Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

Like Psalm 135, this one is hymnic praise with a historical content. Verses 17–22 are, in fact, virtually identical to 135:10–12. But the point of Psalm 136 is decidedly different. While it does direct praise to the God of gods and the Lord of lords (vv. 2–3), its emphasis is not on Yahweh’s defeat of the nations but on his saving acts and compassion to Israel (v. 11) and to us (vv. 23, 24). We should probably imagine this psalm sung with antiphonal choirs, one singing the first line of each verse and another singing the second line, His love endures forever. Like the liturgy of Psalm 135, it opens and closes with a call for congregational worship (vv. 1–3, 26). It progresses through Yahweh’s work (generally described as wonders, v. 4) in creation (vv. 5–9; on v. 6 cf. 24:2; on vv. 7–9 cf. Gen. 1:14–18) and in the exodus and settlement (vv. 10–22), and climaxes in his work for the present generation ( us, vv.

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