서론
제목 없음
简体中文
영문 원문
The scope of this psalm is the same with that of the Ps 135:1-21, but there is something very singular in the composition of it; for the latter half of each verse is the same, repeated throughout the psalm, "for his mercy endureth for ever," and yet no vain repetition. It is allowed that such burdens, or "keepings," as we call them, add very much to the beauty of a song, and help to make it moving and affecting; nor can any verse contain more weighty matter, or more worthy to be thus repeated, than this, that God's mercy endureth for ever; and the repetition of it here twenty-six times intimates, 1. That God's mercies to his people are thus repeated and drawn, as it were, with a continuando from the beginning to the end, with a progress and advance in infinitum. 2. That in every particular favour we ought to take notice of the mercy of God, and to take favour we ought to take notice of the mercy of God, and to take notice of it as enduring still, the same now that it has been, and enduring for ever, the same always that it is. 3. That the everlasting continuance of the mercy of God is very much his honour and that which he glories in, and very much the saints' comfort and that which they glory in. It is that which therefore our hearts should be full of and greatly affected with, so that the most frequent mention of it, instead of cloying us, should raise us the more, because it will be the subject of our praise to all eternity. This most excellent sentence, that God's mercy endureth for ever, is magnified above all the truths concerning God, not only by the repetition of it here, but by the signal tokens of divine acceptance with which God owned the singing of it, both in Solomon's time (2Ch 5:13, when they sang these words, "for his mercy endureth for ever," the house was filled with a cloud) and in Jehoshaphat's time (when they sang these words, God gave them victory, 2Ch 20:21,22), which should make us love to sing, "His mercies sure do still endure, eternally." We must praise God, I. As great and good in himself, Ps 136:1-3. II. As the Creator of the world, Ps 136:5-9. III. As Israel's God and Saviour, Ps 136:10-22. IV. As our Redeemer, Ps 136:23,24. V. As the great benefactor of the whole creation, and God over all, blessed for evermore, Ps 136:25,26.
1-9
Exhortations to Thanksgiving
简体中文
劝勉感恩
¹ 你们要称谢耶和华，因他本为善，他的慈爱永远长存。
² 你们要称谢万神之神，因他的慈爱永远长存。
³ 你们要称谢万主之主，因他的慈爱永远长存。
⁴ 称谢那独行大奇事的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
⁵ 称谢那用智慧造天的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
⁶ 称谢那铺地在水以上的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
⁷ 称谢那造成大光的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
⁸ 他造日头管白昼，因他的慈爱永远长存。
⁹ 他造月亮星宿管黑夜，因他的慈爱永远长存。
我们在此一次又一次受呼召的本分，是「称谢」——「常常以颂赞为祭献给神」，不是献上地里的果子或牲畜，而是「嘴唇的果子，借着他常献赞美」（来13:15）。我们受呼召去祷告悔改，从未像受呼召去「称谢」那样恳切；因为神的旨意是要我们在宗教最可悦的操练中——那也是天上的工作——最丰盛地流露。在此请注意：1. 我们当向谁称谢——向我们一切好处的源头，向「耶和华」，以色列的神（诗136:1），「万神之神」——天使所敬拜的神、官长得权柄之所本、一切假神已被并将被征服的依据（诗136:2），「万主之主」——一切主宰的主宰，一切扶持的扶持和根基（诗136:3）。在我们一切的敬拜中，我们当以神超越的卓越，并他无可争议、无可阻挡的至高权柄和治理为念。2. 我们当为何称谢——不是如法利赛人那样使一切感恩归于自己的称赞（「神啊，我感谢你」，我如何如何），而是使之一切归于神的荣耀。〔1〕我们当为神的良善和怜悯称谢他（诗136:1）：「称谢耶和华」——不仅因为他行善，更因为他「本为善」（一切溪流当追溯到源头）；不仅因为他向我们施怜悯，更因为「他的慈爱永远长存」，并要延伸到我们以后的人。我们当为神称谢，不仅为如今在地上赐给我们的怜悯，也为那将在天堂的荣耀和喜乐中永存的怜悯。〔2〕我们当为神的大能和智慧的彰显称谢他。总体而言（诗136:4），他「独行大奇事」。其设计奇妙——因无穷的智慧所定；其执行奇妙——因无穷的大能所成。他独行奇事；除他之外无人能行，他也无需任何别的协助或建议。具体而言：[1] 他造了诸天，将其铺张——在其中我们不仅看见他的智慧和大能，更在他的恩泽中尝到他的怜悯；天存多久，神的怜悯也在其中存多久（诗136:5）。[2] 当他使旱地露出时，他将地从水中托起，使其宜于人居住——其中他对人的怜悯仍长久（诗136:6）；因为「他把地赐给世人」，及其一切出产。[3] 他既造了天地，便不顾其相距之远，在其间设立来往——造了日、月、星辰，置于天空的穹苍，使其光辉和影响临到这地（诗136:7-9）。这些称为「大光」，因为在我们看来如此——否则天文学家会告诉我们月亮比许多星辰小，但因较近地，看起来大得多。它们被称为「管」，不仅因它们掌管四季，更因它们对世界有用——施惠者便是最好的治理者（路22:25）。但这帝国是分开的——一个「管白昼」，另一个（至少「星辰」）「管黑夜」——然而都服在神的指挥和安排之下。因此外邦人所敬拜的那些统治者，不过是世界的仆人、神的臣属。「日头啊，你要停住；月亮啊，你也要如此。」
