Psalms 136

The resemblance of this psalm to the one preceding indicates a common authorship and occasion. Both refer to the same general facts, following the same line of argument. Rosenmuller and others suppose the occasion might have been Ezra 3:11; but this cannot be certainly inferred from the occurrence of the refrain, “For his mercy endureth for ever,” for David appointed to be sung psalms of this chorus, and they were not infrequent. 1 Chronicles 16:41; 2 Chronicles 7:6. See also 2Ch 7:3 ; 2 Chronicles 20:21; Psalms 106:1; Psalms 107:1; Psalms 118:1-4; 1 Chronicles 16:34. Thrupp finds coincidences between this psalm and Nehemiah 9:0, and thinks they “leave little doubt” that it was written at that time; but the tone of the psalm does not fit an assembly for “fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them:” Nehemiah 9:1. The first grand achievement of the returned exiles was the completion of the second temple, and to its dedication we may more safely assign it. Ezra 6:16-17. The psalm is responsive, each verse is a distich, with the final clause a chorus, sung probably by the congregation. The theme, like the one preceding, is praise to God for his works in nature and in history. Its strophic divisions may be put down at four, Psalms 136:1-3, of six lines; the second, Psalms 136:4-9, of twelve lines; the third, Psalms 136:10-22, of twenty-six lines; and the fourth, Psalms 136:23-26, of eight lines. The first is praise to Jehovah as the “God of gods and Lord of lords;” the second recites his works in creation; the third his special providences toward his people of old; the fourth, his recent wonderful deliverance of his Church from bondage. Thrupp thinks perhaps Psalms 136:0 was designed to present the chief contents of Psalms 135:0 in a somewhat more popular form.