Deeper Commentary
Psa 135:1
Praise Yah! Praise the name of Yahweh! Praise
Him, you servants of Yahweh-
This opening verse is an invitation to the Levites or priests as
Yahweh's servants to begin the praise at a feast, used also in Ps. 113:1.
Psa 135:2
you who stand in the house of Yahweh, in the
courts of our God’s house-
This therefore could be a Davidic psalm reused later when the temple
was built. But the sanctuary could still be called God's house, and it had
courts. Perhaps :2 refers to the worshippers in the outer court, and :1 to
the priests and Levites.
Psa 135:3
Praise Yah, for Yahweh is good. Sing praises to
His name, for that is pleasant-
The grammar could imply that God's Name is "pleasant". Praise is to
be motivated by appreciating what we are praising. And the essence of
Yahweh is summarized in His Name.
Psa 135:4
For Yah has chosen Jacob for Himself; Israel
for His own possession-
An inheritance / possession was the most personal, intimate
possession a man could have. And for Yahweh, the God of infinite
possession, His wayward, tiny people were His "own possession". Yet they
would only be this if they were obedient and loyal to Him (Dt. 7:6 cp. Ex.
19:5). They weren't; but here we see the triumph of His absolute love and
the grace of imputed righteousness. For He counted them as "His own
possession" anyway. And it is that grace which is to be praised (:1,2).
Psa 135:5
For I know that Yahweh is great, that our Lord
is above all gods-
The invitation of :1 and :2 was for a mass of priests, Levites and
ordinary worshippers to praise God together, en masse. But that
praise was to be essentially personal; and so it should be or us today.
The reference to Yahweh's supremacy above all other gods was because this
Psalm was to be used when the exiles had been restored, and there was an
appeal to the Gentiles to repent and accept Israel's God.
Psa 135:6
Whatever Yahweh pleased, that He has done, in
heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps-
The reference to the seas is emphasized because they are
representative of the Gentile nations. This Psalm is an appeal to them to
repent; and to accept and perceive how God had worked His pleasure or will
amongst the nations in history. And that was according to the same word of
purpose which had created all things, towards the final outworking of His
saving purpose.
Psa 135:7
who causes the clouds to rise from the ends of
the land; who makes lightnings with the rain; who brings forth the wind
out of His treasuries-
God's causative power in the natural creation was just as much at
work in the path of the nations. "The ends of the eretz", the
land promised to Abraham, were specifically Assyria and Babylon, the
classical abusers of God's people. And His word could work amongst those
peoples just as much as it caused the clouds and winds from those areas to
come upon Israel. The Hebrew word for "clouds" is that elsewhere
translated "prince", "governor" or "ruler". God's activity in the natural
creation was to be seen in His work amongst people.
Psa 135:8
who struck the firstborn of Egypt, both of man
and animal-
This otherwise awful act was to be the object of Israel's praise,
just as the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea is to be praised
as an example of God's grace enduring for ever (Ps. 136:15). One take on
the situation is that God foreknew that if He had not killed those
Egyptians, they would have killed the Israelites.
Psa 135:9
who sent signs and wonders into the midst of
you, Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his servants-
We enquire why "Egypt" is addressed specifically, as if present.
Perhaps the idea is that this Psalm was to be used when the exiles had
been restored, and there was an appeal to the Gentiles to repent and
accept Israel's God. They were being asked to perceive the wonder of God's
hand in history and the rightness of His judgments upon them.
Psa 135:10
who struck many nations, and killed mighty
kings-
The nations in view are presumably those of Canaan (:11), alluding to
Dt. 7:1. Josh. 12:24 lists 31 nations / kings destroyed by Joshua.
Psa 135:11
Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan
and all the kingdoms of Canaan-
If this Psalm was used in the context of the exiles, the
encouragement was that no matter how strong the Samaritan opposition
appeared to be it would crumble easily. For no local peoples of the land
would stop God's purpose to give the land to His people.
Psa 135:12
and gave their land for a heritage, a heritage
to Israel, His people-
Israel were God's heritage (:4), and the land was their heritage. The
idea of giving a heritage suggests the inheritance first belonged to the
One who gave it. This would suggest God considered the land of Canaan as
personally His in a way the rest of the planet wasn't. And He in turn gave
it to Israel His people. Psalms 135 and 136 are clearly paired, and the
parallel here is in the invitation to praise God for His grace in giving
Israel the land as an inheritance (Ps. 136:21). It was by grace because
they weren't obedient to the covenant, they didn't act as God's children
and rejected Him for their idols; but still He gave them what was really
the inheritance for His loving children.