영문 원문
Exhortations to Thanksgiving
¹ O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
² O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
³ O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁴ To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁵ To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁶ To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁷ To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
⁸ The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
⁹ The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
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 (Ps 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 conquered (Ps 136:2), to the Lord of lords, the Sovereign of all sovereigns, the stay and supporter of all supports; Ps 136:3. In all our adorations we must have an eye to God's excellency as transcendent, and to his power and dominion as incontestably and uncontrollably supreme. 2. What we must give thanks for, not as the Pharisee that made all his thanksgivings terminate in his own praise (God, I thank thee, that I am so and so), but directing them all to God's glory. (1.) We must give thanks to God for his goodness and mercy (Ps 136:1): Give thanks to the Lord, not only because he does good, but because he is good (all the streams must be traced up to the fountain), not only because he is merciful to us, but because his mercy endures for ever, and will be drawn out to those that shall come after us. We must give thanks to God, not only for that mercy which is now handed out to us here on earth, but for that which shall endure for ever in the glories and joys of heaven. (2.) We must give God thanks for the instances of his power and wisdom. In general (Ps 136:4), he alone does great wonders. The contrivance is wonderful, the design being laid by infinite wisdom; the performance is wonderful, being put in execution by infinite power. He alone does marvellous things; none besides can do such things, and he does them without the assistance or advice of any other. More particularly, [1.] He made the heavens, and stretched them out, and in them we not only see his wisdom and power, but we taste his mercy in their benign influences; as long as the heavens endure the mercy of God endures in them, Ps 136:5. [2.] He raised the earth out of the waters when he caused the dry land to appear, that it might be fit to be a habitation for man, and therein also his mercy to man still endures (Ps 136:6); for the earth hath he given to the children of men, and all its products. [3.] Having made both heaven and earth, he settled a correspondence between them, notwithstanding their distance, by making the sun, moon, and stars, which he placed in the firmament of heaven, to shed their light and influences upon this earth, Ps 136:7-9. These are called the great lights because they appear so to us, for otherwise astronomers could tell us that the moon is less than many of the stars, but, being nearer to the earth, it seems much greater. They are said to rule, not only because they govern the seasons of the year, but because they are useful to the world, and benefactors are the best rulers, Lu 22:25. But the empire is divided, one rules by day, the other by night (at least, the stars), and yet all are subject to God's direction and disposal. Those rulers, therefore, which the Gentiles idolized, are the world's servants and God's subjects. Sun, stand thou still, and thou moon.
