intelligence · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
made
לְעֹשֵׂ֣הle.'o.Seh
H6213
to do or make · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
heavens
הַ֭שָּׁמַיִםHa.sha.ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
mercy
חַסְדּֽוֹchas.Do
H2617
kindness · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
ever
לְעוֹלָ֣םle.'o.Lam
H5769
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Psalms 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Jeremiah 51:15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
Proverbs 3:19-20 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 8:22-29 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
Jeremiah 10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 136:1-9
The duty we are here again and again called to is to give thanks, to offer the sacrifice of praise continually, not the fruits of our ground or cattle, but the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, Heb 13:15. We are never so earnestly called upon to pray and repent as to give thanks; for it is the will of God that we should abound most in the most pleasant exercises of religion, in that which is the work of heaven. Now here observe, 1. Whom we must give thanks to - to him that we receive all good from, to the Lord, Jehovah, Israel's God (Psa 136:1), the God of gods, the God whom angels adore, from whom magistrates derive their power, and by whom all pretended deities are and shall be…
To him that by wisdom made the heavens,.... In such a curious manner, in such a proper and delightful situation, with such furniture, and for such uses, Proverbs 3:19;
for his mercy endureth for ever; which appears in the continued influences of the heaven; the dew, rain, and snow, that descend from it on the earth to water and make it fruitful, and to produce those rich and valuable blessings called the "precious things of heaven", Deuteronomy 33:13; and which are of the utmost importance for the service of man and beast: and, besides, God has of his infinite mercy, which continues, provided an inheritance in the heavens, a house eternal in the heavens, mansions of bliss and glory there, w…
Psalm 136:1-9
1. Praise Jehovah, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. 2. Praise the God of gods, for his mercy endureth for ever. 3.. Praise the Lord of Lords, [171] for his mercy endureth for ever. 4. Who alone hath done great wonders, for his mercy endureth for ever, 5. Who made the heavens by his wisdom, [or, intelligently,] for his mercy endureth for ever. 6. Who stretcheth out the earth above the waters, for his mercy endureth for ever. 7. Who made the great lights, for his mercy endureth for ever. 8. The sun for rule by day, for his mercy endureth for ever. 9. The moon and stars for rule by night for his mercy endureth for ever.
1. For his mercy, [172] etc. The insertion…
The Church Fathers
Who made the heavens with understanding. These are the heavens which "declare the glory of God," who have put on the image of the heavenly One: and there are heavens who have not put on the image of the earthly one. With understanding, in wisdom: for Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, just as Wisdom herself also says in Proverbs: "When he made the heavens, I was with him," and the rest.
But what means, "who alone does great wonders"? Is it because many wonderful things He has done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful things there are which God does alone, and these he enumerates, saying, "who by His wisdom made the heavens" [Psalm 136:5], "who stretched out the earth above the waters" [Psalm 136:6], "who alone made great lights" [Psalm 136:7]. For this reason did he add "alone" in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of, God did by means of man. For having said, "who alone made great lights," he goes on to explain what these are, "the sun to rule the day" [Psalm 136:8], "the moon and stars to govern the night" [Psalm 136:9]; then he begins to tell the wonders which He did by means of angels and men: "who smote Egypt with their first-born" [Psalm 136:10], and the rest. The whole creation then God manifestly made, not by means of any creature, but "alone;" and of this creation he has mentioned certain more eminent parts, that they might make us think on the whole; the heavens we can understand, and the earth we see. And as there are visible heavens too, by mentioning the lights in them, he has bid us look on the whole body of the heavens as made by Him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Exodus — The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” (Ex 12:51; Deut. 26:8; Ps 114; 136), about…
Psalms — The psalms are the production of various authors. “Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another…
Astronomy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Creation · Exhibits: The wisdom of God — Exhibits: The wisdom of God
Mercy Of God, The · Described as: Everlasting — Described as: Everlasting
Praise · Is due to God on account of: His mercy — Is due to God on account of: His mercy
Wisdom Of God, The · Exhibited in: His works — Exhibited in: His works
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Like the preceding Psalm, this Psalm allies itself to the Book of Deuteronomy. Psa 136:2 and Psa 136:3 (God of gods and Lord of lords) are taken from Deu 10:17; Psa 136:12 (with a strong hand and stretched-out arm) from Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15, and frequently (cf. Jer 32:21); Psa 136:16 like Deu 8:15 (cf. Jer 2:6). With reference to the Deuteronomic colouring of Psa 136:19-22, vid., on Psa 135:10-12; also the expression "Israel His servant" recalls Deu 32:36 (cf. Psa 135:14; Psa 90:13), and still more Isa 40:1, where the comprehension of Israel under the unity of this notion has its own proper place. In other respects, too, the Psalm is an echo of earlier model passages. Who alone doeth great won…
Ps 136 This is the last of the Great Hallel psalms (Pss 120–136). It distinctively repeats the refrain His faithful love endures forever in every verse. The hymn is framed by a call to praise (136:1-3, 26). It proclaims the Lord as the Creator of all and the Redeemer of Israel, both in the distant (136:10-22) and in the recent past (136:23-24).
136:1-3 The psalmist invites the community to praise the Lord, who is good and full of love, the true Lord of humanity. Verse 1 alludes to the poetic expression in 2 Chr 5:13.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 136:5
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him that by wisdom made the heavens. His goodness appears in creating the upper regions. He set his wisdom to the task of fashioning a firmament, or an atmosphere suitable for a world upon which mortal men should dwell. What a mass of wisdom lies hidden in this one creating act! The discoveries of our keenest observers have never searched out all the evidences of design which are crowded together in this work of God's hands. The lives of plants, animals, and men are dependent upon the fashioning of our heavens: had the skies been other than they are we had not been here to praise God. Divine foresight planned the ai…
