Psalm 135:4

Psalm 135 is a hymn for the gathered people of God, most likely sung in the temple. After this opening call it sets out its reasons for praise at greater length. It celebrates the LORD’s greatness over all creation (Psalm 135:5–7) and his deliverance of Israel from Egypt and gift of the land of Canaan (Psalm 135:8–12). It sets the living God beside the idols of silver and gold, which cannot speak or see (Psalm 135:15–18), and it ends by calling the house of Israel, the house of Aaron and the house of Levi to bless the LORD out of Zion (Psalm 135:19–21).

The psalm stands just before Psalm 136, which is known as the Great Hallel, and it shares the spirit of the psalms called the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113–118), which were also sung in the gathered worship of Israel. It may come from the years after the exile, when Israel looked back on its beginnings to remember who it was. Verse 4 begins with “For”, and that verse is the ground of everything the psalm goes on to tell: the LORD did his mighty works for Israel because he had first chosen them.

“Praise ye the LORD” is the Hebrew Hallelujah, which means “Praise Yah”. The verb is hâlal. Its root sense is to be clear or to shine, and from there to make a show or to boast, and in the form used here it means to celebrate. To praise God in this way is to celebrate him openly, so that his worth is made known. The name at the end of the word is Yâhh, a short form of Yᵉhôvâh that is used in poetry and means the same. Both stand behind “the LORD” in the KJV. This is the covenant name of the God of Israel, the God who revealed himself to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

The call to praise comes three times in this one verse: “Praise ye the LORD”, “Praise ye the name of the LORD”, “praise him”. Each line is a command, and the repetition gives the call urgency and a rhythm fit for a congregation singing together. The psalm’s whole subject is set in its first words, and the same call goes out to all creation in Psalm 148:1. Praise in Israel was glad and public, often with music and singing, and sometimes with dancing, as when David danced before the LORD as the ark was brought up (2 Samuel 6:14–15).

Verse 2 says who the servants are by where they stand. The verb ʻâmad means to stand. Priests and Levites stood to minister in the temple, and the worshippers who came up to offer sacrifices stood before the LORD in its courts, so the verse takes in everyone who was there to worship.

The house, bayith, is the ordinary word for a house or building, probably from a root meaning to build. Here it is the temple in Jerusalem, conceived by David and built by Solomon. At its dedication Solomon said, “I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever” (1 Kings 8:13). Long before, God had told Moses, “let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). The house was the place where the holy God came down to meet his people.

The courts, châtsêr, are enclosed yards, the open spaces walled in around the sanctuary itself. The temple had several of them, and different groups gathered in them according to their place in the covenant people. The second line of the verse repeats the first and widens it, in the way of Hebrew poetry, so the call reaches past the priests at the altar to all who stood anywhere in the temple grounds. Together, “house” and “courts” name the whole temple and all its worship. The psalmist calls him “our God”, the God of everyone gathered there. A psalm of longing speaks of those same courts: “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand” (Psalm 84:10).

Verse 3 gives the reasons for the praise that verses 1 and 2 command. Both reasons are introduced by “for”, the Hebrew kî. The verse uses both forms of the name: “Praise the LORD” has the short form, and “the LORD is good” has the full name.

The first reason is that the LORD is good. Ṭôwb is one of the broadest words in Hebrew. It covers what is good, kind, generous, beautiful, pleasant and right. Said of God, it means his moral perfection and his kindness, and that he is the source of everything that is truly good. His goodness is who he is, so it holds in every season of our lives, and all that he does comes from it. The psalms sing it again and again: “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5), and “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 118:1). David’s psalm when the ark came to Jerusalem has the same words (1 Chronicles 16:34).

The second command, “sing praises unto his name”, uses zâmar, which means to make music in praise, with the voice and with instruments. The reason given is that “it is pleasant”. Nâʻîym means delightful, agreeable or sweet, and here it describes the praising itself. Singing to God is a joy, a fitting response to his goodness that satisfies the one who sings. Another psalm says it in almost the same words: “Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely” (Psalm 147:1). The two halves of the verse match each other: the LORD is good, and praise of him is pleasant, because the delight of worship flows from the goodness of the one we worship.

Verse 4 opens with “For”, and it gives the reason that lies under all the praise of this psalm. The name of God here is again the short form, Yah. The verb bâchar means to try or to select, and it describes a deliberate choice. God chose Jacob, and he did it “unto himself”, for his own purposes. Jacob and Israel are the two names of the patriarch, and both stand here for the whole nation that came from him. Israel is the name God gave Jacob, often explained as “he will rule as God”.

The words “peculiar treasure” translate çᵉgullâh, which means wealth closely shut up, a jewel, a special possession. It pictures what a king keeps apart from his common property as his own personal treasure, guarded and prized. God first used the word of Israel at Sinai: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6). Through Malachi he speaks of his faithful people in the same way: “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels” (Malachi 3:17). To be his treasure was a great privilege, and it carried the calling to show his character to the nations.

Every part of these verses comes to its fullness in Jesus Christ. The name of the LORD that the servants praise is fully revealed in him, for in him all fulness dwells (Colossians 1:19). He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13), and one day every knee shall bow at his name and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10–11). He is also the perfect servant of the LORD, who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

The goodness of verse 3 is seen most clearly in him. He is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), and he is the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep (John 10:11). Our praise rises to the Father through him: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15). That praise is pleasant because it comes from the joy of salvation, and Paul can say, “Rejoice in the Lord alway” (Philippians 4:4).

The choosing of verse 4 comes to its fullness in him as well. At his baptism the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Believers, Jew and Gentile, share in the blessing of God’s chosen people through him. Peter gives the church the titles of Israel’s calling: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9). The price of that treasure was the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, far above silver and gold (1 Peter 1:18–19). God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, “to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:4–6).

These four verses show us a God who is good, who has made his name known, and who chose a people for himself when they had nothing to commend them. He holds his people as a king holds his treasure, close and prized. And he calls them into his house to praise him, which is the most fitting and the most pleasant thing they can do.

The order of the psalm is a gift in itself. The call to praise comes first and the reasons follow, and the deepest reason is God’s own choice. The praise of God’s people rests on what he has done and who he is, and so it holds steady when their feelings change. Peter’s words show the same order: God made us a peculiar people so that we would show forth his praises.