Psalm 135
Exhortations to praise the Lord are reiterated. Motives
to this exercise are boundless, and are piously set forth.
1-3. "Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord;
praise Him, O you servants of the Lord, you who stand in the house of the
Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord; for the Lord
is good; sing praises to His name; for it is pleasant."
Fervor never should relax in awakening others to give
praise. Every faculty should burn in efforts to promote this duty. Let
ministering servants lead the van and wave the standard. It is most true
that no praises can adequately extol God's goodness. Think of His mercies
and overflowing love. The infinitude of His love is shown in the gift of His
dear Son to accomplish salvation, to endure our curse, to bring us safely to
the heaven of heavens, to present us faultless before the presence of His
glory. Can we reflect on such grace and not exclaim, The Lord is good! This
exercise of praise fills the soul with exquisite delight. It is the joy of
joys. It is the foretaste of heaven. Let us then call upon all that is
within us and around us to bless His holy name.
4. "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, and
Israel for His peculiar treasure."
No height of praise can measure the wondrous grace of God
in setting His love on sinful sons of men. Everything in them is calculated
to excite alienation. Justice, holiness, and truth seem terribly to frown.
Still He loves. The gift of Jesus for them is the main evidence. In this
love He regards them as His peculiar treasure. He honors them as the riches
of His kingdom, as the brightest jewels in His crown.
5-6. "For I know that the Lord is great, and that our
Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleased, that He did in heaven,
and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places."
We cannot too often ponder the almightiness of God. Every
view awakens admiration. The gods of the heathen are vanity, and less than
dust and chaff. His will is power in the highest. His decrees prevail in
every part of His dominions, in all the earth, in all above it, in all
beneath it. His power rules unlimited and supreme.
7. "He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of
the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His
treasuries."
The wild elements seem to unenlightened observation to
act capriciously and without control. But His power holds them fast bound in
His hands. No vapors arise, no lightning flashes, no rain descends, no wind
blows furiously, but in accordance with His sovereign will. Let us bless God
for His unbounded rule.
8-9. "Who smote the first-born of Egypt, both of man
and beast. Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon
Pharaoh, and upon all his servants."
Memory should review the manifestations of His power,
when with mighty arm He rescued His people from the iron furnace of Egypt.
Then wailing filled every house, for the first-born was stretched among the
dead. Then terrible plagues swept the whole land with the broom of
destruction. O God, who will not reverence Your glorious power!
10-12. "Who smote great nations, and slew mighty
kings; Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the
kingdoms of Canaan; and gave their land for an heritage, an heritage to
Israel His people."
He who rescued His children from Egypt left them not in
the perils of the wilderness. Many foes confronted them, but their heavenly
Lord raised them above all perils. Mighty potentates with powerful armies
opposed their progress, but resistance opposed in vain. The victorious host
marched in triumph into the promised land. But they entered not without a
struggle. The kings of Canaan mustered all their forces to repel the
invaders. But they vanished as the chaff of the summer threshing floor. The
whole land fell prostrate before their feet.
In this sustaining and enabling help, we have a precious
picture of God's unfailing care of His people. He who begins a good work in
them performs it to the end. They are kept by the power of God through faith
to eternal life. He never leaves them nor forsakes them until they sit as
conquerors on their thrones of glory. Let us bless God for His converting
grace. Let us bless Him not less for His guardian arm and for His
ever-watchful aid.
13-14. "Your name, O Lord, endures forever; your fame,
O Lord, is known to every generation. For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants."
From everlasting to everlasting the name of the Lord
shall be magnified. His wondrous works shall be the theme of never-ending
praise. He will never fail to vindicate His people. If for a little season
He may seem to be regardless of their trials, the purpose is to strengthen
their grace. In due time it shall be apparent that His love failed not.
15-18. "The idols of the heathen are silver and gold,
the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have
they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there
any breath in their mouths. Those who make them are like them; so is every
one that trusts in them."
The infatuation of those who form material images and
call them gods is astonishing. Alas! multitudes as senseless as these idols
still throng the benighted regions of this earth. Shall we remit our efforts
to send to them the knowledge of the true and only God, and Jesus Christ
whom He has sent?
19-21. "Bless the Lord, O house of Israel; bless the
Lord, O house of Aaron; bless the Lord, O house of Levi; you who fear the
Lord, bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, who dwells at
Jerusalem. Praise the Lord."
Blessings should ever sound from the lips of the
ministers of His truth. His faithful servants should re-echo His praise. Who
should bless Him more than ourselves? Let us loudly shout and never end our
grateful hallelujahs.