Bible · Psalms

Psalms 135

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1Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.2Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God,3Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.4For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.5For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.6Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.7He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.8Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.9Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.10Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;11Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:12And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.13Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.14For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.15The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.16They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;17They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.18They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.19Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron:20Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.21Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.

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Notes for this chapter

Historical Background

Psalm 135 stands as one of the great hymns of praise in the Psalter, and its placement among the “Hallel” psalms surrounding the Passover liturgy is no accident. Scholars believe it was likely composed for use in temple worship, possibly in the post-exilic period when Israel had returned from Babylon and was rediscovering its identity as a covenant people. The psalm draws extensively from other portions of Scripture, echoing language from Psalms 115, 136, Deuteronomy, and Exodus, which gives it the character of a carefully woven liturgical confession. Matthew Henry describes it as a psalm that calls the whole congregation to remembrance of who God is and what He has done, with the explicit purpose of stirring fresh worship from a people who might otherwise grow cold in their devotion.

The opening summons in verses one through three is directed particularly at the priests and Levites who stood in the courts of the temple, those whose very vocation was praise, and yet who needed this reminder as much as any Israelite. The Hebrew word translated “pleasant” in verse three carries the sense of something beautiful and fitting, suggesting that praise is not merely a duty but something that is genuinely appropriate and lovely when offered to God.

Verses four through seven ground the call to praise in two pillars: Israel's election and God's sovereignty over all creation. The declaration that the Lord has chosen Jacob for His “peculiar treasure” uses the Hebrew word segullah, which appears in as well and carries the meaning of a personal, prized possession, something a king might keep in his private treasury rather than in the public storerooms. This is covenant language of the most intimate kind. Adam Clarke notes that this word implies not merely a possession but a cherished one, something kept close and regarded with special affection.

The psalmist then immediately pivots to assert that this same God who tenderly treasures Israel is also the God who does whatever He pleases in heaven and earth, in the seas and in all deep places. This is not the portrait of a local deity tied to a particular mountain or river, as the surrounding nations imagined their gods to be. The sovereignty described in verse six is comprehensive and unqualified. Verse seven adds a poetic and scientifically interesting dimension, describing God's governance of weather through the ascending of vapours, the forming of lightning, and the releasing of wind from His treasuries.

Barnes notes that this imagery of God's “treasuries” of wind is found also in Job and Jeremiah, reflecting the ancient Near Eastern understanding that God holds the forces of nature in reserve, releasing them according to His purposes.

Core Teaching

The historical memory stretches across verses eight through twelve in a dramatic recitation of what God accomplished for Israel during the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan. The smiting of Egypt's firstborn, the signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and then the defeat of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan are all listed as evidence that this God acts in real history on behalf of His people. Sihon and Og appear frequently in Israel's liturgical memory because their defeat east of the Jordan was the first great military victory of the conquest and demonstrated that no earthly power could resist the God of Israel. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown observe that the recitation of these victories was meant to renew faith in every generation, not as mere antiquarian interest but as a living argument that the God who delivered their ancestors was fully capable of delivering them still.

This is the theology of remembrance that runs through all of Israel's worship: because God has acted, He can be trusted to act again. Verse twelve ties the entire sequence together by noting that all of this history culminated in a land given as a heritage, an inheritance unearned and undeserved, flowing entirely from God's sovereign grace.

Commentary Insights

Verses thirteen and fourteen form the theological hinge of the psalm. The enduring name of God, His memorial throughout all generations, is the guarantee that Israel's story is not finished. The statement that “the Lord will judge his people” is not a threat but a comfort in this context, as the parallel phrase confirms: He will “repent himself concerning his servants,” meaning He will have compassion and relent from affliction. Ellen White writes in Patriarchs and Prophets that the history of Israel was never intended to be a closed chapter but a continuous demonstration of God's character to a watching universe.

The fact that God's name endures and His memory is kept alive through each generation is itself part of the great controversy between good and evil, demonstrating across time that God is faithful, that He does not abandon those He has chosen, and that His commitment to His people outlasts every trial.

Reflection & Application

The section on idols in verses fifteen through eighteen is one of the sharpest and most pointed polemics in all of Scripture against the worship of images, closely paralleling Psalm 115. The idols of the nations are made of silver and gold, materials of great value, and yet they are entirely impotent. They cannot speak, see, hear, or breathe. The final verse of this section delivers what commentators across the centuries have recognized as a devastating spiritual observation: those who make and trust in these idols become like them. Adam Clarke reflects that there is a deep spiritual law at work here, that human beings are shaped by what they worship.

Go deeper — references Classic commentaries on this chapter

Matthew Henry's Commentary Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Adam Clarke's Commentary Adam Clarke (1760–1832) Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871) Barnes' Notes on the Bible Albert Barnes (1798–1870) EGW Writings Ellen G. White Blue Letter Bible Study tools and lexicon

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