Psa 135:13
Your name, Yahweh, endures forever; Your
renown, Yahweh, throughout all generations-
God's Name is clearly not simply the lexical item "Yahweh". His Name
is His "renown", His reputation and character expressed throughout
history; and always characterized by His saving of His people by grace.
Psa 135:14
For Yahweh will judge His people, and be sorry
for His servants-
We note the parallel between God's judgment of His people, and His
saving pity for them. There is no need to fear judgment day; David in the
Psalms often looks forward to it rather than fears it. Judgment day will
be the articulation of God's Name or character (:13); which is dominated
by His saving pity for people. This verse is read by some as meaning
that God will firstly judge His people with punishment, and then be sorry
for them. But that is to miss the parallelism in the Hebrew poetry here.
His judging is His "being sorry for His people".
Psa 135:15
The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands-
The idea is that the Canaanite nations were destroyed because of
their idolatry. But Ezekiel records that Israel left Egypt with the idols
of Egypt; and we know they carried the tabernacle of their god Remphan as
well as that of Yahweh, all through the wilderness. This is why the
parallel Ps. 136 invites praise of Yahweh's grace for all these things. In
the context of the exiles, the idols of Babylon / Persia were indeed dumb.
And yet according to Ezekiel and the implications of the book of Esther,
idolatry was rife amongst the exiles. So this may have been also an appeal
to the exiles to see the idols for what they were, and to consider how
they had been historically defeated at the conquest of Canaan.
Psa 135:16
The implication is that Yahweh has all these faculties. This implies that Yahweh is a personal God, and we are made in His image physically, although not morally.
Psa 135:17
See on :16. This mockery of idolatry is similar of that addressed to the exiles in Is. 44:9-20; and the context is the same. The exiles are being recalled from idolatry. The implication is that the God of Israel doesn't just have a dead semblance of human form, but actually is real and living, in human form; for we are made in His image. His word is spoken through His throat (Ps. 115:7), and elsewhere He is presented as speaking through lips (Job 23:12). His word has true breath / Spirit.
Psa 135:18
This is an abiding principle. We become like that which we worship and trust in. The process of trusting Yahweh will make us like Him. The requirement for faith and worship is therefore for our benefit. The idols have been portrayed as only appearing human; effectively they are dead, with eyes etc. which don't function. And those who worship them become likewise- not really alive as intended, not sensing reality as they are intended. Those who worship vanities become vain (Jer. 2:5). This was exactly the message to the exiles (Is. 44:9).
Psa 135:19
House of Israel, praise Yahweh! House of Aaron, praise Yahweh!-
As explained on :20, the house of Aaron are paralleled with that of
all Israel. It could be that this Psalm looks ahead to the day of the new
covenant promised to the exiles, when there would be a new priesthood no
longer simply predicated upon descent from Aaron.
Psa 135:20
House of Levi, praise Yahweh! You who fear Yahweh, praise
Yahweh!-
As
it was God’s intention that Israel were to be a nation of priests to the
rest of the world, so the new Israel likewise are to
all discharge the priestly functions of teaching their brethren
(Ex. 19:6 cp. 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6; 5:9,10). Under the new covenant, we
should
all teach and admonish one another
(Col. 3:16). Indeed, God told Israel [unrecorded in the historical records]:
“Ye are gods [elohim] and all of you are sons of
the Most High” (Ps. 82:6 RV). Further, Ps. 96:9 makes the paradigm breaking
statement that even the Gentiles could come before Yahweh of Israel in holy,
priestly array- they too could aspire to the spirit of priesthood (Ps. 96:9
RVmg.). Moses spoke of how all Israel should pray that God would establish
the work of their hands (Ps. 90:17)- but this was in fact his special
request for the blessing of Levi, the priestly tribe (Dt. 33:11). Ps.
135:19,20 parallels all Israel with the priestly family: “Bless the Lord, O
house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron: bless the Lord, O house
of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord... praise
ye the
Lord”. All Israel were to aspire to the spirit of priesthood. Indeed, the
Psalms often parallel the house of Aaron (i.e. the priesthood) with the
whole nation (Ps. 115:9,10,12; 118:2,3).
Psa 135:21
Blessed be Yahweh from Zion, He who dwells at Jerusalem. Praise
Yah!-
The blessing of Yahweh coming out of Zion was what was possible in the
restored Kingdom of God; it would be associated with Yahweh Himself
dwelling in Zion (Ps. 128:5; 134:3; 135:21). This would be the time when
the temple vision of Ez. 40-48 was obeyed by the exiles, and the city
called Yahweh Shammah, "Yahweh is there". But at the time of the exiles'
return, it was precluded by their impenitence and refusal to build the
temple and city according to the commands of Ez. 40-48, and the fact the
majority refused to participate in the program and remained in Persia /
Babylon.
Previous Chapter
