To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
Here Psalm 136 turns from what God made to what God did for a people in slavery. Israel sings the death of Egypt's firstborn with the same refrain of enduring mercy as the sun and the stars, which raises the psalm's own question: how can judgment belong in a list of mercies?
The psalm moves in stages, and this verse begins a new one.
Verses 5-9 celebrate God as Creator, and celebrate His mercy. Next He is celebrated as Redeemer (vv. 10-15). It may be judgment on Egypt. It may be Israel brought out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. It may be Pharaoh and his army overthrown in the Red Sea. In each case it is the thought of His enduring mercy that fills the hearts of His people and produces their song.
The refrain is not decoration. It is the point the psalm proves era by era. Where the ESV says "steadfast love," older translations say "mercy" or "loving-kindness."
The first half of each verse gives the theme of praise. The second half gives the refrain of praise: "for his steadfast love endures forever." The psalm retells every stage of Israel's history to show one thing. Through all their ups and downs, the steadfast love of the Lord had endured.
The blow struck Egypt's strength and pride. The firstborn stood for all that Egypt boasted in.
God made Egypt learn what it means to be under His unsparing judgment. He "struck down the firstborn of Egypt" (Ps. 136:10). The firstborn was the chief of their strength, all that man would glory in, the fulfilment of his hopes and desires… Egypt pictures the world in its opposition to God, and Pharaoh its god and prince, whose spirit drives those he rules — a rule he seized, and never held by right. So it is of the greatest importance that God's children realise this: all that man glories in lies under the judgment of God. Death is on everything here. All is shut up under death.
The blow fell on Egypt so that Israel could go free. Redemption began by dealing with the power that held them.
We have seen God's great works of power in creation. Now we come to His works of grace toward His people, and these belong to redemption. To redeem Israel, He first struck their enemies by the death of the firstborn in that country (v. 10). This too was plainly a divine work. So was bringing the great host of Israelites out of their slavery (v. 11), with a hand and arm infinitely stronger than any human hand.
Nothing gentler would have moved Pharaoh.
Then the psalmist retells God's amazing mercy to Israel, when they were only slaves in Egypt. He delivered them from their misery, and He killed the firstborn of the Egyptians. No gentler blow would have broken the stubborn will of Pharaoh. In themselves the people of Israel had no defence, yet with a strong hand He brought them out. He overthrew Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea.
God's holiness could not pass over sin. The sprinkled blood of the Passover lamb met what His holiness required.
The question raised by sin had to be met in a way that glorified God and upheld the holiness of His nature. It had to display His righteousness as He showed mercy to the children of Israel, while He stretched out His hand in judgment on the firstborn of the Egyptians. The sprinkled blood of the Passover lamb is the blessed answer to every question sin has raised.
That night still puts a question to every reader.
A solemn truth: there must be death. Death fell on Israel's lamb, their substitute. But death fell on Egypt's firstborn. In the same way, death and judgment have fallen on my reader's Substitute, the Lamb of God. Otherwise death and eternal wrath must be your portion for ever.
The refrain rules out any thought that Israel earned its rescue, and no later revival stands on any other ground.
Psalm 136 says twenty-six times that God's mercy endures for ever, and they now owned this for themselves, as those who stood for Israel. It was the confession that no merit on their side had led to the revival they shared in. It was all on the ground of God's mercy. Every revival God has granted in the sad history of Christendom has rested on the mercy of God, without merit on our side. Let us never forget this.
- Mercy that redeems — verse 10 turns the psalm from Creator to Redeemer. From here on, the song is about rescue.
- Mercy that strikes — the firstborn was Egypt's chief strength and pride. God's blow showed that all man glories in lies under judgment.
- Mercy that frees — to free Israel, God first struck the power holding them. No gentler blow would have broken Pharaoh's will.
- Mercy that shelters — the blood of the Passover lamb sheltered Israel inside the house while God's judgment fell outside it.
