18" passage="Ps 136:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>), not deposed
and banished them, but smote and slew them, in which appeared his
wrath against them, but his mercy, his never-failing mercy, to
Israel. And that which magnified it was that they were <i>great
kings</i> and <i>famous kings,</i> yet God subdued them as easily
as if they had been the least, and weakest, and meanest, of the
children of men. They were wicked kings, and then their grandeur
and lustre would not secure them from the justice of God. The more
great and famous they were the more did God's mercy to Israel
appear in giving such kings for them. Sihon and Og are particularly
mentioned, because they were the first two that were conquered on
the other side Jordan, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.19-Ps.136.20" parsed="|Ps|136|19|136|20" passage="Ps 136:19,20"><i>v.</i>
19, 20</scripRef>. It is good to enter into the detail of God's
favours and not to view them in the gross, and in each instance to
observe, and own, that God's <i>mercy endureth for ever.</i> 5. He
put them in possession of a good land, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.21-Ps.136.22" parsed="|Ps|136|21|136|22" passage="Ps 136:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>. He whose the earth is,
and the fulness thereof, the world and those that dwell therein,
took land from one people and gave it to another, as pleased him.
The <i>iniquity of the Amorites was now full,</i> and therefore it
was taken from them. <i>Israel</i> was his <i>servant,</i> and,
though they had been provoking in the wilderness, yet he intended
to have some service out of them, for <i>to them pertained the
service of God.</i> As he said to the Egyptians, <i>Let my people
go,</i> so to the Canaanites, <i>Let my people in,</i> that they
may serve me. In this <i>God's mercy</i> to them <i>endureth for
ever,</i> because it was a figure of the heavenly Canaan, the
<i>mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.23-Ps.136.26" parsed="|Ps|136|23|136|26" passage="Ps 136:23-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.136.23-Ps.136.26">
<h4 id="Ps.cxxxvii-p5.10">Divine Mercy Celebrated.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p6">23 Who remembered us in our low estate: for his
mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever:   24 And hath redeemed us from
our enemies: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.   25 Who
giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.
  26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy
<i>endureth</i> for ever.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxxxvii-p7">God's everlasting mercy is here celebrated,
1. In the redemption of his church, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.23-Ps.136.24" parsed="|Ps|136|23|136|24" passage="Ps 136:23,24"><i>v.</i> 23, 24</scripRef>. In the many redemptions
wrought for the Jewish church out of the hands of their oppressors
(when, in the years of their servitude, their estate was very low,
God remembered them, and raised them up saviours, the judges, and
David, at length, by whom God gave them rest from all their
enemies), but especially in the great redemption of the universal
church, of which these were types, we have a great deal of reason
to say, "<i>He remembered us,</i> the children of men, <i>in our
low estate,</i> in our lost estate, <i>for his mercy endureth for
ever;</i> he sent his Son to redeem us from sin, and death, and
hell, and all our spiritual enemies, <i>for his mercy endureth for
ever;</i> he was sent to redeem us, and not the angels that sinned,
for his mercy endureth for ever." 2. In the provision he makes for
all the creatures (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.25" parsed="|Ps|136|25|0|0" passage="Ps 136:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>): <i>He gives food to all flesh.</i> It is an
instance of the mercy of God's providence that wherever he has
given life he gives food agreeable and sufficient; and he is a good
housekeeper that provides for so large a family. 3. In all his
glories, and all his gifts (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.26" parsed="|Ps|136|26|0|0" passage="Ps 136:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>): <i>Give thanks to the God of heaven.</i> This
denotes him to be a glorious God, and the glory of his mercy is to
be taken notice of in our praises. The <i>riches of his glory</i>
are displayed in the <i>vessels of his mercy,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxxxvii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.23" parsed="|Rom|9|23|0|0" passage="Ro 9:23">Rom. ix. 23</scripRef>. It also denotes him to be
the great benefactor, <i>for every good and perfect gift is from
above,</i> from the Father of lights, the <i>God of heaven;</i> and
we should trace every stream to the fountain. This and that
particular mercy may perhaps endure but a while, but the mercy that
is in God <i>endures for ever;</i> it is an inexhaustible
fountain.</p>
</div></div2>