Psalm 139 For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

“The Greek title has prefixed the strange phrase ‘for the end,’ and the Alexandrinus text has appended the phrase ‘of Zechariah in the dispersion.’” Miller, 426; see Kinder, 463-464 for similar ideas.

“The psalm is poetically balanced with four paragraphs (or strophes) of six verses each. In the first paragraph (vss. 1-6), the psalmist praised God for his minute knowledge of him, the contemplation of which fills the psalmist with awe (vs. 6). In the second paragraph (vss. 7-12), the psalmist states that God is everywhere the psalmists might go, and God is there to lead and hold him (vs. 10). In the third paragraph (vs. 13-18) and the psalmists combines the idea of God omniscience (vs. 1-6) and omnipresence (vss. 7-12) and applies these divine qualities to God’s knowledge of the psalmist’s embryonic development (vss. 13-15) and God’s planning of the psalmist’s life (vss. 16-18)…In the fourth paragraph (vss. 19-24), the psalmist thinks of God as the judge of all the earth and in complete confidence asks God to judge Him with a view to His correcting His life so as to please God (vss. 23-24)” Miller, 426. “Psalm 139 is perhaps the most intimate of psalms. It displays a striking awareness of God’s interest in individuals” Broyles, 483.

“Any small thoughts that we may have of God are magnificently transcended by this psalm; yet for all its height and depth it remains intensely personal from first to last” Kidner, 463.

I think Longman is overly negative in his assessment of the Psalm. He says vs. 1-18 “express ambivalence about God’s pervasive knowledge, presence, and power. In light of its final stanza, the psalm is best considered a lament” 452.

139:1-6 God’s intimate knowledge of the Psalmist

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Psalm 138

A Psalm of David- Psalms 138-145 are listed as Psalms of David in the heading. “The Greek title places the psalm in the days of Haggai and Zechariah” Miller, 423. Is the I individual or collectively? “The individual who is offering thanks here appears to have been rescued from enemies who sought his undoing” Alter, 476.

“Psalm 138 is the first of a collection of eight psalms (Pss. 138-145) in Book Five that are attributed, in their superscription to David” NICOT, 958. “Psalms 138 and 145 share no less than thirteen terms and verbal roots, forming an envelope structure around the collection: ‘give thanks’ (138:1, 2, 4); ‘name’ (138:2; 145:1-2, 21); ‘hesed’ (138:2; 145:8, 10, 13, 17), ‘be faithful’ (138:2; 145:13, 18), ‘be great’ (138:2, 5; 145:3, 6, 8); ‘cry out’ (138:3; 145:18); ‘hear’ (138:4; 145:19); ‘glory’ (138:5; 145:5, 11, 12); ‘exalt’ (138:6; 145:1); ‘hand’ (138:7, 8; 145:16); ‘for all time’ (138:8; 145:1, 21); ‘deliver’ (138:7; 145:19)’; ‘make, do’ (138:8; 145:4, 9, 10, 13, 17)” NICOT, 958.

“Maybe it all happened in II Sam. 5:17-25, when the Philistines challenged David’s infant kingdom, and in answer to enquiring of the Lord, a signal victory was won and the ‘gods’ of Philistia became the litter of battle” Motyer, 578.

138:1-3 His personal situation and his deliverance

“In vv. 1-3, the singer speaks directly to God, using second person pronouns” NICOT, 960.

138:1 I will give You thanks with all my heart- Ps. 119:2, 10, 34, 58, 69, 145; Jer. 3:10; 24:7. “O Lord comes from the Greek; it is omitted in the Hebrew text” Miller, 424. It is added in the NIV following a number of mss., versions, and 11 QPs- VanGemeren, 834; NICOT, 958; Allen, 244. Giving thanks is mentioned in vs. 1, 2, 4.

I will sing praises to You before the gods- Pss. 95:3; 96:4; 97:7; 135:5; 136:2-3 “gods (‘elohim) is translated ‘angels’ in the Greek. However, there is little, if any, clear evidence in the OT for taking the word ‘elohim to mean angels. The Jewish translators of the OT into Greek were influenced by the Hellenistic concept of angels meditating to man the will of God so transcendently holy that he refused to communicate directly with sinful man” Miller, 424. See Allen, 244, for more on the LXX. “The Aramaic Targum rendered it, not very convincingly, as ‘judges.’ Following this line, Rashi and other medieval exegetes understood it as a reference to the Sanhedrin” Alter, 476. Some believe he refers to all heavenly beings and give Psalm 82 as a parallel. This psalm is “expressing God’s sovereignty over any claimants to the appellation ‘god.’” NICOT, 959. The Psalm is “an implicit testimony to Yahweh’s power not only to surrounding pagan nations but to their gods” Allen, 244.

“The psalmist offers praise ‘in the face of the gods,’ almost contemptuously denying them sovereignty (see Pss. 58:1-2; 82:1)” McCann, 1232. “He openly defies the gods of pagan nations, proud of this practical proof of the superiority of his own God” Laymen, 695.

138:2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple- Ps. 5:7; 11:4; 22:29; 28:2; 134:2; I Kings 8:29. “There is a fine blend of boldness and humility from the outset: boldness to confess the Lord before the gods, humility to bow down before Him” Kinder, 461.

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Psalm 137

The LXX has a heading τω Δανιδ the Lucian text add (δια) ‘Ιεριμιομ ‘through Jeremiah’ Allen, 235.

