"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever."
Psalm 136:1-3, 26
Part 2
Yesterday:
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.”
Jehovah is the merciful God. Give Him thanks!
Today:
“O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth forever.”
Jehovah is the “God of gods.”[1] He is the supreme God. There is none other! We owe Him our thanks!
If it is possible that the “gods” of the heathen are real, then our God (Elohim) is infinitely higher, greater, more powerful, and wiser than all others.
“‘God of gods,’—the Most High God, the Supremely Powerful, who is far above all that is called God or worshipped as God.” [2]
“For I know that the LORD is great and that our Lord is above all gods” (Psalm 135:5).
“O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth forever.”
Jehovah is the “Lord of lords.”[3] He is the supreme Lord, there is none other! We owe Him our thanks!
“The Lord or Ruler of all in authority – all kings, princes, rulers. He is supreme over all” [4] (Barnes).
Being “Lord of lords” is an attribute of deity. This is the title of the Lord Jesus Christ, proving His deity.
“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16).
“O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever.”
Jehovah is the God of heaven! We owe Him our thanks!
Jehovah is “the God who reigns in heaven, whose home is heaven”[5] (Barnes).
This is Jonah’s God.
“And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9).
This title separates God from all the idols, from all the religions out there.
“Therefore the final call to praise, which rounds off the psalm by echoing its beginning, does not name Him by the Name which implied Israel’s special relation, but by that by which other peoples could and did address Him, ‘the God of heaven,’ from whom all good comes down on all the earth.” [6]
Dear Lord, I thank you for being higher than all others! I am safe in You!
[1] The psalmist borrowed these terms “God of gods” and “Lord of lords” from Moses. “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward” (Deuteronomy 10:17).
[2] The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] “Hebrew Adonim of the adonim.” See Bollinger.
[4] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] Barnes, ibid.
[6] Expositor’s Bible Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.