Every verse here opens — tap a number for what that one means.
1Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.
2Give thanks to the God of gods.
3Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
4He alone does great wonders.
5By His insight He made the heavens.
6He spread out the earth upon the waters.
7He made the great lights—
8the sun to rule the day,
9the moon and stars to govern the night.
10He struck down the firstborn of Egypt
11and brought Israel out from among them
12with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
13He divided the Red Sea in two
14and led Israel through the midst,
15but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
16He led His people through the wilderness.
17He struck down great kings
18and slaughtered mighty kings—
19Sihon king of the Amorites
20and Og king of Bashan—
21and He gave their land as an inheritance,
22a heritage to His servant Israel.
23He remembered us in our low estate
24and freed us from our enemies.
25He gives food to every creature.
26Give thanks to the God of heaven!
Commentary
Psalm 136, explained
What Psalm 136 is saying
Psalm 136, known as the 'Great Hallel,' is a litany of praise with the antiphonal refrain 'for His loving devotion endures forever' repeated in all twenty-six verses. The psalm traces God's chesed through creation, the Exodus, the wilderness, the conquest, and ongoing provision. Its structure—statement of divine act followed by congregational response—reveals its liturgical function.
The background behind it
The Mishnah designates this psalm as the 'Great Hallel,' distinct from the Egyptian Hallel (113–118). According to 2 Chronicles 7:3, the refrain was sung at the dedication of Solomon's Temple. The responsive structure requires two groups—leader/choir and congregation—in antiphonal worship.
Themes running underneath
The relentless repetition of 'His loving devotion endures forever' is not redundancy but theological insistence: every act of God, from creating light to defeating kings to giving food, flows from the same inexhaustible chesed. The psalm presents the entire sweep of redemptive history as a single, continuous expression of covenant love.
Why it still matters
The repetitive structure trains the worshiper to see every dimension of existence—creation, history, daily provision—through the lens of God's steadfast love. It models a way of reading all of life as evidence of divine faithfulness.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.