Psalms 125 - 136

Songs of Ascent and a Glorious Song of Praise

This section of Psalms continues the Songs of Ascent (through 134).  The last song, 134, is a call to the "night servants" in the Temple, night being symbolic of the end of the journey. It it a very short psalm (3 verses) with a simple message, "Praise the Lord!"

Psalm 136 is a glorious song of praise, the last of the Great Hallel psalms.  This psalm repeats the refrain, "His faithful love endures forever." (NLT).  The King James refrain is, "for his mercy endureth for ever."  This refrain is repeated after every verse in the psalm giving it a sing-song like quality.  One can image the people marching to the Temple singing with one person calling, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!" and the rest of the people responding, "His faithful love endures forever!"

This psalm breaks into four sections.  Verses 1-3 are a call to praise. Verses 4-9 extol the glory of His heavenly creation. Verses 10-22, the largest section, is a recounting of the salvation and deliverance of Israel from the Egytians.  Verses 23-26, close out the Psalm with a call to praise from each individual. The progression is God as God, God as Creator, God as Deliverer of Israel the Nation, God as Savior of every man.

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.