1 Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever,
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
5 To Him who made the heavens by understanding,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
6 To Him who spread the earth above the waters,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
7 To Him who made great lights,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
8 The sun to rule by day,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
10 To Him who smote the Egyptians in their first-born,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
11 And brought forth Israel from their midst,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
12 With mighty strong hand and outstretched arm,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
13 To Him that cut the Red Sea into parts,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
15 And shook out Pharaoh and his host into the Red Sea,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
16 To Him who led His people in the wilderness,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
17 To Him who smote great kings,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
18 And slew mighty kings,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
20 And Og, king of Bashan,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
21 And gave their land for an inheritance,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
22 An inheritance to Israel His servant,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
23 Who in our low estate remembered us,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever;
24 And tore us from the grasp of our adversaries,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
25 Who gives bread to all flesh,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His loving-kindness endures for ever.
This psalm is evidently intended for liturgic use. It contains
reminiscences of many parts of Scripture, and is especially based on
the previous psalm, which it follows closely in vv. 10-18, and quotes
directly in vv. 19-22. Delitzsch points out that if these quoted
verses are omitted, the psalm falls into triplets. It would then also
contain twenty-two verses, corresponding to the number of letters in
the Hebrew alphabet. The general trend of thought is like that of
Psalm cxxxv.; but the addition in each verse of the refrain gives a
noble swing and force to this exulting song.
The first triplet is a general invocation to praise, coloured by the
phraseology of Deuteronomy. Vv. 2_a_ and 3_a_ quote Deut. x. 17. The
second and third triplets (vv. 4-9) celebrate Jehovah's creative power.
"Doeth great wonders" (ver. 4) is from Psalm lxxii. 18. The thought
of the Divine Wisdom as the creative agent occurs in Psalm civ. 24,
and attains noble expression in Prov. iii. In ver. 6 the word rendered
_spread_ is from the same root as that rendered "firmament" in Genesis.
The office of the heavenly bodies to rule day and night is taken from
Gen. i. But the psalm looks at the story of Creation from an original
point of view, when it rolls out in chorus, after each stage of that
work, that its motive lay in the eternal loving-kindness of Jehovah.
Creation is an act of Divine love. That is the deepest truth concerning
all things visible. They are the witnesses, as they are the result, of
loving-kindness which endures for ever.
Vv. 10-22 pass from world-wide manifestations of that creative
loving-kindness to those specially affecting Israel. If vv. 19-22 are
left out of notice, there are three triplets in which the Exodus,
desert life, and conquest of Canaan are the themes,--the first (vv.
10-12) recounting the departure; the second (vv. 13-15) the passage
of the Red Sea; the third (vv. 16-18) the guidance during the forty
years and the victories over enemies. The whole is largely taken
from the preceding psalm, and has also numerous allusions to other
parts of Scripture. Ver. 12_a_ is found in Deut. iv. 34, etc. The
word for dividing the Red Sea is peculiar. It means to hew in pieces
or in two, and is used for cutting in halves the child in Solomon's
judgment (1 Kings iii. 25); while the word "parts" is a noun from
the same root, and is found in Gen. xv. 17, to describe the two
portions into which Abraham clave the carcasses. Thus, as with a
sword, Jehovah hewed the sea in two, and His people passed between
the parts, as between the halves of the covenant sacrifice. In ver.
15 the word describing Pharaoh's destruction is taken from Exod. xiv.
27, and vividly describes it as a "shaking out," as one would vermin
or filth from a robe.
In the last triplet (vv. 23-25) the singer comes to the Israel of the
present. It, too, had experienced Jehovah's remembrance in its time
of need, and felt the merciful grasp of His hand plucking it, with
loving violence, from the claws of the lion. The word for "low estate"
and that for "tore us from the grasp" are only found besides in late
writings--the former in Eccles. x. 6, and the latter in Lam. v. 8.
But the song will not close with reference only to Israel's
blessings. "He gives bread to all flesh." The loving-kindness which
flashes forth even in destructive acts, and is manifested especially
in bringing Israel back from exile, stretches as wide in its
beneficence as it did in its first creative acts, and sustains all
flesh which it has made. Therefore the final call to praise, which
rounds off the psalm by echoing its beginning, does not name Him by
the Name which implied Israel's special relation, but by that by
which other peoples could and did address Him, "the God of heaven,"
from whom all good comes down on all the earth.