2
Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3
Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4
Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
My Thoughts
This passage emphasizes trust in God and His eternal mercy as foundational to understanding His love. It calls on all believers, including priests and Gentiles, to publicly acknowledge God’s goodness. As we reflect on our experiences of divine mercy, we are encouraged to express gratitude and faith, celebrating God’s enduring kindness and support for His people.
Compare with Psalm 115:9-11
Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear the Lord are told to trust in the Lord, for He is their help and their shield. Here, we see that His Mercy endures forever. Trust in the Lord and knowing that His mercy endures forever are two of the foundations on which we must come to recognize and realize His love for us through His mercy for us while we trust in Him…….Bill
A summary of Psalm 118 from the Enduring Word website:
Psalm 118 does not name an author in its title, but there is reason to believe it was King David, the Sweet Psalmist of Israel. Ezra 3:10-11 suggests that Psalm 118 was sung at the founding of the second temple, and when they sang it, they attributed it to David (“according to the ordinance of David king of Israel,” Ezra 3:10). (David Guzik)
“Most probably David was the author of this psalm…. It partakes of David’s spirit, and everywhere shows the hand of a master. The style is grand and noble; the subject, majestic.” (Adam Clarke)
Though this was likely David’s psalm, it was also Jesus’ psalm. “This is pre-eminently the triumph song of the Christ, He the ideal Servant, He the perfect Priest, He the Leader of the people. How much all these words meant to Him as He sang them on that night in the upper room.” (G. Campbell Morgan)
Though this was likely David’s psalm, it was also Luther’s psalm. “This is my own beloved psalm. Although the entire Psalter and all of Holy Scripture are dear to me as my only comfort and source of life, I fell in love with this psalm especially. Therefore I call it my own. When emperors and kings, the wise and the learned, and even saints could not aid me, this psalm proved a friend and helped me out of many great troubles. As a result, it is dearer to me than all the wealth, honor, and power of the pope, the Turk, and the emperor. I would be most unwilling to trade this psalm for all of it.” (Martin Luther, cited by James Montgomery Boice)
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Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.” God had made a covenant with their forefathers, a covenant of mercy and love, and to that covenant he was faithful evermore. Israel sinned in Egypt, provoked the Lord in the wilderness, went astray again and again under the judges, and transgressed at all times; and yet the Lord continued to regard them as his people, to favor them with his oracles, and to forgive their sins. He speedily ceased from the chastisements which they so richly deserved, because he had a favor towards them. He put his rod away the moment they repented, because his heart was full of compassion. “His mercy endureth for ever” was Israel’s national hymn, which, as a people, they had been called upon to sing upon many former occasions; and now their leader, who had at last gained the place for which Jehovah had destined him, calls upon the whole nation to join with him in extolling, in this particular instance of the divine goodness, the eternal mercy of the Lord.
“Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.” The sons of Aaron were specially set apart to come nearest to God, and it was only because of his mercy that they were enabled to live in the presence of the thrice-holy Jehovah, who is a consuming fire. Every time the morning and evening lamb was sacrificed, the priests saw the continual mercy of the Lord, and in all the holy vessels of the sanctuary, and all its services from hour to hour, they had renewed witness of the goodness of the Most High. When the high priest went in unto the holy place and came forth accepted, he might, above all men, sing of the eternal mercy. If this Psalm refers to David, the priests had special reason for thankfulness on his coming to the throne, for Saul had made a great slaughter among them, and had at various times interfered with their sacred office. A man had now come to the throne who, for their Master’s sake, would esteem them, give them their dues, and preserve them safe from all harm. Our Lord Jesus, having made all his people priests unto God, may well call upon them in that capacity to magnify the everlasting mercy of the Most High. Can any one of the royal priesthood be silent?
“Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.” If there were any throughout the world who did not belong to Israel after the flesh, but nevertheless had a holy fear and lowly reverence of God, the Psalmist calls upon them to unite with him in his thanksgiving, and to do it especially on the occasion of his exaltation to the throne; and this is no more than they would cheerfully agree to do, since every good man in the world is benefited when a true servant of God is placed in a position of honor and influence. The prosperity of Israel through the reign of David was a blessing to all who feared Jehovah. A truly God-fearing man will have his eye much upon God’s mercy, because he is deeply conscious of his need of it, and because that attribute excites in him a deep feeling of reverential awe. “There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.”
In the three exhortations, to Israel, to the house of Aaron, and to them that fear the Lord, there is a repetition of the exhortation to say, “that his mercy endureth for ever.” We are not only to believe, but to declare the goodness of God; truth is not to be hushed up, but proclaimed. God would have his people act as witnesses, and not stand silent in the day when his honor is impugned. Especially, it is our joy to speak out to the honor and glory of God when we think of, in the exaltation of his dear Son. We should shout “Hosannah,” and sing loud “Hallelujahs” when we behold the stone which the builders rejected lifted into its proper place.
In each of the three exhortations, notice carefully the word “now.” There is no time like time present for telling out the praises of God. The present exaltation of the Son of David now demands from all who are the subjects of his kingdom continual songs of thanksgiving to him who hath set him on high in the midst of Zion. Now, with us should mean always. When would it be right to cease from praising God, whose mercy never ceases?
The fourfold testimonies to the everlasting mercy of God which are now before us speak like four evangelists, each one declaring the very pith and marrow of the gospel; and they stand like four angels at the four corners of the earth holding the winds in their hands, restraining the plagues of the latter days that the mercy and long-suffering of God may endure towards the sons of men. Here are four cords to bind the sacrifice to the four horns of the altar, and four trumpets with which to proclaim the year of jubilee to every quarter of the world. Let not the reader pass on to the consideration of the rest of the Psalm until he has with all his might lifted up both heart and voice to praise the Lord, “for his mercy endureth for ever.”
