Psalm 135-136

New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

1. Psalm 135:1 Composed of fragments taken from other psalms (Pss 113; 115; 134; 136), this hymn sings the praises of the true God. The psalmist acclaims the one who holds the whole universe in his hands; he glorifies the one who chose the people of Israel and guided them to their destiny from the liberation from Egypt up to their establishment in Canaan. The entire people—priests, Levites, faithful, and God-fearers (vv. 19-20)—is convoked to this praise, which celebrates the Creator of the world and the Redeemer of Israel. In the face of such solid faith, all mention of false gods becomes a caricature. Are our hymns to God true enough to cast scorn on all the new idols that we ceaselessly create for ourselves?
   We can use this psalm to praise the heavenly Father for his wonders in favor of Israel (with whom we are spiritually united) and in favor of his Son Jesus, King of Israel. We can also use it to praise the Lord Jesus, Master of nature for the service of the new Israel, Savior of his Church, the only true God in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit.
2. Psalm 135:1 An exhortation to praise God, who is good and who has love for his own.
3. Psalm 135:1 Taken from Ps 113:1; see Jud 4:14. The praise of God included a recitation of his wonders in creation (Ps 135:5-7) and in redemptive history (vv. 8-12). Servants of the Lord: although the identity of the “servants” is debated, the general consensus, based on the text itself, is that the word denotes the priests and Levites, who praised the Lord day and night (see 1 Chr 9:33; 23:26, 30).
4. Psalm 135:2 Taken from Ps 134:1; see Ps 92:14.
5. Psalm 135:3 Praise is due because the Lord himself is good and gracious (or beautiful; see Ps 27:4). The second part of the verse is close to Ps 147:1. He is gracious: another possible translation is: “it is pleasant.”
6. Psalm 135:4 Although all the nations are the Lord’s, he has chosen Israel as his own in a special way. Treasured possession: this phrase is found in Ex 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; see also Ps 33:12.
7. Psalm 135:5 The psalmist spells out the greatness of the Creator, who rules over all creation and is above all gods.
8. Psalm 135:5 Our Lord is superior to all gods: taken from Ex 18:11; see Ps 95:3.
9. Psalm 135:6 The Lord does whatever he pleases (see Ps 115:3) in his acts in heaven, on the earth, in the seas, and in the subterranean waters (all their depths).
10. Psalm 135:7 The Lord’s greatness extends to the elements and powers of nature: lightning (see Ps 148:8), rain (see Ps 29), wind (see Ps 104:4), and the storehouses from which any of the elements could be brought forth (see Pss 33:7; 65:10f).
11. Psalm 135:8 The psalmist indicates the greatness of the Lord’s redemption of Israel through the Exodus and the Conquest by using climactic strokes. Most of the phrases in these verses reappear in Ps 136:10, 18-22.
12. Psalm 135:8 Struck . . . of Egypt: the tenth plague (see Pss 78:51; 105:36; Ex 12:29).
13. Psalm 135:9 Into your midst, O Egypt: similar in form to Ps 116:19, this phrase recalls Ps 136:11 (see Ps 78:43).
14. Psalm 135:11 Sihon . . . Og . . . and all the kings of Canaan: see Ps 136:19f; Num 21:21-26, 33-35; Deut 2:30-33; 3:1-6; Jos 12:2-24.
15. Psalm 135:12 Recalls Ps 136:17-22.
16. Psalm 135:13 Extract from Ex 3:15; see Ps 102:12; Isa 63:12. The name God revealed to Moses was to increase in significance as the Lord increased his activities in redemptive history.
17. Psalm 135:14 Show compassion to his servants: taken from Deut 32:36.
18. Psalm 135:15 The psalmist reproduces Ps 115:4-6, 8 almost exactly. His point is that idols, unlike the God of Israel, do not speak, reveal, promise, or utter any spoken word. Ultimately, divine revelation is the difference between the religions made by humans and the true religion of the Lord (see Ps 115:4-8; Deut 4:16; Isa 44:9ff; Jer 10:1ff; Bar 6:7ff).
