... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Psalm 136:1-26[1]
Give thanks to the Lord: for [He is] good, for His
mercy [is] everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods: for His mercy
[is] everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who alone does great wonders: for His
mercy [is] everlasting. To Him Who by wisdom made the heavens: for His
mercy [is] everlasting. To Him Who stretched out the earth above the
waters: for His mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who made great lights: for His mercy
[is] everlasting. The sun to rule by day: for His mercy [is] everlasting. The moon and stars to rule by night: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who struck Egypt in their firstborn:
for His mercy [is] everlasting. And brought Israel out from among them: for His
mercy [is] everlasting; with a strong
hand, and with a stretched out arm: for His mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who divided the Red sea in parts:
for His mercy [is] everlasting. And made Israel pass through the middle of
it: for His mercy [is] everlasting. But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red
sea: for His mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who led His people through the
wilderness: for His mercy [is] everlasting.
To Him Who struck great kings: for His
mercy [is] everlasting. And slew famous kings: for His mercy [is] everlasting. Sihon king of the Amorites: for His mercy [is] everlasting. Og the king of Bashan: for His mercy [is] everlasting. And gave their land for a heritage: for His
mercy [is] everlasting; a heritage to
Israel His servant: for His mercy [is]
everlasting.
Who remembered us in our low estate: for His
mercy [is] everlasting. And has redeemed us from our enemies: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.
Who gives food to all flesh: for His mercy [is] everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of heaven: for His
mercy [is] everlasting.[2]
[1] This
beautiful antiphonal Psalm reminds us that Psalms are hymns to be sung: this
one, obviously written for two choirs.
The argument of the Psalm rests on God's power, love, and mercy as seen
first in His creation, then in His defeat of the idolatry of Egypt and the
Exodus, and finally in His conquest of the Transjordan East Bank adversaries
who refused Israel passage into the promised land. This gives us a hint that this is probably
the special hymn of the Joseph tribes that inherited the Transjordan East
Bank. However, it looks beyond Israel to
the God of heaven, who brings the defeat of idolatry, slavery, and oppression
to the whole earth: He is the God of heaven, He is the God of all.
Psalm 136 stands or falls on the concrete actuality and
reality of the historic acts remembered in it.
If these acts are not actual, historic and real there is no reason
whatsoever to proclaim the eternal mercies of Yahweh; there is no reason to
believe that Israel ever existed as a nation; there is no reason to suppose
that the God of the Bible exists, presents Himself visibly to people in the Shekinah,
or that anything else found in the Bible is true. The Bible is either true or false, take it or
leave it, you cannot have it both ways.
This Psalm is a review of Torah, and the salvific work of God consists
of the actual, historic, reality of Torah, together with the rest of Scripture. The attempt to pass this reality off as
unreality is a strong statement of unbelief, firm evidence that the one making
it has left the Faith, to become an unbeliever, a pagan: worse yet, a servant
of Satan. That being said, these are all
the remembrance of concrete, actual, and real historic acts. In remembering them it helps us to not take
for granted the daily things God does for us.
“Now Christ is risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20).” “Eternal are Your mercies, Lord.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!”
Eternal things, things which are not ruled by time, and do not
lose their value with age, are made clear by things that are concrete and are
ruled by time. Which then, are the more
concrete? The eternal realities, or the
temporal ones?
We have grouped these antiphonal phrases by their wording into
“Give thanks”, “To Him”, and “Who” segments. The final “Give
thanks” brings the Psalm together into a completed whole.
[2] If
you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost,
share, or use any of them as you wish.
No rights are reserved. They are
designed and intended for your free participation. They were freely received, and are freely
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