Psalm 135
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 135[a]
Praise of God, Benefactor of His People
1 [b]Alleluia.
Praise the name of the Lord;
offer him praise, you servants of the Lord,[c]
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.[d]
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to honor his name, for he is gracious.[e]
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.[f]
5 [g]I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is superior to all gods.[h]
6 The Lord does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all their depths.[i]
7 He causes clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning[j] with the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
8 [k]He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,[l]
those of humans as well as of animals.
9 He sent signs and portents into your midst, O Egypt,[m]
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations
and slew mighty kings:
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.[n]
12 He then gave their lands as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.[o]
13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, lasts throughout the ages.[p]
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and show compassion to his servants.[q]
15 [r]The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see.
17 They have ears but they cannot hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them end up like them,
as do all who place their trust in them.
19 [s]O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed from Zion be the Lord,
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Alleluia.[t]
Footnotes
- Psalm 135:1 Composed of fragments taken from other psalms (Pss 113; 115; 134; 136), this hymn sings the praises of the true God. The psalmist acclaims the one who holds the whole universe in his hands; he glorifies the one who chose the people of Israel and guided them to their destiny from the liberation from Egypt up to their establishment in Canaan. The entire people—priests, Levites, faithful, and God-fearers (vv. 19-20)—is convoked to this praise, which celebrates the Creator of the world and the Redeemer of Israel. In the face of such solid faith, all mention of false gods becomes a caricature. Are our hymns to God true enough to cast scorn on all the new idols that we ceaselessly create for ourselves?
We can use this psalm to praise the heavenly Father for his wonders in favor of Israel (with whom we are spiritually united) and in favor of his Son Jesus, King of Israel. We can also use it to praise the Lord Jesus, Master of nature for the service of the new Israel, Savior of his Church, the only true God in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit. - Psalm 135:1 An exhortation to praise God, who is good and who has love for his own.
- Psalm 135:1 Taken from Ps 113:1; see Jud 4:14. The praise of God included a recitation of his wonders in creation (Ps 135:5-7) and in redemptive history (vv. 8-12). Servants of the Lord: although the identity of the “servants” is debated, the general consensus, based on the text itself, is that the word denotes the priests and Levites, who praised the Lord day and night (see 1 Chr 9:33; 23:26, 30).
- Psalm 135:2 Taken from Ps 134:1; see Ps 92:14.
- Psalm 135:3 Praise is due because the Lord himself is good and gracious (or beautiful; see Ps 27:4). The second part of the verse is close to Ps 147:1. He is gracious: another possible translation is: “it is pleasant.”
- Psalm 135:4 Although all the nations are the Lord’s, he has chosen Israel as his own in a special way. Treasured possession: this phrase is found in Ex 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; see also Ps 33:12.
- Psalm 135:5 The psalmist spells out the greatness of the Creator, who rules over all creation and is above all gods.
- Psalm 135:5 Our Lord is superior to all gods: taken from Ex 18:11; see Ps 95:3.
- Psalm 135:6 The Lord does whatever he pleases (see Ps 115:3) in his acts in heaven, on the earth, in the seas, and in the subterranean waters (all their depths).
- Psalm 135:7 The Lord’s greatness extends to the elements and powers of nature: lightning (see Ps 148:8), rain (see Ps 29), wind (see Ps 104:4), and the storehouses from which any of the elements could be brought forth (see Pss 33:7; 65:10f).
- Psalm 135:8 The psalmist indicates the greatness of the Lord’s redemption of Israel through the Exodus and the Conquest by using climactic strokes. Most of the phrases in these verses reappear in Ps 136:10, 18-22.
- Psalm 135:8 Struck . . . of Egypt: the tenth plague (see Pss 78:51; 105:36; Ex 12:29).
- Psalm 135:9 Into your midst, O Egypt: similar in form to Ps 116:19, this phrase recalls Ps 136:11 (see Ps 78:43).
- Psalm 135:11 Sihon . . . Og . . . and all the kings of Canaan: see Ps 136:19f; Num 21:21-26, 33-35; Deut 2:30-33; 3:1-6; Jos 12:2-24.
- Psalm 135:12 Recalls Ps 136:17-22.
- Psalm 135:13 Extract from Ex 3:15; see Ps 102:12; Isa 63:12. The name God revealed to Moses was to increase in significance as the Lord increased his activities in redemptive history.
- Psalm 135:14 Show compassion to his servants: taken from Deut 32:36.
- Psalm 135:15 The psalmist reproduces Ps 115:4-6, 8 almost exactly. His point is that idols, unlike the God of Israel, do not speak, reveal, promise, or utter any spoken word. Ultimately, divine revelation is the difference between the religions made by humans and the true religion of the Lord (see Ps 115:4-8; Deut 4:16; Isa 44:9ff; Jer 10:1ff; Bar 6:7ff).
- Psalm 135:19 Employing the language of Pss 115:9-11; 118:2-4 (with the addition of “O house of Levi”), the psalmist calls upon all to praise the Lord present in Zion.
- Psalm 135:21 Alleluia: i.e., “Hallelujah” or “Bless [or praise] the Lord”; some regard this line as belonging to the beginning of Ps 136.