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Enduring Word
Let Israel now say: The psalmist invited the people of Israel, the priests of the house of Aaron, and even Gentiles who honored God (those who fear the LORD) to join in the emphatic chorus, His mercy endures forever. (Guzik)
i. “Three classes are called on: the whole house of Israel, the priests, and ‘those who fear Jehovah’ – i.e., aliens who have taken refuge beneath the wings of Israel’s God” (Maclaren). This suggests that the song was written with distinct parts meant for different groups in the congregation.
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Albert Barnes
Let them now that fear the Lord say … – Compare Psalms 115:11. All that worship God are interested in what God has done for me. It is a manifestation of the divine character which should cheer them. They are called, therefore, to unite with the author of the psalm in praise and thanksgiving, not merely from sympathy with him, but because great truths of religion had been illustrated, in his case, which were of as much importance to them as to him.
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John Gill
Let Israel now say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. Let such who have had an experience of it acknowledge and declare it to others; not only believe in it with their hearts, and privately give thanks for it, but with the mouth make confession of it to the glory of divine grace; not only literal Israel, whom the Lord brought out of Egypt, led and fed in the wilderness, and settled in the land of Canaan; and to whom the law and the services of God, the covenants and promises, word and ordinances, belonged; and who now were so happy under the government of such a king as David; but also the spiritual Israel of God, the whole Israel of God, Jews and Gentiles, under the Gospel dispensation; the Israel whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and the Spirit effectually calls and sanctifies; such who are Israelites indeed, who have been encouraged to hope in the Lord, and in his mercy, and are made partakers of it; these should speak of the grace and mercy of God, and the continuance of it, for the encouragement of others.
Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. The priests and Levites that blessed the people, and taught them the knowledge of divine things; but not these literally, at least not only these, since the priesthood of Aaron is changed, and the law of it abrogated, and all believers are now priests unto God, and offer up spiritual sacrifices to him; and particularly the sacrifice of praise for his grace and mercy, the perpetuity of which they should publish and proclaim all abroad.
Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. Not the proselytes to the Jewish religion only, but all that feared the Lord among all people, as Aben Ezra observes; such as fear the Lord and his goodness, and have had an experience of his grace and mercy, which has caused them to fear him; and to whom the mercy of God is great, and on whom it is from everlasting to everlasting; and therefore should speak well of it, and set their seal to it, that it abides for ever; see Psalm 103:11.
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Matthew Henry
Israel, and the house of Aaron, and all that fear God, were called upon to trust in God (Ps. 115:9-11); here they are called upon to confess that his mercy endures for ever, and so to encourage themselves to trust in him, v. 2-4. Priests and people, Jews and proselytes, must all own God’s goodness, and all join in the same thankful song; if they can say no more, let them say this for him, that his mercy endures for ever, that they have had experience of it all their days, and confide in it for good things that shall last for ever. The praises and thanksgivings of all that truly fear the Lord shall be as pleasing to him as those of the house of Israel or the house of Aaron.
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The Pulpit Commentaries
Personal experience of Divine mercies.
“Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever.” The term “fear the Lord” suggests personal apprehensions of God, personal dealings with God, and personal relations with him. It is inconceivable that there can have been these close personal associations with God without their having left a deep impression of the abundance, adaptation, and continuance of the Divine mercy. No man can look over his life, and trace God’s manner of dealing with him, without being disposed to say, “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses;” “Also unto thee belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his works.” What impressions of the Divine mercies come to us out of our personal experience?
I. THE MERCY OF GOD HAS TAKEN SHAPE AS A DIVINE PATIENCE. That may well be put first, for when the heart is tender, it is that comes to us most affectingly. When anything like a fitting sense of our own willfulness and waywardness comes upon our hearts, it is the marvel, over which we never tire of brooding, that God has been so patient with us. Never offended with us, as our fellow-men have easily been; never “dealing with us after our sins, nor rewarding us according to our iniquities.” It is not only that he has quietly waited, it is that he has so gently borne with us. Divine patience is never to be thought of as a mere sitting down and waiting. It is best suggested by a mother’s ways with a sickly babe, or the doctor’s ways with an irritable, fractious patient. There be many to whom God’s mercy always appears as his patience and long-suffering, and they praise him for that.
II. THE MERCY OF GOD HAS TAKEN SHAPE AS A DIVINE DISCIPLINE. This is the thought that comes to us as life advances, and the events of the past gain their true perspective. At the time, things seemed to be afflictions, calamity, needless strain, and we fretted ourselves weary in trying to find why such hard things were put into our lot. Distance from them increases, and we find they look quite different. Things are related which we thought had nothing to do with each other. We see how our cultured power came out of our stern experiences, and then we see that God’s mercy is the way in which he has made the hard things of life train and discipline characters meet for the heavenly spheres.—R.T.
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Cross-References
Psalm 115:9–11 (KJV)
9 O Israel, trust thou in the Lord:
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord:
He is their help and their shield.
11 Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord:
He is their help and their shield.
Psalm 106:1 (KJV)
1 Praise ye the Lord.
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:
For his mercy endureth for ever.
Ezra 3:11 (KJV)
11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Jeremiah 33:11 (KJV)
11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord.
Galatians 6:16 (KJV)
16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 118: 2-4
2 Let Israél now saie, That his mercie endureth for ever.
3 Let the house of Aarón now saie, That his mercie endureth for ever.
4 Let them, that fear the Lord, now saie, That his mercie endureth for ever.
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Closing Thoughts
Psalm 118:2-4
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
2 Let Israel now say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron [the priesthood] now say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
4 Let those now who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
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