- Mercy that endures — the refrain repeats twenty-six times. No merit of theirs explains the rescue; only God's mercy does.
And brought out Israel from among them, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
Psalm 136 repeats one line twenty-six times. Here it lands on the exodus: the God who judged Egypt also led a nation of slaves out of the land that held them. So why does the psalm count such an act of power as mercy, and what do the words "from among them" add?
The repetition is not decoration. One writer asks why the refrain comes twenty-six times. He answers by looking at the people who first sang it.
Why, we may ask, are these comforting words repeated no less than 26 times? There must be a reason, and an urgent one. The answer is that human beings are so easy-going and complacent in accepting the wonderful mercies of God without being thankful. And further, this Psalm has the history of Israel mainly in view. They were a people under the law. They forgot that the law only brought condemnation on them, while all the good things they enjoyed came to them on the ground of God's mercy.
The psalm changes subject here. Having praised God as Creator, it turns to what He did at the exodus.
Verses 5-9 celebrate God as Creator, and His mercy. Next comes God as Redeemer (vv. 10-15). It may be judgment on Egypt, or bringing Israel out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, or the overthrow of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. In each case, the thought of His enduring mercy fills the hearts of His people and produces their song. So it is at every later stage of their history… and in verses 21, 22, He is the One who put them in possession of their land. The One who had brought them out had also brought them in, for His mercy endures for ever.
The verse before this one has God judging Egypt's firstborn. But being spared from that judgment still left Israel inside Egypt. This verse takes the next step.
First, God brought them out of Egypt by His power… God brought His people through the Red Sea, and it delivered them from Egypt for ever. That sea was a picture of the death and resurrection of Christ. In it He met the whole force of death and judgment, and the power of the enemy as well, on His people's behalf. So there is no mention of redemption until they are on the other side of the sea of death and judgment, where they also saw their enemies dead on the shores.
The same refrain covers dead firstborn, a drowned army, and the slaughter of the Canaanites. One writer puts all of it under one word: mercy.
Here we see the striking of Egypt's firstborn and the deliverance of Israel. We see the passage through the Red Sea and the utter destruction of Pharaoh's army. We see the slaughter of the Canaanites and the giving of their lands to Israel. All alike illustrated the everlasting mercy of Jehovah. So it was; so it is; and so it shall be. All must add to the glory of God. Let us remember this, and throw away all our silly reasonings and ignorant arguments. It is our privilege to justify God in all His ways. We may bow our heads in holy worship before judgments we cannot search out, and rest in the calm assurance that all God's ways are right.
The verse says out from among them, not just out of Egypt. God pulled Israel away from a people — and He had somewhere to bring them.
Did God abandon His people because they were in this terrible condition? No, He did not. With mighty power He brought His people out of Egypt. He delivered them from the cruel hand of Pharaoh. He separated them from the people and the idols of Egypt. They were to be the chosen people of Jehovah, according to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Afterwards He could say to them, "You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself." (Exodus 19:4)
- Out of bondage. Israel were slaves who could not free themselves. God acted, and that is where the verse begins.
- Out of judgment. Being spared from judgment still left them in Egypt. Mercy did not stop at safety.
- Out by power. God brought them through the sea, a picture of the death and resurrection of Christ. Their enemies lay dead behind them.
- Out to Himself. God separated them from a people and its idols, so that He could say He had brought them to Himself.
- Out and in. The same mercy that brought them out also brought them into the land. One unbroken line — worth repeating twenty-six times, so that no one takes it for granted.
With a powerful hand and with a stretched-out arm, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
Psalm 136 tells Israel's whole story as one long list of reasons to give thanks, and every line ends with the same answer: His love never runs out. Verse 12 names how God brought them out: a strong hand and an outstretched arm. How can such raw power be mercy? (Older translations read "mercy" here where the ESV reads "steadfast love"; the commentators quoted below use "mercy".)
