Psalm 135 explained: Praise for a God Who Acts

A call to praise (vv. 1-4)

The singer calls on the temple's priests and worshippers to praise the LORD because he is good and because praising him is a pleasure in itself. The deeper reason given is that God chose Israel, the people descended from Jacob, as his own treasured possession.

Greater than all gods (vv. 5-7)

The psalm claims the LORD outranks every god the nations worshipped and rules sky, land and sea, pointing to clouds, lightning and wind as signs of his control. Scholars differ on whether 'all gods' assumes other gods exist or is simply a way of saying none can compare.

Egypt and the conquest (vv. 8-12)

These verses recall the plagues on Egypt, ending with the death of every firstborn, and Israel's wars against kings like Sihon and Og on the way into Canaan. The psalm presents these deaths and the taking of the land plainly as God's acts on Israel's behalf, with the land given to them as an inheritance.

A name that lasts (vv. 13-14)

God's name and reputation are said to last through every generation. Verse 14 echoes an older song of Moses: God will stand up for his people and have pity on them when they are weak.

Idols that cannot answer (vv. 15-18)

Statues of the nations' gods are mocked as metal shapes with mouths, eyes and ears that do nothing. The warning is that people who make and trust such things become as empty as the objects themselves, and nearly the same lines appear in Psalm 115.

Everyone, praise the LORD (vv. 19-21)

The psalm ends by calling each group to praise: all Israel, the priests descended from Aaron, the wider temple tribe of Levi, and all who revere God. Zion is the hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood, pictured here as God's home among his people.

Key verse: Psalm 135:5

Something to think about

When you look at the things people rely on most, what would make something truly worth that kind of trust?