Psalms 136:7

To him who made the great lights; for his loving kindness endures forever:

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

to him who made the great lights, for his loving kindness endures forever;

BSB

He made the great lights — His loving devotion endures forever.

KJV

To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:

ASV

To him that made great lights; For his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever:

BBE

To him who made great lights: for his mercy is unchanging for ever.

Original Hebrew

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לְעֹשֵׂה le·'o·seh to [one who] made H6213 אוֹרִים 'o·rim (of) [the] lights H216 גְּדֹלִים ge·do·lim great H1419 כִּי ki for H3588 לְעוֹלָם le·'o·lam [is] for ever H5769 חַסְדּוֹ chas·do covenant loyalty his H2617

The early church

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.
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 1–9

Forgetful as we are, things must be often repeated to us. By "mercy" we understand the Lord's disposition to save those whom sin has rendered miserable and vile, and all the provision he has made for the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. The counsels of this mercy have been from everlasting, and the effects of it will endure for ever, to all who are interested in it. The Lord continues equally ready to show mercy to all who seek for it, and this is the source of all our hope and comfort.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 136 →

Spurgeon · Verse 7

To him that made great lights. This also is a creating miracle worthy of our loudest thanks. What could men have done without light? Though they had the heavens above them, and dry land to move upon, yet what could they see, and where could they go without light? Thanks be to the Lord, who has not consigned us to darkness. In great mercy he has not left us to an uncertain, indistinct light, floating about fitfully, and without order; but he has concentrated light upon two grand luminaries, which, as far as we are concerned, are to us "great lights." The Psalmist is making a song for common people, not for your critical savans, —and so he sings of the sun and moon as they appear to us, —the greatest of lights. These the Lord created in the beginning; and for the present age of man made or constituted them light bearers for the world. For his mercy endureth for ever. Mercy gleams in every ray of light, and it is most clearly seen in the arrangement by which it is distributed with order and regularity from the sun and moon.

Lamps he lit in heaven's heights,

For in mercy he delights.

Read Spurgeon on Psalm 136 →

Cross-references

5

Topics

SunMoonStars

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.