The Meaning of Psalms 136:1 Explained

Psalms 136:1

KJV: O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

YLT: Give ye thanks to Jehovah, For good, for to the age is His kindness.

Darby: Give ye thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; for his loving-kindness endureth for ever:

ASV: Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

O give thanks  unto the LORD;  for [he is] good:  for his mercy  [endureth] for ever. 

What does Psalms 136:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 136:1-12 - A Review Of God's Mercies
An antiphonal psalm, intended to be sung by two choirs or by a soloist and the Temple choir. This avowal of the eternity of God's mercy, amid all the fluctuation and change of human affairs, is very striking. When we can look out on the history of our world from God's standpoint, we discover that the black-edged pages have been interleaved with golden pages of mercy. When we review our own lives from the vantage ground of heaven, we shall see that the mercy of God was the blue sky of background across which the dark clouds floated for but a limited space.
The divisions are as follows: Creation, Psalms 136:1-9; Redemption, Psalms 136:10-22; Providence, Psalms 136:23-26. In the first division the psalmist views the framework of the world and the redemption of Israel from Egypt as equal monuments of the divine loving-kindness. It was love that made the theater on which the great revelation of redemption was manifested. The crimson lips of a tulip's petals are His work as well as the crimson blood that flowed at Calvary. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 136

1  An exhortation to give thanks to God for particular mercies

What do the individual words in Psalms 136:1 mean?

Oh give thanks to Yahweh for [He is] good for ever His mercy [endures]
הוֹד֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה כִּי־ ט֑וֹב כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽוֹ

הוֹד֣וּ  Oh  give  thanks 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָדָה 
Sense: to throw, shoot, cast.
לַיהוָ֣ה  to  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
ט֑וֹב  [He  is]  good 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
לְעוֹלָ֣ם  ever 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
חַסְדּֽוֹ  His  mercy  [endures] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חֶסֶד 
Sense: goodness, kindness, faithfulness.