10-22
Divine Mercy Celebrated
简体中文
颂赞神圣的慈爱
¹⁰ 称谢那击杀埃及人之长子的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹¹ 称谢那领以色列人从他们中间出来的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹² 他施展大能的手，和伸出来的膀臂，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹³ 称谢那分裂红海的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹⁴ 他领以色列人从其中经过，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹⁵ 却把法老和他的军兵推翻在红海里，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹⁶ 称谢那引导自己的民走过旷野的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹⁷ 称谢那击杀大君王的，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹⁸ 杀戮有名的君王，因他的慈爱永远长存。
¹⁹ 就是杀戮亚摩利王西宏，因他的慈爱永远长存。
²⁰ 又杀巴珊王噩，因他的慈爱永远长存。
²¹ 将他们的地赐给他的百姓为业，因他的慈爱永远长存。
²² 就是赐他的仆人以色列人为业，因他的慈爱永远长存。
神当初把以色列人塑造成一族、并在他们中间设立他的国度时为他们所行的大事，此处与诗篇别处一样被提起，作为神大能、并他特别恩待以色列的实例。参诗一三五8 等。1. 他领他们出埃及（诗一三六10-12）。这怜悯对他们长久常存，而由其所预表的、我们借基督所得的救赎，实在永远长存——因为那是永远的救赎。在埃及诸灾中，只提到杀长子之灾，因那是制胜之灾；借这灾，那在诸灾中向来将以色列人与埃及人分别的神，至终把他们从其中领出来——不是用巧计，而是用大能的手和伸出来行奇事大事的膀臂。这些怜悯的奇事，既证明了摩西奉命为以色列立法的权柄，也将以色列置于恒久当顺服那律法的责任之下（出二十2）。2. 他在他们初启程时为他们强开一条过红海的路。借他控制自然常轨的权能，他「把红海分为两半」，在其中开了一条道，使以色列人从其间过去——如今他们要与神立约；参耶三十四18。他不仅分开了海，更赐他百姓勇气在既分之时过海——这显明了他掌管人心的权能，正如前者显明了他掌管众水的权能。又为使这事成为公义的神迹兼怜悯的神迹，那对以色列人是通路的红海，对追赶者却是坟墓。他在那里把法老和他的军兵抖落。3. 他引他们经过辽阔荒凉的旷野（诗一三六16）；在那里他引导他们，又供养他们。他们的营寨借着四十年来一连串不息的神迹得粮草、得护卫；他们虽在那里徘徊漂泊，却未迷失。在这件事上，神的怜悯并他怜悯的恒久更可观察到，因为他们常常在旷野惹他发怒、在荒漠使他担忧。4. 他在他们面前除灭了诸王，为他们开路（诗一三六17、18）——不是废黜流放他们，而是击杀他们；在其中显明了对他们的怒气，却显明了他对以色列的怜悯——那永不枯竭的怜悯。使这怜悯更显大的，是那些乃「大君王」、是「有名的君王」，神却如对待最小、最弱、最卑之人那样轻易地制服他们。他们是恶王，所以他们的荣华光辉不能保他们脱离神的公义。他们愈大愈有名，神把这样的王赐给以色列，他向以色列所显的怜悯便愈大。西宏和噩特别被提及，因为是在约旦河那边首先被征服的两个（诗一三六19、20）。逐一细述神的恩惠，不囫囵吞枣地看，并在每一件上观察、承认「神的慈爱永远长存」，这是好的。5. 他使他们得着美地为业（诗一三六21、22）。地的主——地和其中所充满的、世界和住在其间的，都是他的——随己意把这块地从一个民手中取去，赐给另一个民。「亚摩利人的罪孽如今满盈」，所以地从他们手中被收回。「以色列」是他的「仆人」，他们虽在旷野惹他发怒，他仍要从他们身上得着一些事奉，因为「事奉神」原是属于他们的。如同他曾对埃及人说「容我的百姓去」，他也对迦南人说「让我的百姓进来」，好叫他们事奉我。在这件事上，「神向他们的怜爱永远长存」，因为这是天上迦南的预表——「我们主耶稣基督引我们进入永生的怜悯」。
영문 원문
Divine Mercy Celebrated
¹⁰ To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹¹ And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹² With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹³ To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁴ And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁵ But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹⁶ To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹⁷ To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁸ And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²⁰ And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²¹ And gave their land for a heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²² Even a heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.