19. Psalm 135:19 Employing the language of Pss 115:9-11; 118:2-4 (with the addition of “O house of Levi”), the psalmist calls upon all to praise the Lord present in Zion.
20. Psalm 135:21 Alleluia: i.e., “Hallelujah” or “Bless [or praise] the Lord”; some regard this line as belonging to the beginning of Ps 136.
21. Psalm 136:1 This psalm was for Israel the last of the “Great Hallel” psalms or, according to some Jewish authorities, the only Hallel psalm, the supreme song of praise. Associated with the great annual feasts, especially with the Feast of Passover, it is made up of exclamations of gratitude to God (accompanying a list of his wonders) and of enthusiastic assents from the crowd. In this list there are three great wonders that are never separated in Israel. First, the creation and life of the world (vv. 5-9). Next, the deliverances worked by God for Israel: the Exodus from Egypt (vv. 10-12), the passage through the Red Sea (vv. 13-15), the sojourn and victories in the wilderness (vv. 16-20), and the Conquest of the Promised Land (vv. 21-24). Finally, God’s solicitude for every living being, the grace of the bread for each day (v. 25). As it goes through this list of favors, Israel sings of God’s merciful love.
    Such a psalm could not fail to become a favorite of the Church for the Easter Vigil. By his Passion and Resurrection, Christ has given life to a new world; human beings are snatched from slavery to sin and advance in their earthly pilgrimage to become the people reunited around God in the new Promised Land, the kingdom of heaven. In the accents of the Great Hallel, Christians thus sing of the Passover of the world.
22. Psalm 136:1 The words give thanks here mean “confess” or “acknowledge” (see Lev 5:5; Prov 28:13) and therefore, call us to grateful worship indicating what we know of God’s glory and his deeds. Since he is the God of gods and the Lord of lords (see Deut 10:17), he alone is to be thanked for all the acts in creation and redemption (see Ps 72:18; Ex 15:11).
23. Psalm 136:5 The psalmist here brings together two Old Testament treatments of the creation theme: that of Proverbs, which speaks of the understanding and wisdom (v. 5) presupposed by creation (see Prov 3:19f; 8:1, 22-31; see also Ps 104:24; Jer 10:12), and that of Genesis, which gives the account of it (Ps 136:6-9: see Gen 1:9f, 16-18).
24. Psalm 136:6 Upon the waters: see Ps 24:2.
25. Psalm 136:10 Of the many wonders during the Exodus from Egypt, the psalmist mentions the tenth plague (see Pss 78:51; 105:36; 135:8) and the Lord’s strong hand and outstretched arm, a metaphor for God’s great and personal strength in favor of his people (see Ex 6:1, 6; Deut 4:34).
26. Psalm 136:13 At the Red Sea, the Lord discredited Pharaoh and his forces by judging them (see Ex 14:27), while he rescued his people (see Ps 106:7ff; Ex 4:23).
27. Psalm 136:16 The Lord guided his people through the wilderness (see Deut 8:15; Jer 2:6; Am 2:10) and won victories for them. He struck down the great and mighty kings like Sihon and Og (see Ps 135:11; Deut 2:30ff; 3:1), who are representative of a long number of Canaanite kings. Verses 17-22 are practically identical with Ps 135:10-12.
28. Psalm 136:21 God was with his servant Israel during the Conquest of the Promised Land, which became their heritage (see Ps 135:12), as well as from that time till the present. The Lord’s remembrance is based on the covenant and is intended to effectively bring out the complete redemption of his afflicted people (see Ex 6:5).
29. Psalm 136:25 Finally, it is the Lord who provides daily bread for all his creatures; therefore, all should praise him. God of heaven: an expression current during the Persian epoch (see Ezr 1:2; 5:11; 6:9; Neh 1:5; 2:4) that became classic (see Jud 5:8; Dan 2:18).