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136. Psalm 136

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.

¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.

¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 15 asunder His love endures forever.
¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.

¹⁶ to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.

¹⁷ to him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
¹⁸ and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.
¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.
²⁰ and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.
²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.
²² an inheritance to his servant Israel. His love endures forever.

²³ He remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.
²⁴ and freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

7. Who made the great lights, etc. — Moses calls the sun and moon the two great lights, and there is little doubt that the Psalmist here borrows the same phraseology. What is immediately added about the stars, is, as it were, accessory to the others. It is true, that the other planets are larger than the moon, but it is stated as second in order on account of its visible effects. The Holy Spirit had no intention to teach astronomy; and, in proposing instruction meant to be common to the simplest and most uneducated persons, he made use by Moses and the other Prophets of popular language, that none might shelter himself under the pretext of obscurity, as we will see men sometimes very readily pretended an incapacity to understand, when anything deep or recondite is submitted to their notice. Accordingly, as Saturn though bigger than the moon is not so to the eye owing to his greater distance, the Holy Spirit would rather speak childishly than unintelligibly to the humble and unlearned. The same remark may be made upon what the Psalmist adds regarding God’s having assigned the sun and moon their respective parts, making the one to rule the day, and the other to rule the night, by which we are not to understand that they exercise any government, but that the administrative power of God is very manifest in this distribution. The sun in illuminating the earth through the day, and the, moon and stars by night, may be said to yield a reverential homage to God.