Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 136:4
To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy [endureth] forever.
4. O give thanks unto the former of all things (Jer 10:16), for &c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4. Cp. Psa 72:18; Psa 86:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 9. Jehovah the Creator.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To him who alone doeth great wonders – Miracles; marvelous things; things which spring from his direct and absolute power; things lying beyond the range of natural laws. See the notes at Psa 72:18.
For his mercy … – For all these mighty wonders are performed in carrying out purposes of mercy. So the wonders which were done in Egypt were for the deliverance of an oppressed people; so the miracles performed by the Saviour and his apostles were to remove disease and pain, and to establish a religion of mercy; so the divine interpositions among the nations are to assert the principles of righteousness, to secure the reign of order and love, and to promote the welfare of mankind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 136:4-9
To Him who alone doeth great wonders.
God the wonder-worker
Altering a little the language of Coleridge, I would say, All true science begins with wonder, and ends with wonder, and the space between is filled up with admiration. If we turn to Providence, the history of the nations, the history of the Church, what centuries of wonders pass before us! It is said that wise men only wonder once, and that is always; fools never wonder, because they are fools. The story of the Church is a constellation of miracles. I cannot venture upon themes so vast as Creation and Providence. Shall we turn to the works of Grace, the wonders of Redemption? If we consider the glory of grace surrounding the Cross, which is the wonder of wonders, we are upon a boundless ocean.
I. God is working wonders of mercy now.
1. In the salvation of the lost.
2. In the preservation of believers.
3. By maintaining His Church and the cause of truth in the midst of the world.
II. These wonders are still great. Many apparent wonders can be explained, and, henceforth, the wonder is gone. Certain nations wonder at an eclipse, which to the astronomer is a very simple affair. Now, you cannot explain away redemption, regeneration, and the pardon of sin: these great wonders of almighty love are all the greater the more you know of them. Many wonders, also, are diminished by familiarity. The wonders of grace are such, that the more you see them the more your wonder grows. Those who are most familiar with the Lord think the most of Him and of His grace. The wonders of Divine grace are so great that they can never be eclipsed by any greater marvels.
III. These great wonders are wrought by God alone. When the Lord uses means in the salvation of a soul, He takes care that nobody shall praise the means or ascribe the salvation to the agent. He has many ways with His most useful servants of making them keep their places; and you will notice that as soon as ever any one of them begins to grow rather large in his own esteem, he is usually met with weakness and barrenness. We must keep self out of the way. We must put ourselves absolutely into Gods hands, that He may use us in the winning of souls, and then we must send the great I down, down, down, till it is buried out of all remembrance.
IV. For these wonders God is to be praised. Holy wonder is like sweet incense, but love must set it on a blaze with a burning coal of gratitude. If you will begin to praise the Lord for His great wonders of mercy, I will tell you what will happen to you.
1. First, we shall find His nature revealed to us. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. We shall begin to see the essential goodness of God, and then we shall the better understand the manifestations of it as seen in ten thousand ways.
2. Next, while praising for His wonders, thou wilt learn to adore His Godhead. Give thanks unto the God of gods. It is a grand thing to be deeply impressed that God is God.
3. If thou wilt keep on praising Him for His wonders, thou wilt come to know somewhat of His sovereignty. O give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for He rules over all things, both in heaven and in earth, and in all deep places. We can trust our God with unlimited power; and it is a part of our worship that we should never question whatever He may do. It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good.
4. Still, when thou praisest God for the wonders He has wrought for thee, and for others, let the climax of thy praise be this, that His mercy endureth for ever. Magnify with all thy faculties of mind and heart; with memory, and hope, and fear, and every emotion of which thou art capable, the changeless mercy of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Who alone doeth great wonders] MIRACLES. No power but that which is almighty can work miracles, niphlaoth, the inversion, or suspension, or destruction of the laws of nature.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Him who alone; he and none else. Or, he without the help of any other person or thing; whereas no other being can do any thing alone or without his help.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. aloneexcluding all help.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To him who alone doeth great wonders,…. As in the works of creation at first, having no help from angels or men; so in the works of providence, many of which are unsearchable, and past finding out, and in which he has no assistance from creatures; and in the works of grace, redemption, and salvation, which his own arm has wrought out; as well as what he did when here on earth in our nature; the miracles then wrought by his omnipotent arm alone; and even all the wonders which Moses and Elijah did under the Old Testament, and the apostles of Christ under the New, were done, not by their power, but by his alone; who will do still greater wonders, when he shall create all tidings new, raise the dead, and summon all nations before him, and render to everyone according to his works;
for his mercy [endureth] for ever: towards his people, for whose sake all these wonders are wrought.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. Who alone hath done great wonders Under this term he comprehends all God’s works from the least to the greatest, that he may awaken our admiration of them, for notwithstanding the signal marks of inconceivably great wisdom and divine power of God which are inscribed upon them we are apt through thoughtlessness to undervalue them. He declares that whatever is worthy of admiration is exclusively made and done by God, to teach us that we cannot transfer the smallest portion of the praise due to him without awful sacrilege, there being no vestige of divinity in the whole range of heaven and earth with which it is lawful to compare or equal him. He then proceeds to praise the wisdom of God, as particularly displayed in the skill with which the heavens are framed, giving evidence in a surprising degree of the fine discrimination with which they are adorned. (173) Next he comes to speak of the earth, that he may lead us to form a proper estimate of this great and memorable work of God, stretching forth as it does a bare and dry superficies above the waters. As these elements are of a spherical form, the waters, if not kept within their limits, would naturally cover the earth, were it not that God has seen fit to secure a place of habitation for the human family. This philosophers themselves are forced to admit as one of their principles and maxims. (174) The earth’s expanded surface, and the vacant space uncovered with water, has been justly considered therefore one of the great wonders of God. And it is ascribed to his mercy, because his only reason for displacing the waters from their proper seat was that regard which he had in his infinite goodness for the interests of man.
(173) “ Les cieux sont composez d’un si excellent et bel artifice, qu’ils crient que c’est d’une facon admirable qu’ils ont este ornez d’une si plaisante distinction.” — Fr.
(174) “ De mettre ceci entre lents principes et maximes.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Psa. 72:18.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Doeth great wonders See Psa 72:18; Psa 135:6. The superior works of God declare him supreme. The phraseology shows that his works are above both comprehension and description.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 136:4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
Ver. 4. To him who alone doeth great wonders ] Wondrous things the creature may do, but not wonders; mira sed non miracula. God alone is the great Thaumaturgus, that is, wonder worker.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
who alone: Psa 72:18, Psa 86:10, Exo 15:11, Job 5:9, Rev 15:3
Reciprocal: Job 9:10 – wonders Psa 26:7 – tell Psa 40:5 – Many Psa 77:14 – the God Psa 86:8 – neither Psa 98:1 – for he Psa 145:12 – make known Act 2:11 – wonderful
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 136:4. Who alone doeth great wonders He, and none else; or he, without the help of any other person, or thing: whereas no other being can do any thing alone, or without his help. All the works of God are wonderful, and speak him alone to have been their author. The established course of the world is, in reality, no less admirable than are those extraordinary interpositions of omnipotence whereby it hath been sometimes interrupted and suspended; though the latter, on account of their novelty, are apt to affect us more than the former does, which is ever before our eyes, and therefore less regarded by us.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. Subjects for thanksgiving 136:4-25
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 136:4 expresses the theme of this thanksgiving, namely: God’s wonderful acts. Then the psalmist mentioned specific acts. Psa 136:5-9 describe aspects of God’s work in creating the world.