Psalms 136:16

Psa 136:16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

Ver. 16. To him which led his people] As a horse, that they should not stumble, Isa 63:13; as a shepherd his sheep; providing for them so, as never was any prince so served in his greatest pomp.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. (Psa 136:16) To him that led his people in the wilderness—for unto eternity (is) his mercy. Led, literally, caused to go. See above, Psa 125:5. The participial construction is again resumed.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Where for the space of forty years he showed infinite and most strange wonders.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. Which led his people through the wilderness] It was an astonishing miracle of God to support so many hundreds of thousands of people in a wilderness totally deprived of all necessaries for the life of man, and that for the space of forty years.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Cp. Deu_8:15.

16–22. Jehovah the Giver of the promised land. Cp. Psa_135:10 ff.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To him which led his people through the wilderness,.... Where there was no path. This the Lord did by going before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, to show them the way in which they should go, Exo 13:21; see Psa 78:14;

for his mercy endureth for ever; among the manifold mercies of God, shown to Israel in the wilderness, this is one taken notice of by Nehemiah, Neh 9:19; that the pillar of cloud and fire, to direct them, never departed from them while in it: and this act of "leading" them not only includes the guidance of them in the way, but the provision made for them; of water out of the rock, and of manna that fell about their tents every day; and of flesh and feathered fowl, like dust, so that they wanted nothing; and also the protection of them from their enemies: all which were proofs of his constant care over them, and continual mercy to them; see Psa 78:15.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To him which led his people through the wilderness - For all the manifestations of his care during a period of forty years.

For his mercy ... - That is, his mercy was to be measured by all the protection extended over them; by all the provision made for their needs; by all that God did to defend them; by all his interposition when attacked by their enemies; by safely bringing them to the land to which he had promised to conduct them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Through the wilderness; through that vast howling wilderness, where there was neither way nor provision; through which none but the Almighty God could have safely conducted them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 16. To him which led his people through the wilderness. He led them into it, and therefore he was pledged to lead them through it. They were "his people", and yet they must go into the wilderness, and the wilderness must remain as barren as ever it was; but in the end they must come out of it into the promised land. God's dealings are mysterious, but they must be right, simply because they are his. The people knew nothing of the way, but they were led; they were a vast host, yet they were all led; there were neither roads nor tracks, but being led by unerring wisdom they never lost their way. He who brought them out of Egypt, also led them through the wilderness. By Moses, and Aaron, and Jethro, and the pillar of cloud he led them. What a multitude of mercies are comprehended in the conduct of such an enormous host through a region wherein there was no provision even for single travellers; yet the Lord by his infinite power and wisdom conducted a whole nation for forty years through a desert land, and their feet did not swell, neither did their garments wax old in all the journey.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Their conduct in the wilderness tested his mercy most severely, but it bore the strain; many a time he forgave them; and though he smote them for their transgressions, yet he waited to be gracious and speedily turned to them in compassion. Their faithfulness soon failed, but his did not: the fiery, cloudy pillar which never ceased to lead the van was the visible proof of his immutable love

"For his, mercy, changing never,

Still endureth, sure for ever."

Ver. 16. Led his people through the wilderness.

When Israel, of the Lord beloved,

Out of the land of bondage came,

Her father's God before her moved,

An awful guide, in smoke and flame.

By day, along the astonished lands,

The cloudy pillar glided slow;

By night Arabia's crimsoned sands

Returned the fiery columun's glow.

Sir Walter Scott, 1771-1832.

Ver. 16. He led his people through the wilderness. It was an astonishing miracle of God to support so many hundreds of thousands of people in a wilderness totally deprived of all necessaries for the life of man, and that for the space of forty years. Adam Clarke.

Ver. 16. He led his people through the wilderness, etc. It is a very sweet truth which is enunciated in this verse, and one which I think we need very much to realize. His own people, his peculiar people, his chosen, loved, and favoured ones, whom he cherished as the apple of his eye, who were graven on the palms of his hands, and loved with an everlasting love, even these he led through the wilderness; and all this because "His mercy endureth for ever." In another Psalm it is said, "He leadeth them beside the still waters, he maketh them to lie down in green pastures"; but the barren wilderness has no green pastures, the parched and arid desert has no still waters. And yet "in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert, and an highway shall be there; and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" It is one of the Lord's sweet truths that so perplex those that are without, but which are so full of consolation to his own children, that the wilderness and mercy are linked together of God in indissoluble union here. "I will allure her", saith the Lord, "and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." Barton Bouchier.

Ver. 16. Who led his people. Note that in what precedes this, in this verse itself, and in what follows, God's three ways of leading are set forth. He leads out, he leads through, and he leads into; out of sin, through the world, into heaven; out by faith, through by hope, into by love. Michael Ayguan (1416), in Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 16.

1. Personal care: "To him which led."

2. Peculiar interest: "His people."

3. Persevering goodness: "Through the wilderness."

Ver. 16. Led through the Wilderness.

1. God's people must enter the wilderness for trial, for self knowledge, for development of graces, for preparation for Canaan.

2. God leads his people while in the wilderness. Their route, their provision, their discipline, their protection.

3. God will bring his people out of the wilderness.

C.A.D.

Psalms 136:17*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. See Exo_13:18; Deu_8:15. Leading the people in the desert was as great a miracle as the exodus or the overthrow of the kings.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To him which led his people through the wilderness. (Exo_13:20-22 Exo_40:36-38 Deu_8:15) For his mercy, etc.

Providential guidance.

"Which led his people." The addition, "through the wilderness," is significant and suggestive, because a wilderness is distinctly a pathless region, in which mere human skill is baffled. And it reminds us that Israel was provided for and guided for thirty-eight long years in such a region. Surely Israel ought to have said, "God"s providence is mine inheritance." Is it a gain or a loss that we have ceased to recognize or to speak much of God"s providence? It was a very real thing to our fathers; it is not very real to us. At least, this might appear to be the fact. We are, however, disposed to argue that the truth and fact are as truly preserved and valued as ever they were, only they have gained a new setting and new shaping.

I THE IDEA OF PROVIDENCE FITTED THE OLDER CONCEPTION OF GOD. It belongs to the apprehension of God as Creator, Sustainer, Ruler. He is Lord of the whole world of things, and is thought of as controlling all things in the interest of his own special people. He is the Universal Provider, and our fathers delighted in stories of remarkable providential interpositions, guidances, and arrangements. And still no man can read his own life, or watch the lives of others, without being impressed with the wonder-working ways of Divine providence, which make the "unexpected" the thing that happens. Constantly in life we find things are brought round for us which we could in no way have mastered or arranged. "There"s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.

II THE NEWER CONCEPTION OF GOD GLORIFIES HIS PROVIDENCE. Christ has brought to men a comprehensive name for God. It includes the very essence of every previous conception and name, but puts man into a new and more directly personal and affectionate relation with God. He is our Father. And his providence is his fatherly care of our every interest. Has a child any such providence as his father is to him? And yet a child never thinks of, or speaks of, his father as providence. And in the measure in which we can enter into the idea of God as our Father, we shall find that we lose out of use the term "providence," but keep all the reality of it, and indeed glorify it, as we lose the impersonal and therefore cold element, and see it to be the wisdom and power and activity of our Father, which is beautified and sanctified by his love for us his sons. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

for his covenant faithfulness endures forever

The abstract noun "faithfulness" can be translated with an adjective. See how you translated this in Psalms 136:1. AT: "because he remains faithful to his covenant forever" (See: Abstract Nouns)

translationWords

people of God

desert

king

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.