The great things God for Israel, when he first formed them into a people, and set up his kingdom among them, are here mentioned, as often elsewhere in the psalms, as instances both of the power of God and of the particular kindness he had for Israel. See Ps 135:8, etc. 1. He brought them out of Egypt, Ps 136:10-12. That was a mercy which endured long to them, and our redemption by Christ, which was typified by that, does indeed endure for ever, for it is an eternal redemption. Of all the plagues of Egypt, none is mentioned but the death of the first-born, because that was the conquering plague; by that God, who in all the plagues distinguished the Israelites from the Egyptians, brought them at last from among them, not by a wile, but with a strong hand and an arm stretched out to reach far and do great things. These miracles of mercy, as they proved Moses's commission to give law to Israel, so they laid Israel under lasting obligations to obey that law, Ex 20:2. 2. He forced them a way through the Red Sea, which obstructed them at their first setting out. By the power he has to control the common course of nature he divided the sea into two parts, between which he opened a path, and made Israel to pass between the parts, now that they were to enter into covenant with him; see Jer 34:18. He not only divided the sea, but gave his people courage to go through it when it was divided, which was an instance of God's power over men's hearts, as the former of his power over the waters. And, to make it a miracle of justice as well as mercy, the same Red Sea that was a lane to the Israelites was a grave to their pursuers. There he shook off Pharaoh and his host. 3. He conducted them through a vast howling wilderness (Ps 136:16); there he led them and fed them. Their camp was victualled and fortified by a constant series of miracles for forty years; though they loitered and wandered there, they were not lost. And in this the mercy of God, and the constancy of that mercy, were the more observable because they often provoked him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert. 4. He destroyed kings before them, to make room for them (Ps 136:17,18), not deposed and banished them, but smote and slew them, in which appeared his wrath against them, but his mercy, his never-failing mercy, to Israel. And that which magnified it was that they were great kings and famous kings, yet God subdued them as easily as if they had been the least, and weakest, and meanest, of the children of men. They were wicked kings, and then their grandeur and lustre would not secure them from the justice of God. The more great and famous they were the more did God's mercy to Israel appear in giving such kings for them. Sihon and Og are particularly mentioned, because they were the first two that were conquered on the other side Jordan, Ps 136:19,20. It is good to enter into the detail of God's favours and not to view them in the gross, and in each instance to observe, and own, that God's mercy endureth for ever. 5. He put them in possession of a good land, Ps 136:21,22. He whose the earth is, and the fulness thereof, the world and those that dwell therein, took land from one people and gave it to another, as pleased him. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full, and therefore it was taken from them. Israel was his servant, and, though they had been provoking in the wilderness, yet he intended to have some service out of them, for to them pertained the service of God. As he said to the Egyptians, Let my people go, so to the Canaanites, Let my people in, that they may serve me. In this God's mercy to them endureth for ever, because it was a figure of the heavenly Canaan, the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
23-26
Divine Mercy Celebrated
简体中文
颂赞神的怜悯
²³ 他顾念我们在卑微的地步，因他的慈爱永远长存。 ²⁴ 并救拔我们脱离仇敌，因他的慈爱永远长存。 ²⁵ 他赐粮食给凡有血气的，因他的慈爱永远长存。 ²⁶ 你们要称谢天上的神，因他的慈爱永远长存。
在此颂赞神永远的慈悯，1. 在救赎他的教会一事上（诗 136:23,24）。犹太教会多次脱离压迫者之手——在为奴之年，他们的境况极其卑微之时，神记念他们，为他们兴起拯救者，就是那些士师；末了又兴起大卫，神藉他使他们脱离一切仇敌得享安息——尤其在那普世教会的伟大救赎上（这些不过其预表），我们大有理由说：「他『顾念我们』——世人——『在我们卑微的地步』，就是我们失丧的地步，『因他的慈爱永远长存』；他差遣他的儿子，救我们脱离罪、死、地狱，并我们一切属灵的仇敌，『因他的慈爱永远长存』；他差他来救赎我们，而不是救赎那些犯了罪的天使，『因他的慈爱永远长存』。」2. 在他为一切受造之物所作的供应上（诗 136:25）：「他赐粮食给凡有血气的。」神护理的怜悯在此显出一例——他在何处赐下生命，便在何处赐下与之相称、充足的食物；他是为这么大的家眷预备粮食的好管家。3. 在他一切的荣耀和一切他所赐的恩赐上（诗 136:26）：「你们要称谢天上的神。」这表明他是荣耀的神，他怜悯的荣耀当在我们的赞美中被留意。「他荣耀的丰富」彰显在「怜悯的器皿」上（罗 9:23）。这也表明他是大施恩者，因为「各样美善的恩赐」是从上头来的，从众光之父、从「天上的神」而来；我们当将每一条溪流追溯到它的源头。这个那个特殊的怜悯或许只延续片时，但神里面的怜悯「永远长存」；它是取之不尽的泉源。
영문 원문
Divine Mercy Celebrated
²³ Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²⁴ And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²⁵ Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²⁶ O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.
