Path of the Word: Psalm 135 – A Meditative Reading.
Monsignor Joji Vadakara, Vatican City
Psalm 135 is a psalm that invokes thanksgiving in remembrance of God’s creation and the salvation history of Israel. The psalmist glorifies the uniqueness and supremacy of the God of Israel over other concepts of God. Similarly, there is a thought that even though the whole world belongs to God, God specifically chose Israel as His inheritance. This is a psalm written for those who serve in the church. We find almost all the verses of this psalm in other parts of Scripture.
Praise be to God
Psalm 135 begins and ends with a call to praise God. Verses one to three: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. The second verse of this psalm is the first verse of the one hundred and thirty-fourth verse that precedes it. Here is a call to praise God for those who serve in the church. It is a fact that Israel has experienced throughout its history that God is good and merciful.
Verses nineteen and twenty repeat the same idea: “Praise the Lord, O house of Israel; bless the Lord, O house of Aaron. Praise the Lord, O house of Levi; bless the Lord, you who fear the Lord.” The second psalmist writes in praise of the Lord as part of his emphasis on the need for the people of Israel and those in the temple to maintain a spirit of praise. The psalmist calls on Israel, Aaron, and the house of Levi to praise God by quoting more clear words and facts to the chosen people.
God the Creator and Savior
In verses five to fourteen of Psalm we find two main ideas. They have to do with creation and the history of Israel’s salvation. Verses five to seven describe the psalmist’s claim and authority over the God of Israel over the universe. “I know that the LORD is great, and that he is higher than all gods: and that he worketh what he will in heaven and earth, and in the depths of the earth, and in the depths of the earth. As we see in the preceding verses of the Psalms, the psalmist reminds us that the God of Israel is superior to other gods. He, the Creator of the universe, controls them according to His will.
Verses eight to fourteen quote some facts about Israel’s history, and the psalmist reminds the people of Israel that the Lord is their Savior. “He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt and his people. He sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh in the midst of Egypt. Your glory, O Lord, endures forever. The fact that the Lord of Israel is a God who protects them from dangers and powers and chooses them as His people and walks with them, especially invites Israel to be grateful to that God. In these verses we find a summary of the history of Israel, especially the book of Exodus, as the chosen people.
God of Glory and God of other nations
In verses fifteen to eighteen of the Psalms, the psalmist points out the emptiness of other nations’ conceptions of God before the Most High God of Israel. “The idols of the nations are gold and silver; they are the work of men, but they have mouths, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; and their mouths have no breath. In Psalm 115, the importance and unity of the Lord of Israel before other concepts of God and the evil of idolatry among other nations are discussed. Who would dare to compare the Lord God, the Lord and Creator of the universe, with the gods born of man’s imagination and created by man’s handiwork? Here again we find the same thoughts that are spoken against idolatry in various parts of Scripture. No Israelite who knows the God, Yahweh, who walks with him, protects him, and speaks through his prophets and elect, will turn to idolatry that exists among other nations.
Scripture testifies that God created man in His own image and likeness. But any work or idol that pervades human thought and art is no more important than the one who created it. Therefore, human beings, the creations of the true God, cannot worship a creature lower than themselves. For the chosen people of Israel, it is not right for the people of Israel to worship the gods of the nations who have defeated Yahweh.
The chosen people and Zion
In Psalm 4 and verse 21, the psalmist mentions the special choices of the people of Israel and Jerusalem. Verse 4 reads: “The Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his inheritance.”
In Psalm 21, the last verse of the psalm, the psalmist calls on the people of Israel to praise God, quoting the fact that the Lord God of Israel dwells in Jerusalem. “Blessed be the Lord in Zion, which dwelleth in Jerusalem.” Although Jerusalem was specially chosen by the Lord, His praise should rise throughout Zion through Zion.
Psalms and true praise to God
Although the psalmist exhorts those who serve in the temple of the Lord and those who stand in the house of God to worship the Lord, the Creator, Savior, and true God of the universe, we know that Psalm 135 is also a call to all men. We are God’s chosen people and children whom God loves and protects. May we never forget the blessings God has bestowed upon us throughout history and into our lives, and may we strive to remember him daily in our hearts and to worship him alone, the Almighty, the only God. May these psalmist thoughts cause the knowledge of the one true God, Yahweh, and his worship to spread from our hearts and tongues to all nations and nations, just as they did from Jerusalem to Zion and to the rest of the world. May the blessings of the Lord, who reigns in praise, always be with us in protection and presence.