BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 135 — Praise the LORD Who Does Whatever He Pleases
A temple liturgy calling Israel, Aaron, and Levi to praise the sovereign LORD, recounting his choice of Jacob, his victory over Egypt and Canaan, and the impotence of idols.
Scripture
1Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye the name of Jehovah; Praise him, O ye servants of Jehovah,
2Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah, In the courts of the house of our God.
3Praise ye Jehovah; For Jehovah is good: Sing praises unto his name; For it is pleasant.
4For Jehovah hath chosen Jacob unto himself, And Israel for his own possession.
5For I know that Jehovah is great, And that our Lord is above all gods.
6Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that hath he done, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps;
7Who causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who maketh lightnings for the rain; Who bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries;
8Who smote the first-born of Egypt, Both of man and beast;
9Who sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, Upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants;
10Who smote many 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 a heritage, A heritage unto Israel his people.
13Thy name, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Thy memorial name, O Jehovah, throughout all generations.
14For Jehovah will judge his people, And repent himself concerning his servants.
15The idols of the nations 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 shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them.
19O house of Israel, bless ye Jehovah: O house of Aaron, bless ye Jehovah:
20O house of Levi, bless ye Jehovah: Ye that fear Jehovah, bless ye Jehovah.
21Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion, Who dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye Jehovah.
What this passage means
The psalm opens with a threefold call to praise (vv. 1–3), addressing those who stand in the house of the LORD and the courts of the God of Israel. Praise is grounded in two reasons stated explicitly in v. 3: the LORD is good, and his name is pleasant — that is, fitting and beautiful to celebrate. The imperative הַֽלְלוּ (H1984, 'praise') is repeated, and the shortened sacred name יָהּ (H3050, 'Jah') appears alongside the fuller יְהוָה (H3068, 'LORD'), concentrating devotion on the personal name of God.
Verses 4–14 give the content of the praise: God chose Jacob/Israel for his own possession (v. 4), surpassing all gods (v. 5), and freely doing whatever pleases him in heaven, earth, seas, and deeps (v. 6). Weather (v. 7), the plagues on Egypt (vv. 8–9), and the defeat of Sihon, Og, and the Canaanite kingdoms (vv. 10–12) are listed as concrete acts of that sovereign will. The section closes in vv. 13–14 with confession that the name of the LORD endures for ever and that he will judge his people and have compassion on his servants.
Verses 15–18 satirize the nations' idols — silver and gold, the work of human hands — which have mouths, eyes, and ears but cannot speak, see, or hear (vv. 15–17). The polemic peaks in v. 18: those who make them and trust them become like them. The psalm ends (vv. 19–21) with a fourfold liturgical call — house of Israel, house of Aaron, house of Levi, and those who fear the LORD — followed by a benediction from Zion and final praise (הַ֥לְלוּ).
Context
The provided curated note identifies Psalm 135 as a backfilled chapter from Psalms outside the primary tiers, so no extended commentary is included here beyond the chapter itself. The psalm itself supplies its own context: it presupposes a liturgical gathering in the Jerusalem temple, since it names the house of the LORD and its courts (v. 2), and it closes with a benediction from Zion (v. 21). The historical allusions — the plagues on Egypt (vv. 8–9) and the defeat of Sihon, Og, and the kings of Canaan (vv. 11–12) — match the narratives of the exodus and conquest, which the psalm uses as evidence of the LORD's unrestrained freedom to act.
Key words in the original
- H1984 The verb הָלַל (H1984, 'praise') opens the psalm in verse 1 with the imperative plural הַ֥לְלוּ and recurs as a refrain at verses 1, 3, 19, and 21. Its range includes 'boast,' 'celebrate,' and, by extension, the sense of foolish or raving speech — which makes its use for the praise of God pointed: human praise alone is inadequate noise, but when directed to the LORD it becomes legitimate celebration.
- H3050 The short sacred name יָהּ (H3050, 'Jah') appears in verses 1, 3, 4, and 19–21 alongside the fuller Tetragrammaton יְהוָה (H3068). The pairing concentrates devotion on the covenant name itself and is a hallmark of post-exilic praise psalms, marking the public invocation of the LORD's name in the temple liturgy.
- H5273 The adjective נָעִים (H5273, 'pleasant') in verse 3 gives the second ground for praise: the name of the LORD is 'pleasant' or fitting for song. The term denotes delight in both objective and subjective senses, so the verse simultaneously says that God's name is lovely in itself and delightful to those who sing it.
Related verses
- Psalms 115:3 Verse 6 of Psalm 135 — 'Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that hath he done' — is closely paralleled by Psalms 115:3, 'our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever he pleased.' Both texts assert that the LORD's freedom to act is unrestricted by any rival power, heaven or earth.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Psalm 135:14 — 'Jehovah will judge his people, and repent himself concerning his servants' — matches the wording of Deuteronomy 32:36 almost exactly. Both passages frame God's judging of Israel not as rejection but as the compassionate act of a sovereign who takes the side of his servants when their power is gone.
- Psalms 115:4 The idol polemic in Psalm 135:15 — 'The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands' — is taken almost verbatim from Psalms 115:4. Together with the matching conclusion in 115:8 ('they that make them shall be like unto them'), the two psalms form a paired confession of the impotence of idols and the exclusive sovereignty of the LORD.
Common questions
What is the structure of Psalm 135?
The psalm has three movements: a call to praise in the temple (vv. 1–3), a recital of the LORD's acts — choosing Jacob, controlling nature, judging Egypt and Canaan, and enduring forever (vv. 4–14) — and a polemic against idols (vv. 15–18) that flows into a fourfold liturgical call to bless the LORD and a benediction from Zion (vv. 19–21).
Why does Psalm 135 repeat the call to praise so often?
The repeated imperative הַֽלְלוּ (H1984, 'praise') at verses 1, 3, 19, and 21 functions as a liturgical refrain, drawing distinct groups — servants of the LORD, priests (house of Aaron), Levites, and those who fear the LORD — into a single act of worship. The repetition ensures that the praise is communal rather than individual.
How does Psalm 135 treat idols?
Verses 15–18 describe the nations' idols as silver and gold made by human hands, possessing mouths, eyes, and ears but unable to speak, see, or hear. Verse 18 draws the polemic's conclusion: those who make them and trust them become like them. The contrast sets the living, acting LORD over against mute, lifeless metal.