The psalm moves in stages, and each stage names something God is. Verse 12 sits in the section that praises Him as Redeemer.
It is very beautiful to see how the Psalmist ties the mercy of the Lord to the whole of Israel's relationships and history. So in verses 2-4 it flows from what God is as the God of gods, the Lord of lords, and as the doer of great wonders... In verses 5-9 the psalm celebrates God as Creator, and celebrates His mercy. Next it is as Redeemer (vv. 10-15). It may be judgment on Egypt, bringing Israel out with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm. It may be the overthrow of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. Either way, the thought of His enduring mercy fills the hearts of His people and produces their song.
The word arm is borrowed from what a human arm does.
The arm is the part of the body that can lift burdens and defend the person. It stands for the power and strength of God on behalf of His saints (Ex. 15:16; Ps. 77:15; Isa. 51:9; Isa. 53:1). The arm of Jehovah is often spoken of in the Old Testament. It redeemed, Ex. 6:6; gathers His own, Isa. 40:11; and rules for Him, Isa. 40:10, as in the kingdom. It is a holy arm, Isa. 52:10; Ps. 98:1; and it is a glorious arm, Isa. 63:12.
One writer compares that hand and arm with human strength.
To redeem Israel, He first struck their enemies by the death of the firstborn in that country (v. 10). This was plainly a divine work. So was bringing the great crowd of Israelites out of their slavery (v. 11), with a hand and arm infinitely stronger than human.
Israel was already safe under the shelter of the blood before this verse. Being sheltered and being brought out were two different things.
The first part of redemption was the payment of the ransom; and that, as we have seen, was done by the blood of Christ. But Israel was not redeemed — though perfectly safe under the shelter of the blood — as long as they were in Egypt. The second part, the completion of their redemption, came when God brought them out of the land of Egypt through the Red Sea with a high hand and an outstretched arm. There He destroyed Pharaoh and all his army in its mighty waters. The shed blood had satisfied God as Judge. Now He can act for His people as their Deliverer, and so He brings them out of Egypt in power. Then they could sing — they could not while in Egypt.
Some readers stumble at a merciful God striking Egypt. The psalm puts judgment and mercy side by side, and one writer takes that as the answer.
Here we see the striking down of Egypt's firstborn and the rescue of Israel. We see the crossing of the Red Sea and the complete destruction of Pharaoh's army. We see the slaughter of the Canaanites and the giving of their lands to Israel. All alike illustrated the everlasting mercy of Jehovah. So it was; so it is; and so it shall be. All must lead to the glory of God. It is our privilege to declare God right in all His ways, to bow our heads in holy worship before judgments we cannot search out, and to rest in the calm assurance that all God's ways are right.
after
The blow that fell on Egypt met one obstacle: Pharaoh's stubborn will.
No gentler blow would have broken the stubborn will of Pharaoh. The children of Israel had no defence of their own. With a strong hand He brought them out, and overthrew Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea.
The stretched-out arm carries a lesson for anyone who reads it: the work was not shared.
The word for shoulder is also translated, depending on the context, as 'arm' or 'leg'. Used in the figurative sense, it speaks of 'strength'... Here and also in other passages, for example Exodus 6:6, 'with a stretched out arm', it is clearly used in connection with strength. So the Nazarite can remember that his Lord has borne all the responsibility and accomplished the work in His own strength (compare 'by himself', Heb. 1:3).
- Mercy — the repeated line is the point. The psalm ties enduring mercy to God as supreme Ruler, as Creator, and here as Redeemer.
- Hand — the strong hand and outstretched arm picture God's power working for His people. That power is infinitely stronger than human strength.
- Blood first — Israel was safe under the blood while still in Egypt. The outstretched arm then brought them out and completed their redemption.
- Judgment too — the striking of Egypt, the Red Sea, and the taking of Canaan all display the same everlasting mercy. Our place is to declare God right in His ways, not to sit in judgment on them.
