Give ye thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever
Psalm 136 repeats one line twenty-six times, and verse 1 sets it up: a call to give thanks, then the reason for it. Older translations call the ESV's "steadfast love" "mercy" or "loving-kindness," and that is how the writers below name it.
The Shape of the Song
Each verse works in two halves, and the second half never changes.
This psalm is Israel's response to the call to praise in the psalm before it. The first half of each verse gives the theme of praise. The second half gives the refrain of praise: "For His loving-kindness endures for ever." Every stage of Israel's history is retold to show one thing: through all their ups and downs, the loving-kindness of the Lord had lasted.
This line already had a history. Israel had sung it since the days of Solomon's temple.
This Psalm opens with what we may call the refrain of Israel's national song — at least from the time of Solomon's temple (see 2 Chronicles 5:13). The song that proclaims "His mercy endures for ever" is surely a song for eternity.
He Is Good
The call to thanks rests first on what God is, not on what He has done.
What matters first is who He is; that always comes before what He has done. He is good, unlike all others, for "no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:12). Goodness is God's very nature, so everything He does is good — even when it means dreadful judgment for the ungodly. "His mercy endures forever." Every verse of this psalm repeats it, for this is a fact that needs to be learned well, and it will be learned in the millennium.
Mercy Traced Through Every Stage
Verse 1 gives the reason. The psalm then ties that reason to one thing after another: who God is, creation, rescue from Egypt, the desert road, and the land.
It is beautiful to see how the Psalmist ties the mercy of the Lord to the whole of Israel's relationships and history. In verses 2-4 that mercy flows from what God is: the God of gods, the Lord of lords, and the doer of great wonders… Verses 5-9 celebrate God as Creator, and celebrate His mercy. Next He is Redeemer (vv. 10-15)… The One who had brought them out had also brought them in, for His mercy endures for ever.
The psalm before this one covers much of the same ground under a different name.
Notice that Psalm 136 is about "mercy," and Psalm 135 about "glory." The creation of the heavens and God's dealings with the Amorites have all declared God's name, or glory. Now the very same things are celebrated as making His mercy known. The same ways and works of the Lord make known both His name and His mercy, His glory and His grace, with equal clearness and sureness — they honour Him and bless His people.
Why Repeat It
A line repeated this often raises a question.
Why, we may ask, are these comforting words repeated as many as 26 times? There must be a reason, and an urgent one. The answer is that people are so easy-going and complacent. They accept the wonderful mercies of God without being thankful. And the history of Israel is mainly in view in this Psalm. They were a people under the law, and they forgot that the law only brought condemnation on them. All the good things they enjoyed came to them on the ground of God's mercy instead.
The Song Taken Up Again
Later, others in Israel took this line up and applied it to themselves.
Psalm 136 says of God twenty-six times that "His mercy endures for ever." They now acknowledged this about themselves, as those who stood for Israel. It was their 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.
The same confession is open to anyone who traces God's dealings with them from beginning to end.
From first to last, and all through the time in between, it is and will be nothing but mercy. That holds in creation… in our redemption, in our guidance through the wilderness, in our deliverance from our enemies, and in our being put in possession of all that God has secured for us in Christ — both now and when we are for ever with the Lord. So we may take up Israel's song.
Summary
- Good — the call to thanks rests first on who God is; goodness is His nature, so everything He does flows from it.
- Mercy — verse 1 gives the reason, and the psalm ties it to creation, redemption, the wilderness, and the land, one verse at a time.
- Glory — the works that make His name known in Psalm 135 make His mercy known here. The same acts honour Him and bless His people.
- Repeated — twenty-six times. People take God's mercies without thanks, and forget that all they enjoy comes on that ground alone.
- Ours — a later generation owned the line as a confession that they had no merit of their own. From first to last it is nothing but mercy, so the song is still ours to sing.