God's everlasting mercy is here celebrated, 1. In the redemption of his church, Ps 136:23,24. In the many redemptions wrought for the Jewish church out of the hands of their oppressors (when, in the years of their servitude, their estate was very low, God remembered them, and raised them up saviours, the judges, and David, at length, by whom God gave them rest from all their enemies), but especially in the great redemption of the universal church, of which these were types, we have a great deal of reason to say, "He remembered us, the children of men, in our low estate, in our lost estate, for his mercy endureth for ever; he sent his Son to redeem us from sin, and death, and hell, and all our spiritual enemies, for his mercy endureth for ever; he was sent to redeem us, and not the angels that sinned, for his mercy endureth for ever." 2. In the provision he makes for all the creatures (Ps 136:25): He gives food to all flesh. It is an instance of the mercy of God's providence that wherever he has given life he gives food agreeable and sufficient; and he is a good housekeeper that provides for so large a family. 3. In all his glories, and all his gifts (Ps 136:26): Give thanks to the God of heaven. This denotes him to be a glorious God, and the glory of his mercy is to be taken notice of in our praises. The riches of his glory are displayed in the vessels of his mercy, Ro 9:23. It also denotes him to be the great benefactor, for every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights, the God of heaven; and we should trace every stream to the fountain. This and that particular mercy may perhaps endure but a while, but the mercy that is in God endures for ever; it is an inexhaustible fountain.
本诗的主旨与诗135:1-21相同,但其结构颇为独特:每节的后半句都是同一句话,贯穿全诗反复出现——「因他的慈爱永远长存」,却并非虚妄的重复。一般承认,这种副歌,即我们所谓的「叠句」,极为增添诗歌的美感,使之动人感人;也没有哪一句比这句更含重大的意义、更配如此反复——即神的慈爱永远长存。此处二十六次的反复暗示:1. 神对他百姓的诸般怜悯也是这样反复赐下,犹如以连续不断的延长记号,从始至终,层层递进,直至无穷;2. 在每一特殊的恩惠上,我们都当留意神的怜悯,并当看其为仍然长存——现今与已往一样,并且永远长存——永远与现今一样;3. 神怜悯之永不止息,极大是他的荣耀,也是他所夸口的;极大是圣徒的安慰,也是他们所夸口的。故此我们的心当被此充满、受感,以致对此最频繁的提及非但不令我们生厌,反而更叫我们振奋,因为这必是我们永世的赞美主题。这一句最卓越的话——神的慈爱永远长存——不仅借这里的反复,更借神悦纳人如此歌唱所赐的显著凭据,被高举于一切论及神的真理之上:在所罗门时代(代下5:13,当他们唱「因他的慈爱永远长存」这话时,殿就被云充满),并在约沙法时代(当他们唱这话时,神使他们得胜,代下20:21,22);这些当使我们喜爱歌唱:「他的怜悯确仍长存,直存到永远。」我们必须赞美神:一、因他本为大为善(诗136:1-3);二、因他是世界的创造者(诗136:5-9);三、因他是以色列的神与救主(诗136:10-22);四、因他是我们的救赎主(诗136:23,24);五、因他是全受造之物的大恩主,是超乎万有、永远可称颂的神(诗136:25,26)。