- Song — Israel could not sing while in Egypt. Only when God brought them out in power did their song begin, and enduring mercy is its theme.
To him that divided the Red sea into parts, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
The psalm's praise moves from what God made to what God did for a trapped people. This verse is the moment the way out opens. A wall of water does not look like kindness. So why does this line, like every other in the psalm, name mercy as the reason?
The psalm works through Israel's story in stages. This verse belongs to the section on redemption. One writer traces the same refrain through stage after stage:
In verses 2-4 it flows from what God is: the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the doer of great wonders. That is, it flows from what God is in His absolute supremacy and in His almighty power. Verses 5-9 celebrate God as Creator, and praise Him for His mercy. Next He is praised as Redeemer (vv. 10-15). It may be judgment on Egypt. It may be Israel brought out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. It may be the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea. In each case it is the thought of His enduring mercy that fills the hearts of His people and produces their song.
The psalm lists acts of sheer power. One writer names what Israel's song adds to that power:
It still takes up the almighty sovereignty of God, Jehovah, and takes up the same elements of power, but adds Israel's sense of mercy. That mercy has endured for ever, and this is what enables them to take up this very praise now. "He remembered us in our low estate." Then praise truly comes out of a humble spirit.
The sea only needed dividing because Israel stood in a place with no way out. God put them there on purpose:
God gives the finest displays of His character and His actions when His people are in the greatest straits and difficulties. For this reason He often leads them into a trying position, so that He may show Himself more clearly. He could have led Israel through the Red Sea, far beyond the reach of Pharaoh's hosts, before Pharaoh had even started out from Egypt. But that would not have glorified His own name so fully. Nor would it have so completely put to shame the enemy, over whom He intended to "get glory."
Commentators read the parted water as a picture of Christ's death and resurrection. The sea in front of Israel was the very thing that would have destroyed them:
Israel came up to the Red Sea trembling. Pharaoh, the prince of the world, pressed them. They were shut in, with death and judgment, or destruction, in front of them. God acts for them, and death and judgment become deliverance. This is because Christ undergoes death and judgment. He secures us and lets us get out free on the other side.
The blood of the lamb came first. It was not the end of what God had promised:
There you have our Red Sea. The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus was necessary to complete the deliverance which God pledged the blood of the lamb to perform. Putting the people through the Red Sea answers to it, as the picture of it in the Old Testament.
The refrain does not stop when the psalm reaches the destruction of an army. Many readers stumble there. One writer meets the difficulty head on:
Look at what is here: the striking of Egypt's firstborn and the deliverance of Israel, the passage through the Red Sea and the utter destruction of Pharaoh's host, the slaughter of the Canaanites and the giving of their lands to Israel. All alike illustrated the everlasting mercy of Jehovah. So it was; so it is; and so it shall be. All of it must add to the glory of God. It is our privilege to declare God right in all His ways. We bow our heads in holy worship before judgments we cannot search out. We rest in the calm assurance that all God's ways are right. We do not understand them all; that would be impossible. The finite cannot grasp the infinite.
- Mercy remembered — creation, redemption, the wilderness, the land — the psalm fastens the same refrain to every stage.
- Mercy in power — every act listed is a display of almighty sovereignty. It becomes a song when the people sense that this power was mercy toward them.
- Mercy in the trap — God could have moved Israel through the sea before Pharaoh ever set out. He chose the hard place so that He could show Himself.
- Mercy through death — the sea meant destruction, and it became the way out. Christ went through death and judgment, and His people come out free.
- Mercy that finishes — the divided sea completed the deliverance the blood of the lamb had pledged. Even the overthrow of Pharaoh belongs to the same everlasting mercy.
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
Psalm 136 retells Israel's story in short lines, and each line ends with the same refrain about God's mercy. Verse 14 is the moment the nation walked through the parted sea — so why does a song of praise stop on that one step?
