Psalms 136:17-22

To Him which smote great kings.

Mercy in the destruction of tyrants

I. The mercy of God recognized in the destruction of tyrants.

1. It appears in their own destruction.

(1) If there be no future state it puts an end to their miseries.

(2) If there be, as we believe there is, a state of future punishment, the sooner the incorrigible sinner dies the better for himself; the longer he lives the more guilt he contracts, and the greater his guilt the greater his agonies in a world of retribution.

2. It appears in the relief afforded to the race. When such demons in human flesh are cut down, the world breathes freer, obstacles are swept from its path of progress; when the Pharaohs are engulfed the human Israel can march forward to promised lands.

II. The praises of God celebrated on account of the perpetuity of His mercy.

1. Because Divine mercy will always work for good. Therefore, the longer it continues, the better.

2. Because the future ages of the world will require mercy. There will be much for mercy to do on this planet yet, before the race will be brought hack into harmony with God.

3. Because we ourselves shall ever be dependent on mercy. (Homilist.)

Sihon and Og, or mercies in detail

These six verses reiterate the same fact. Is the tautology tedious; do the chimes weary you with their monotony? For my part I like a repetition in the tune of a psalm as well as in its language. No doubt one verse instead of these six might have sufficed. It might have run thus, “Who slew famous kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og, king of Bashan, and gave their land for a heritage to His people, for His mercy endureth for ever.” That would have comprehended all the sense. But by this repetition we learn that it is well to dwell long and to dwell deliberately upon some of God’s dealings with Us. This is the theme on which I want to thread a few reflections. And--

I. It is well to deliberate long over the merciful side of God’s judgments. We might have thought it more natural if we had read, for His justice, or, for His vengeance endureth for ever. But though terrible for these tyrants, it was a great mercy for others. When tyrants die nations have time to breathe. When lions fall, or the wolves are slain, the deer and sheep have time to rest. Not mercy to the one man, perhaps, to Nero, Caligula, Tiberius or the like, but to the millions who groaned under his abominable rule. And so of huge systems of error and superstition which have oppressed men. They have passed away, and others shall, “for His mercy endureth for ever.”

II. Each mercy deserves to be remembered. See with what special point and emphasis each instance is put. They are thus given--

1. Because each mercy we have received is undeserved. In the very chapter which tells of these victories of Israel their murmurings and the fiery serpents that chastised them are told of also. It was to these people God gave these repeated victories.

2. Not one could be dispensed with. Had the Lord stopped when Sihon was slain, what would have become of Israel?

3. There was a peculiarity about each mercy. You never had two mercies from God that were quite alike.

4. But if any mercy deserves to be particularly remembered, it is early mercy. The children of Israel had not got their hands into fighting yet. They were young recruits. And so with ourselves, how we ought to remember God’s mercy to us in the beginning of our career.

III. Each mercy does really in itself deserve separate contemplation. How we dwell in detail and fulness on our troubles. Should we not do so also with our mercies? When I have got some trouble of my own, I think I generally find myself turning it inside out and showing every bit of it--every point of it--upside down, the wrong way up, the right way up, and all ways. Ought I not to do the same with my mercies?

IV. Continued benefits are a special proof of enduring mercy. For God to give one mercy might not prove that His mercy endureth for ever, but when no sooner is one given than another follows, and another follows that, the unbroken succession of wave upon wave in ceaseless regularity does show that His mercy endureth for ever. And is not this what so many of us have to tell of?

V. The overruling of trials is a subject to dwell upon with delight. Israel did not expect to have the territory of Sihon and Og. Their land was on the other side Jordan, but since they attacked them as unexpected foes, they got out of them unexpected territory. Unexpected trials often issue in unexpected advantages.

VI. That all this should be for the same persons further shows that “His mercy,” etc. For whom does Sihon, does Og, fall but for Israel? All is for them, undeserving, evil, full of provocation as they were. Is there one of us who might not justly be in hell before the clock ticks again, if it were not that His mercy endureth for ever? Do any say, “My sins are strong, how can I master them?” Cannot He who slew great kings, yea, famous kings, cannot He slay them? (C. H. Spurgeon.)