The repeating refrain in this psalm has been translated as love, mercy, and faithfulness.
Whatever you want to call it, as Eugene Peterson notes, God’s supply of it, and his dispensing to us, is limitless. This psalm lays out the ways that God’s love/mercy/faithfulness is acted out–from creating the universe to taking care of each and every one of us! Psalm 136 is meant to remind us of who it is we worship, to engrain the truth of God, the might and awesome glory of Him into our minds so we don’t doubt, and trust in Him becomes as reflexive as breathing.
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Psalm 136 1-3 Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits.
Thank the God of all gods, His love never quits.
Thank the Lord of all lords. His love never quits. -
Thank the miracle-working God, His love never quits.
The God whose skill formed the cosmos, His love never quits.
The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations, His love never quits.
The God who filled the skies with light, His love never quits.
The sun to watch over the day, His love never quits.
Moon and stars as guardians of the night, His love never quits. -
The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn, His love never quits.
And rescued Israel from Egypt’s oppression, His love never quits.
Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand, His love never quits.
Split the Red Sea right in half, His love never quits.
Led Israel right through the middle, His love never quits.
Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea, His love never quits. -
The God who marched his people through the desert, His love never quits.
Smashed huge kingdoms right and left, His love never quits.
Struck down the famous kings, His love never quits.
Struck Sihon the Amorite king, His love never quits.
Struck Og the Bashanite king, His love never quits.
Then distributed their land as booty, His love never quits.
Handed the land over to Israel. His love never quits. -
God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits.
Rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits.
Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits.
Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits! - Deuteronomy 3: 3 Then we turned north and took the road to Bashan. Og king of Bashan, he and all his people, came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 God said to me, “Don’t be afraid of him; I’m turning him over to you, along with his whole army and his land. Treat him the way you treated Sihon king of the Amorites who ruled from Heshbon.”
- Deuteronomy 3-7 So God, our God, also handed Og king of Bashan over to us—Og and all his people—and we utterly crushed them. Again, no survivors. At the same time we took all his cities. There wasn’t one of the sixty cities that we didn’t take—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortress cities with high walls and barred gates. There were also numerous unwalled villages. We totally destroyed them—a holy destruction. It was the same treatment we gave to Sihon king of Heshbon, a holy destruction of every city, man, woman, and child. But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we took for ourselves.