The psalm moves through God's titles, then creation, then rescue. Verse 14 belongs to the rescue section, and one writer traces the whole pattern:
It is wonderful to see how the Psalmist ties the mercy of the Lord to the whole of Israel's history and relationships. So in verses 2-4 that mercy flows from what God is: the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the doer of great wonders. That is, what God is in His complete supremacy and in His almighty power. Verses 5-9 celebrate God as Creator, and praise Him for His mercy. Next it is as Redeemer (vv. 10-15). Whether it is judgment on Egypt, or bringing Israel out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, or the overthrow of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, the thought of His enduring mercy fills the hearts of His people and produces their song.
God divided the water; Israel then walked through the middle of it. The same miracle ended very differently for the two nations:
The dividing of the Red Sea was certainly a mighty work, and the Egyptians failed to recognise it. Israel passed through the middle of the sea (v. 14), while Pharaoh and his armies drowned (v. 15). They had fooled themselves into thinking that, since Israel could pass through unharmed, they could too!
The waters that opened for Israel were the same waters that closed over Egypt. That single event carried opposite meanings:
In one sense the Red Sea had closed the whole story, if you look at it on its own as far as Egypt is concerned. In another sense it begins the life. But it closed the story by redemption and judgment, for the Egyptians were judged. The death that was salvation to Israel was judgment to the Egyptians.
The difference was not ability but shelter. Egypt took the same route without it, and the warning reaches anyone who copies the outward path:
Now there was the greatest possible difference between poor Israel, who had God on their side, and the Egyptians. Humanly speaking, the Egyptians had far more chance of getting through. Yet they drove on in the carelessness and folly of their own power, until the power of death and judgment met them and stopped them. They were just like unconverted people who see Christians going to heaven and try to go too, but without the knowledge of the blood. To all such the very place of salvation will be the place of ruin.
In Egypt the blood had already sheltered Israel. The crossing added something the blood alone had not yet done:
In tracing the narrative in our chapter, we shall see that all is accomplished by the power of God. It is redemption by power. In Egypt it was redemption by blood. In Christ crucified, risen and ascended, we have both... We need more than the forgiveness of sins. We need to be brought to glory, and it is the work of Jesus to "bring many sons to glory." It took the power of God to bring those who had been sheltered by the blood right out of Egypt. It also took His power to rescue them from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, by bringing them through death and judgment onto completely new ground.
The same refrain closes every verse of the psalm; older translations render it "His mercy endures for ever." One writer shows what that confession rules out:
Psalm 136 says of God twenty-six times that "His mercy endures for ever," and they now acknowledged this for themselves, as those who stood for Israel. It was a confession that no merit on their side had brought about the revival they shared in. It was all on the ground of God's mercy... Let us never forget this.
Psalm 136 is a song, and the crossing is where Israel's singing began:
While they were in Egypt there was no song. What were they doing? Sighing, crying, weeping, groaning — they were miserable slaves... But the moment they had gone through the Red Sea, by the path God had opened for them... they begin to sing. They sing a triumphant song to the Lord. And what is the song about? "The Lord... has become my salvation" (Ex. 15:2). It is what the Lord is, and what the Lord has done.
- Mercy is the cause. Every line of the psalm, this one included, traces the act back to mercy alone — no merit on Israel's side.
- Mercy divides. God split the sea; the same waters were a road for Israel and a grave for Egypt.
- Mercy brings through. Shelter in Egypt was not the end. God's power carried Israel out onto new ground.
- Mercy cannot be copied. Those who take the same path without shelter find that the place of salvation becomes the place of ruin.
- Mercy ends in song. Slaves who only groaned came out of the sea singing — and the psalm keeps that song going.
And overturned Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
Psalm 136 retells Israel's whole story, and the same refrain follows every line. Verse 15 pins that refrain to a drowned army and calls it mercy — so how can judgment on one nation be another nation's song?
