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Psalm 135 English Standard Version (ESV)

Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
  give praise, O servants of the Lord,
2 who 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 to his name, for it is pleasant!
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
  Israel as his own possession.

5 For I know that the Lord is great,
  and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
  in heaven and on earth,
  in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
  who makes lightnings for the rain
  and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
  both of man and of beast;
9 who in your midst, O Egypt,
  sent signs and wonders
  against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 who struck down many nations
  and killed mighty kings,
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
  and Og, king of Bashan,
  and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and gave their land as a heritage,
  a heritage to his people Israel.

13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
  your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
  and have compassion on his servants.

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
  the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
  they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
  nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
  so do all who trust in them.

19 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 be the Lord from Zion,
  he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!

Reflection

• The psalmist began by expressing his wonder that God should have chosen the Hebrew people to be his own. As the entire Old Testament testifies, this was a sovereign choice, not based on Israel’s merits. God, “who does whatever pleases him,” selected Israel simply because he wanted to.
• How good to know that God’s choice of you and me is also an expression of his free will. God loves us because he wants to, not because we deserve to be loved.
• God’s love counts. He, unlike the pagan’s idols, is able to act for us in the real world. No wonder Israel was moved to praise! God wrested Israel from slavery, struck down many nations, and gave his people their land as an inheritance.
• God demonstrates his sovereignty in nature and history. Truly there is no other God like Him.
• Can you think of a song to praise God’s sovereignty in nature and history – your history or that of another’s?