Praise the Lord!
[Psalm 135]
Last Wednesday during our prayer meeting, we meditated on Psalm 134, under the theme “Bless the Lord,” and received the message that all faithful servants of God, who live victorious lives through His faithful help, should bless God with a confession of gratitude. Then, during our 1-night, 2-day prayer retreat on the Friday-Saturday of last week in May, we meditated on Nehemiah 8, where we saw Ezra and the people of Israel offering praise to God in the revival of God's Word. Why did they praise God? Because the great God, with His mighty power, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days, a great miracle.
What lessons do these words teach us? That we must praise God. Our God is worthy of praise. When we think about the work of salvation that God has done in our lives, is doing now, and will continue to do, we should rightly praise Him.
In today's reading from Psalm 135, verses 1-3, the psalmist says, "Praise the Lord" four times. Why does he repeat this command four times? The reason, according to the Bible, is given in verse 3: "Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is lovely." The psalmist begins by saying we should praise God because He is good. The lesson here is that we should praise God because of His inherent goodness. The psalmist also confesses that praising this good God is a joyful thing (“for it is lovely”).
Are we, like the psalmist, enjoying the joy of praising God because of His goodness? Even if we do not fully understand all that God is doing in our lives, we should trust that because God is good, He will work everything together for good, and we should praise Him in faith, relying on His goodness.
From verse 4 onwards, the psalmist gives more specific reasons why we should praise God. He outlines about four reasons (according to Parker Yoonseon). Today, I will meditate on these four reasons. Through these reasons, may we come to realize God's goodness and experience the joy of praising Him.
First, the reason we must praise God is because He chose us as His special possession.
Look at Psalm 135:4: "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession." The psalmist says that God chose Israel as His special possession "for Himself." How is it that God chose a people like Israel, whose hearts are stubborn and who enjoy sinning, to be "for Himself" as His special possession? To answer this question, we should not look at the chosen people, the Israelites. Instead, we must look at the God who chose them. Only by looking at the God who chooses can we understand the meaning of "for Himself." Why did God choose a people like Israel "for Himself"? The reason is that God loved them. Look at Deuteronomy 7:6-8: "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all the peoples; but because the Lord loved you..." The reason God chose us is because He loves us. Because God loves us, He has chosen us as His special possession. The term "special possession" (his treasured possession) means "precious people" (Deut. 26:18). Not only has God made us His precious people, but He has also acknowledged us as such (Deut. 26:18). Therefore, we must praise God. We, who have been chosen as His precious people in His love, must surely praise God.
Second, the reason we must praise God is because we enjoy the natural grace He provides.
Look at Psalm 135:6: "Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places." The great God who created the heavens and the earth (v. 5) is the one who moves everything in nature. He moves everything according to His will (v. 6). God is still in control of all the great and small things in nature today. And as He governs, He moves nature in order to allow His chosen, precious people to live on this earth. For example, in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, God caused a great famine in the land where the son had spent all his inheritance (v. 14). As a result, God made the son become destitute and return to his father. Also, during the Exodus, God sent plagues like hail and darkness to Pharaoh and the Egyptians to rescue the Israelites from their oppression. In this way, God is still acting in the lives of His chosen people by moving nature. Of course, God also allows us to live in prosperity by providing an abundant harvest, but He can also bring about droughts, allowing us to live in scarcity. Just as when King Ahab sinned, God withheld rain, but after hearing Elijah's prayer, He sent the rain again. God moves nature, providing us with rain when we need it, and sometimes withholding it as well. The important thing is that we must recognize by faith that in all these things, God's sovereign work is at play. And in the midst of God's sovereign work, we must be thankful for the natural grace (or common grace) we receive and praise God for it.
Third, the reason we must praise God is because He has bestowed upon us the special grace of salvation.
Look at Psalm 135:12: “He gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to His people Israel.” In theology, God's grace is divided into two categories: general grace (or natural grace) and special grace. General grace is the grace of God poured out on all humanity, even to the wicked, such as the rain that falls on everyone, allowing them to cultivate the land. This is God's unmerited favor. However, special grace is the grace of God that is given only to His people, the saints. What is this special grace of God? It is none other than our salvation. As those who have been saved, we must praise God. In Psalm 135:8-14, the psalmist describes the great works of God during the Exodus when He, out of love, delivered His chosen people, the Israelites, from Egypt. The psalmist records how God miraculously brought the ten plagues upon Egypt (v. 9), starting with the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn (v. 8), and how God later gave the promised land of Canaan to His people (v. 12). From verses 13-14, the psalmist declares that the salvation of God should be proclaimed forever. This is because it is a sign that God loves Israel (Park Yun-seon). Therefore, if we love God, we must proclaim the special grace of salvation that He has shown us. Furthermore, we must not forget the grace of salvation He has given us in the past, but we should remember and proclaim it. By doing so, we can be assured of His salvation not only in our present lives but also in the future difficulties and trials we may face. With this assurance, we must praise God in faith.
Finally, the fourth reason we must praise God is because our God is the true God, unlike all idols.
Look at Psalm 135:15-17: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but do not speak; they have eyes but do not see; they have ears but do not hear; nor is there any breath in their mouths.” Here, the psalmist is explaining why God's chosen people, His treasured people, should praise Him. The reason we should praise God is because He is the only true God, unlike the false idols (Park Yun-seon). False idols have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, and no breath in their mouths. These dead gods are all lies. Therefore, the psalmist says: “Those who make them and all who trust in them will be like them” (v. 18). Serving idols is false and brings only misery to those who worship them (Park Yun-seon). However, God has loved us, chosen us as His precious people, and saved us. Through the covenant made in Jesus Christ, we, as God's covenant people, have received an eternal inheritance—eternal life. He is our God, and we are His people. Therefore, we must praise the true Savior, our God.
In the first 3 verses of Psalm 135, the psalmist says "Praise the Lord" four times, and in the last verses, 19-20, he says “Bless the Lord” four more times: “O house of Israel, bless the Lord; O house of Aaron, bless the Lord; O house of Levi, bless the Lord; you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.” The psalmist begins by urging us four times to "praise the Lord," and he ends by urging us four times to "bless the Lord." He encourages us to bless the Lord because He has chosen us as His special possession, allowed us to enjoy natural grace, and, more importantly, granted us the grace of salvation. Because He is the true God of our salvation, we should bless the Lord. And finally, the psalmist confesses: "May the Lord who dwells in Jerusalem be praised from Zion. Hallelujah" (v. 21). May we taste the goodness of the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and experience the joy of praising God.
After praising the Lord for His greatness and majesty,
Rev. James Kim
(Praying that we may praise the Lord until the day we breathe our last)