Psalm 135
21 verses · BSBPsalms book hub →
Speaks with:Psalms 115×4Psalms 136×3Psalms 7×2Psalms 147×2Jeremiah 10×2Psalms 78×2
Summary
Chapter summary
'Praise ye Jehovah… ye that stand in the house of Jehovah.' For Jehovah hath chosen Jacob unto himself; whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that hath he done, in heaven and in earth. He causeth vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he smote the first-born of Egypt, smote great nations (Sihon, Og, all the kingdoms of Canaan) and gave their land for a heritage unto Israel. 'Thy name, O Jehovah, endureth for ever.' The idols of the nations are silver and gold, mouths that speak not; they that make them shall be like them. 'O house of Israel, bless ye Jehovah.'
Context
Poetry · David, Asaph, Sons of Korah, others — Psalms overview
The world behind this chapter
Psalms 135The history
This psalm is stitched together out of lines that appear elsewhere — the call to the servants who stand in the house of the LORD, the mockery of idols, the defeat of Sihon and Og. Reusing known material was normal for temple liturgy; a congregation could join in without being taught anything new.
The weather section describes God's storehouses. Ancient people pictured the sky as holding reserves that were opened when needed, and the psalm's observation is a careful one: he makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind out of his storerooms. Anyone who had watched a storm come in off the Mediterranean knew lightning and rain arrived together.
The two kings named were the first real victories. Sihon ruled the Amorite territory east of the Jordan and Og ruled Bashan to its north, and Israel took both before crossing into Canaan. Those names were shorthand for the moment the wandering ended.
The idol description repeats an argument Israel used constantly: silver and gold, made by human hands, with a mouth that says nothing and eyes that see nothing. The prophets used the same lines, and so did the psalm sung after the Passover meal.
At the end four ranks are called to bless God — the house of Israel, the house of Aaron, the house of Levi, and those who fear the LORD. That is the nation, the priests, the temple staff, and the outsiders who had joined themselves to Israel's God.
What it meant to them
A congregation living in a small province under Persian rule was told that its God does whatever he pleases in heaven, on earth, and in every sea and deep — a much larger claim than their circumstances suggested.
The sting is at the center: those who make idols become like them, and so does everyone who trusts them. What you worship is what you turn into.
Sources cited
- Walton, Matthews and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament , Psalms
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Psalms 135. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.