Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

135. Psalm 135

¹ Praise the LORD. Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verses 3 and 21

   Praise the name of the LORD;
   praise him, you servants of the LORD,
² you who minister in the house of the LORD,
   in the courts of the house of our God.

    ³ Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
   sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
⁴ For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own,
   Israel to be his treasured possession.

    ⁵ I know that the LORD is great,
   that our Lord is greater than all gods.
⁶ The LORD does whatever pleases him,
   in the heavens and on the earth,
   in the seas and all their depths.
⁷ He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
   he sends lightning with the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

    ⁸ He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
   the firstborn of people and animals.
⁹ He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
   against Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He struck down many nations
   and killed mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
   Og king of Bashan,
   and all the kings of Canaan—
¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance,
   an inheritance to his people Israel.

    ¹³ Your name, LORD, endures forever,
   your renown, LORD, through all generations.
¹⁴ For the LORD will vindicate his people
   and have compassion on his servants.

    ¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   made by human hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
   eyes, but cannot see.
¹⁷ They have ears, but cannot hear,
   nor is there breath in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
   and so will all who trust in them.

    ¹⁹ All you Israelites, praise the LORD;
   house of Aaron, praise the LORD;
²⁰ house of Levi, praise the LORD;
   you who fear him, praise the LORD.
²¹ Praise be to the LORD from Zion,
   to him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD.

15. The images of the nations, etc. As the whole of this part of the Psalm has been explained elsewhere, it is needless to insist upon it, and repetition might be felt irksome by the reader. I shall only in a few words, therefore, show what is the scope of the Psalmist. In upbraiding the stupidity of the heathen, who thought that they could not have God near them in any other way than by resorting to idol worship, he reminds the Israelites of the signal mercy which they had enjoyed, and would have them abide the more deliberately by the simplicity and purity of God’s worship, and avoid profane superstitions. He declares, that idolaters only draw down heavier judgments upon themselves, the more zealous they are in the service of their idols. And there is no doubt, that, in denouncing the awful judgments which must fall upon the worshippers of false gods, it is his object to deter such as had been brought up under the word of God from following their example. In Psalm 115 the exhortation given is to trust or hope in the Lord; here, to bless him. The Levites are mentioned in addition to the house of Aaron, there being two orders of priesthood. Every thing else in the two Psalms is the same, except that, in the last verse:, the Psalmist here joins himself, along with the rest of the Lord’s people, in blessing God. He says, out of Zion, for when God promised to hear their prayers from that place, and to communicate from it the rich display of his favor, he thereby gave good ground why they should praise him from it. ¹⁶⁹¹⁶⁹ “Quant et quant aussi il donnoit occasion et matiere de luy chanter louanges.” — Fr. The reason is stated, that he dwelt in Jerusalem; which is not to be understood in the low and gross sense that he was confined to any such narrow residence; but in the sense, that he was there as to the visible manifestation of his favor, experience showing, that while his majesty is such as to fill heaven and earth, his power and grace were vouchsafed in a particular manner to his own people.