1.
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
(1) The psalm opens with an adaptation and expansion (comp. Psalms 116:19) of Psalms 134:1. As there, the priestly class is addressed. Some, however, think that the addition, “courts of the house of our God,” as well as Psalms 135:19, make the application to all these standing in covenant relation to Jehovah. This is possible, but not proved by the evidence adduced.
2.
Ye that 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 praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
(3) Sing praises.—Rather, play.
For it is pleasant—i.e., thus to sing hallelujah. (See Psalms 147:1; Proverbs 22:18. Others take name as the subject, and the Prayer-Book version suggested to Crashaw the beautiful hymn beginning “Come lovely name,” &c.
4.
For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
(4) Peculiar treasure.—A special covenant-name for Israel (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6, &c.), and of private property (1 Chronicles 29:3; Ecclesiastes 2:8).
5.
For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
6.
Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
7.
He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
(7) Adapted from Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16.
Causeth the vapours to ascend.—Mr. Burgess is undoubtedly right in referring this to the mist which went up from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground “before the useful trouble of the rain” (Genesis 2:6), since the original passage in Genesis has a plain reference to the story of the Creation, and the rain is immediately mentioned as coming into existence after the vapours. That a different term is used in Genesis does not make against this since the Hebrew term here is a general one derived from the verb “to ascend.”
Lightnings for the rain—i.e., “to bring rain.” Such was the Oriental notion, see Zechariah 10:1 and compare 1 Samuel 12:17. Both of these places refer to showers out of the ordinary rainy season, such as thunder-storms in the harvest season. The sudden downfall of sheets of rain after a flash and peal is even in this climate sufficiently striking to make such a notion as the dependence of rain on lightning quite conceivable, how much more in tropical countries, and where, except in the due rainy season, it would never probably fall without thunder and lightning.
Wind out of his treasuries.—Comp. the Greek and Latin ideas of the “caves” of the winds.
8.
Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
(8) Egypt.—This abrupt change from the miracles of nature to the marvels of history is apparently copied from the next psalm, where see Note, Psalms 135:10.
9.
Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.
10.
Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;
11.
Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:
12.
And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.
(12) Psalms 105:44; Psalms 111:6.
13.
Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.
(13) This verse is from Exodus 3:15.
14.
For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.
(14) From Deuteronomy 32:36.
Judge—i.e., see them righted.
15.
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
16.
They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
17.
They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18.
They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
19.
Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
20.
Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
21.
Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
(21) Out of Zion.—As in Psalms 128:5, Jehovah blesses the covenant people out of Zion, so here they bless him out of Zion—that is the place where the reciprocal relation is best and chiefly realised. This localisation is made more emphatic by the addition of the name Jerusalem to Zion. (Comp. Psalms 76:2; Psalms 125:1-2.)