Psalm CXXXV
1 Praise ye the Lord! Praise ye the name of the Lord! Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.
2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our
God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name, for it
is pleasant.
4 For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar
treasure.
5 For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, In the seas, and all deep places.
7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He maketh the lightnings for the rain: he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
8 Who smote the first-born of Egypt, both of man and beast.
9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, Upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.
10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;
1 1 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, And all the kingdoms of Canaan:
12 And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.
13 Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever;
And thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning
his servants.
15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their
mouths.
18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trustetb
in them.
19 Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron:
20 Bless the Lord, 0 house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
21 Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.
We have been descending the river, finding its banks very varied, with sometimes shade, sometimes sunshine on its waters, yet all along the incessant murmur of praise. The river is now nearer its ocean, and hence the utterance of praise becomes louder, fuller, more distinct and direct than ever. In this Psalm and the next, we have two very lofty bursts of song, “Hallelujahs” from the lips of men on earth. The peculiar people, Israel, sing in the name of all God’s people; and no doubt the Lord Jesus, when on earth, took up the song as chief musician.
The first ground of praise is what the Lord is in himself “Praise ye Jah (H’’), Praise ye the name of Jehovah (H’ln’’), Praise ye, ye servants of JelvovahP (Ver. 1.) Ye who “stand” in the Lord’s house; that is, wait there to serve him, as Deut. x. 8; Judges xx. 28. Then verse 3 — “Praise ye Jah (n**), For good is Jehovah (JTin) / Hymn ye to his name, For it is pleasant (D^yj)” (Ver. 3.)
His name is “pleasant, it is D; it has in it Qyi, (Psa. xxvii. 4; Psa. xc. 17). It discovers to us the Lord’s well-pleasedness; it shews us the awful frown of the Judge changed into the sweet smile of favour. Israel sees it thus — Israel, to whom the altar and all its significant accompaniments belong.
The next ground of praise is the Lord’s sovereignty, (verses 4-6,) choosing a people, shewing himself above all gods, doing as pleaseth him; and it is sweet for Israel to say as they sing, that this Jehovah is theirs, as they are his HT^D, peculiar property, his valuable jewels.
“And our Lm’d is above all gods.” (Ver. 5.) Then they praise him for creation-works, (ver. 7). He does what he pleases.
“Bringing up vapours from the ends of earth;
Making lightnings for rain;
Bringing the loindfi’om his treasure-chambers.”
But chiefly is he praised for works of ‘providence and redemption, (ver. 8-12); smiting Egypt and great kings.* And all this contrasts so broadly with all other gods, that no name but Jehovah’s shall be exalted, no one shall be named along
* “In regard to Sihon and Og, he smote them.” The construction of verse 11 is peculiar, the verb yT having had the accusative before, now employs a preposition 7.
with him; his “memorial,” i. e., that by which he is known and remembered, shall be for ever singular and peculiar. See Exod. iii. 15.
^’ For Jehovah will act the part of a judge QT’) to his people,’’ i. e., defend their rights. (Gen. xxx. 6; Jer. xxii. 16.) And will repent (i. e., change his procedure) toward his servants;”
reminding us of Deut. xxxii. 26, the utterance of the Lord’s name in that song of Moses. But as for idols, they have a “mouth,” but speak not to give advice; “eyes,” but see not the circumstances, nor yet the gifts, of their devotees; “ears,” but hear neither their praise nor prayer; and as they have no “breath in their nostrils” they cannot inhale the sweet and fragrant incense offered to them. Their worshippers become equally helpless and vain. Oh, then, Israel, bless thou Jehovah! House of Israel, house of Aaron, house of Levi, fearers of Jehovah everywhere, bless ye Jehovah!
“From out of Zion let Jehovah he blessed {i.e., let the voice of praise
to him be heard from Zion),
(Jehovah) who dwells at Jerusalem.
Hallelujah /”
We may easily suppose Christ thus exhorting his own in the days of his flesh, using this very Psalm; aye, and at this closing verse, would he not feel peculiarly? for he was Jehovah, come to fulfil all types and shadows, being himself the Incarnate God inhabiting Jerusalem. And then he would look forward to the future, when his throne shall be as a canopy over Jerusalem, and when he shall in glory inhabit it as the city of the Great King, while out from Zion issues forth such praise as makes earth wonder — the joy of Jerusalem heard afar off. We, too, may sing it with such thoughts, joining Israel and Israel’s King. It suits all the redeemed, inasmuch as it is The peculiar people’s song of praise, as they adore the excellency of their sovereign God.
410 PSALM eXXXVI. — PRAISE TO JEHOVAH, WHOSE MERCY-