PSALM CXXXVI _An exhortation to give thanks to God for various mercies_ _granted to all men_, 1-9; _particularly to the Israelites in Egypt_, 10-12; _at the Red Sea_, 13-15; _in the wilderness_, 16-20; _and in the promised land_, 21, 22; _for the redemption of the captives from Babylon_, 23,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:2. _THE GOD OF GODS_] לאדני האדנים _ladonai haadonim_. As _adonai_ signifies _director_, c., it may apply here, not to _idols_, for God is not their god but to the priests and spiritual rulers; as _Lord of lords_ may apply to _kings_ and _magistrates_, c. He is God and ruler over al... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:4. _WHO ALONE DOETH GREAT WONDERS_] MIRACLES. No power but that which is _almighty_ can work miracles, נפלאות _niphlaoth_, the _inversion_, or _suspension_, or _destruction_ of the laws of nature.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:5. _BY WISDOM MADE THE HEAVENS_] In the contrivance of the celestial bodies, in their relations, connexions, influences on each other, revolutions, c., the wisdom of God particularly appears.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:6. _STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH ABOVE THE WATERS_] Or, _upon the_ _waters_. This seems to refer to a _central abyss of waters_, the existence of which has not been yet disproved.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:7. _GREAT LIGHTS_] See the notes on the parallel passages in _Genesis_, c. Genesis 1:14-1... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:10. _SMOTE EGYPT IN THEIR FIRST-BORN_] This was one of the heaviest of strokes: a great part of the rising generation was cut off; few but old persons and children left remaining.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:13. _DIVIDED THE RED SEA INTO PARTS_] Some of the Jews have imagined that God made _twelve paths_ through the Red Sea, that each tribe might have a distinct passage. Many of the _fathers_ were of the same opinion; but is this very likely?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:16. _WHICH LED HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE WILDERNESS_] It was an astonishing miracle of God to support so many hundreds of thousands of people in a wilderness totally deprived of all necessaries for the life of man, and that for the space of _forty_ years.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:23. _WHO REMEMBERED US IN OUR LOW ESTATE_] He has done much for our _forefathers_; and he has done much for us, in delivering us, when we had no helper, from our long captivity in Babylon.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 136:25. _GIVETH FOOD TO ALL FLESH_] By whose _universal_ _providence_ every intellectual and animal being is supported and preserved. The appointing every _living thing food_, and that sort of food which is suited to its nature, (and the nature and habits of animals are endlessly divers... [ Continue Reading ]