Psalms 136:7
in Psalms 136He made the great lights— His loving devotion endures forever.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To him that made great lights; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
KJV
To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
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This verse in Psalms 136
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWho made the great lights. According to the letter he speaks of the stars. Although we behold them as small, yet they are great. For just as with us, if we climb a high mountain, and see a man in the valley below, he seems to us as if something small: so also the stars are great, but from their height they seem small to us. For the star that is seen in Britain appears everywhere as well. But he says this to those to whom he said: "You are the light of the world."
This site's exposition
He alone does great wonders
on Psalms 136:4-9
The recital starts at creation, the heavens made by His insight and the earth spread out upon the waters. The sun and moon are given dominion, memshalah, the same noun Genesis 1:16 uses of the day and the night. Henry reads the wonders as God's work with no helper.
This site's exposition
He made the great lights
The line recalls Genesis 1:16, where God made two great lights on the fourth day. Light itself had come on the first day, in Genesis 1:3. Verses 8 and 9 give each light its hours.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
To him that made great lights,.... For the inhabitants of the world to walk and work by, to do all the business of life in a comfortable manner; and which is an instance of mercy and goodness; see Gen 1:14; for his mercy endureth for ever; these lights continuing for the benefit of mankind.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Great lights - See the notes on the parallel passages in Gen 1:1, etc.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To him that made great lights - Gen 1:14. The sun and the moon are here particularly referred to. For his mercy ... - As manifested in all that has followed from the creation and diffusion of light - (all the beauty in the universe as seen; all the life, beauty, and vigor in the vegetable and animal world; all that there is of life and happiness in the universe - for there could be neither if darkness reigned everywhere); light, the emblem of happiness; the source of joy; the producer, in a great measure, of the beauties of the universe, and the revealer of those beauties everywhere. How can a man think of light and not praise its Author?
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְ֭עֹשֵׂה | leoseh | to [one who] made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אוֹרִ֣ים | ʾorim | <of> [the] lights | H216 → | 121 times |
| גְּדֹלִ֑ים | gedolim | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֣ם | leolam | [is] for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| חַסְדּֽוֹ׃ | chasdo | covenant loyalty his | H2617 → | 247 times |
לְ֭עֹשֵׂהto [one who] made
leosehH6213 →2628 times
אוֹרִ֣ים<of> [the] lights
ʾorimH216 →121 times
גְּדֹלִ֑יםgreat
gedolimH1419 →526 times
כִּ֖יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לְעוֹלָ֣ם[is] for ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃covenant loyalty his
chasdoH2617 →247 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 4:19When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to…
it leads to
- Romans 1:25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
- Deuteronomy 17:3
and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
- 2 Kings 21:3
For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped…
- Genesis 1:16–18
God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
- 2 Kings 17:16
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served…
- Romans 1:25
Through
Psalms 104:19He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:35
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the…
- Genesis 1:14–18
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
- Psalms 136:7–9
He made the great lights— His loving devotion endures forever.
- Jeremiah 31:35
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 136; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 47, on Psalm 135; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.