One writer traces how the refrain runs through Israel's history and lands here. The writers quoted on this page use older translations, which say "mercy" where the ESV says "steadfast love."
This psalm opens with what we may call the refrain of Israel's national song. The song that proclaims "His mercy endures for ever" is surely a song for eternity… Verses 5-9 celebrate God as Creator, and celebrate His mercy. Next it is as Redeemer (vv. 10-15). It may be judgment on Egypt, bringing Israel out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. It may be the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea. Either way, the thought of His enduring mercy fills the hearts of His people and produces their song.
Exodus tells the story in general terms. This verse is specific, and the psalm carries the same authority as the books of Moses:
We are not limited to the writings of Moses. The Psalms are just as much inspired by God. If the language is only general in Exodus, Psalm 136:15 is explicit, that Jehovah "overthrew Pharaoh and his host into the Red Sea."
One writer answers the doubters, then sees in Pharaoh's end a picture of a larger defeat:
Some of our learned unbelieving friends would like to believe that Pharaoh was not there in person. They try to persuade us to think so too. Psalm 136 clears away that fog of unbelief… It is all God, you see. I believe that proud king came to his end there. I love to think how fully God has overthrown Satan, because Pharaoh is a picture of Satan. God's thought is to bring His people out of this world.
The refrain does not change after the drowning. One writer sets the judgment and the rescue side by side under the same mercy:
Here we see the striking down of Egypt's firstborn and the deliverance of Israel. We see the passage through the Red Sea and the utter destruction of Pharaoh's host. We see the killing of the Canaanites and the giving of their lands to Israel. All alike illustrated the everlasting mercy of Jehovah. So it was; so it is; and so it shall be. All must lead to the glory of God. Let us remember this, and throw away all our silly reasonings and ignorant arguments. It is our privilege to justify God in all His ways. We bow our heads in holy worship before judgments we cannot trace out. We rest in the calm assurance that all God's ways are right.
The same sea that Israel walked through closed over Egypt. One writer separates two parts of the rescue: the blood that shelters, and the power that delivers:
At the Red Sea, God acts in power according to the purposes of His love. As a result the enemy, who was chasing the people hard, is destroyed beyond recovery… As a moral picture, the Red Sea is the death and resurrection of Jesus, and of His people in Him. God acted in it to bring them out of death, where He had brought them in Christ. So the enemy can no longer reach them… The blood shelters us from the judgment of God. His power then acts for us and frees us from the power of Satan, the prince of this world. The blood that kept us from God's judgment was the beginning. The power that raised us up with Christ set us free from the whole power of Satan who followed us, and from all his attacks and accusations.
The verse names a whole army going down, not just a king. One writer brings it into a later crisis, when King Hezekiah faced the Assyrian army of Sennacherib:
Suppose Sennacherib's army had been millions instead of thousands. The angel of the Lord would have thought just as little of sweeping them all off the face of the earth in a moment. For when Jehovah decides to act for His people, and in answer to their prayers, He takes no account of anything or anyone. "He overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea: for His mercy endures for ever."
- Mercy names it. Verse 15 closes the psalm's redemption section (vv. 10-15). Every act in it — the firstborn, the outstretched arm, the divided sea, the drowned army — falls under one heading: His steadfast love endures forever.
- Mercy is explicit. Exodus speaks in general terms. This verse says Pharaoh himself went down, and the Psalms are as inspired as the books of Moses.
- Mercy includes judgment. The ruin of Pharaoh's host shows the same enduring mercy as the rescue of Israel. Our part is to justify God in His ways, not to argue with them.
- Mercy delivers by power. Blood sheltered Israel from judgment. Then God's power carried them through the sea. That pictures death and resurrection, putting His people beyond the enemy's reach.
- Mercy is not outnumbered. When God acts for His people, the size of the army against them counts for nothing. Millions would fall as fast as thousands.