This is a community lament written in the time of Babylonian captivity. They are in Babylon (1-3) and Jerusalem has been destroyed (7). “Note the first person plural ‘we,’ ‘us,’ ‘our,’ etc., in vs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8.” Willis, vol. 3, 4-5. “The scene has the vividness of first-hand experience” Kidner, 459.This psalm is a first-person account of the sadness of the captives. It seems that the experience of exile “is fresh and acutely painful” Alter, 473. Most psalms “are historically vague in order to be applied again and again to new situations” Longman, 448, but the historical context for this psalm is much easier to identify. It may have been written by Levitical musicians who ‘bemoan their separation from the temple” Longman, 448. “Every line of it is alive with pain, whose intensity grows with each strophe to the appalling climax” Kidner, 459.

“The placement of Psalm 137 in Book Five of the Psalter is somewhat curious. According to the story of the Psalter, Book Five celebrates the return of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple, and the continued existence of the Israelites as the people of God…It seems that for the Israelites, even in the midst of present rejoicing, the past pain must always be remembered” NICOT, 953.

137:1-4 Lament

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon- Ezek. 1:3. Jer. 51:13 describes Babylon a “you who dwell by many waters.” Alter, 473, argues for the translation streams here instead of rivers. Babylon is also mentioned in vs.8.

There we sat down and wept- Neh. 1:4; Lam. 1:2, 16. There is used in vs. 1 and v. 3 This word expresses “the alienation of the collective speakers from the place they find themselves, which, logically should be ‘here’ rather than ‘there’” Alter, 473. Some take it as an indication that the psalm was written after return from captivity- Motyer, 577.

The people had lost their home country and had been taken into slavery. They lost their king and palace and they lost the temple where their God dwelt. “There is a proper time for weeping. Life is not ceaseless joy” Motyer, 577.

There is repetition of the first plural pronoun suffix nu nine times in vv. 1-3. Isa. 53:4-6 is similar.

When we remembered Zion- The word remember is used in vs. 1, 6, 7 and the word forget was used twice in vs. 5. Zion is used in this psalm in vs. 1, 3. The word Jerusalem is used in vs. 5, 6, 7. “Their grief was no mere homesickness” Laymen, 694. They longed for the temple, the festivals, the fellowship with God. Interestingly, in Lam. 1:7 Jerusalem is doing the remembering.

This is not to say that life for all was horrific in Babylon. “The prophet Jeremiah encouraged them to make a living, to increase in number, and to seek the peace and prosperity of the land (Jer. 29:4-9)” VanGemeren, 827.

137:2 Upon the willows in the midst of it- The NIV has poplars instead of willows. “The populus euphratica is in view; it looks more like a willow than a true poplar” K. Wilson, quoted in Allen, 236.

We hung our harps- “Lyres are smaller than ‘harps’ (KJV, NASB, NEB), and would much more likely be carried into exile” Miller, 422. “A relief from Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh, in the neighboring land of Assyria, portrays a situation not unlike this, with three prisoners of war play lyres as they march along by an armed soldier” Kidner, 459; also Alter, 474.

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Psalm 135

“Some Jewish authorities include Psalms 135 and 136 as part of the collection of Psalms 120-136, whereas others limit the Great Hallel psalms to 135-136, or even Psalm 136 alone”

135:1 Praise the LORD!- 113:1 The word praise is used as an imperative three times in the verse.

“The phrase Praise the LORD (and variations of the phrase) occurs seventy-five times in the Psalter, with no less that fifty-four occurrences in Book Five” NICOT, 944.

Praise Him, O servants of the LORD- The first two lines speak of the LORD as the object of praise and the last line mentioned the servants as the ones who give praise.

135:2 You who stand in the house of the LORD

In the courts of the house of our God!- Ps. 92:13; 116:19 “The priests and Levites were charged (v. 19-20) with the worship of the Lord ‘in the house of the LORD’” VanGemeren, 819.

135:3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good- I Chron. 16:34; II Chron. 5:13; 7:3; Ezra 3:11; Ps. 23:6; 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 110:5; 118:1, 29; 119:68; 118:1, 29. “The Lord’s name is good (52:9), that He Himself is good (135:3) and that praising Him is good (147:1)” Kidner, 455.

Sing praises to His name- Ps. 68:4

for it lovely- The word lovely is a rare word in the OT used only 13 times. In the Psalms it is used in Psalm 16:6, 11; 81:2; 133:1; 147:1 besides here.

Good and pleasant (or lovely) appear together in 133:1 and 147:1.

135:4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself- Ex. 19:5-6; Deut. 7:6; 10:15; 14:2; Ps. 105:6. The goodness of God is manifested in the choice of Israel. “If the first ground of praise is the Lord’s character (3), the next is His love for us. The word Jacob is emphatic: ‘For it was Jacob that the Lord chose…’” Kidner, 455.

Israel for His own possession- His own possession or special treasure is one word used 8 times in the OT- Ex. 19:6; Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 25:18; I Chron. 29:3; Eccl. 2:8; Malachi 3:16.

135:5 For I know that the LORD is great-Ps. 48:1; 95:3; 145:3 I is emphatic.

And that our Lord is above all gods- Ex. 18:11; Ps. 95:3; 96:4-5; 97:7-9.

135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, He does- 115:3. The Hebrew word translated does in vs. 6 is translated makes in vs. 7 and make in vs. 18. In vs. 15 the noun form is used and it is translated work.

In heaven and in earth- Jer. 10:13

in the seas and in all deeps- The LORD “is not limited to a particular sphere assigned to Him by His creatures, as is the case with pagan deities. The Lord is God over all realms by virtue of being the Creator. VanGemeren, 820.

135:7 He causes the vapors to ascend for the ends of the earth- Jer. 10:13; 51:16 “The rainy season with its storms and wind is under His providential control-not, it is implied, that of Canaanite Baal, as his devotees claimed” Laymen’s, 646. Since the weather is attributed to the LORD and not Baal, “it is another way of affirming that ‘our Lord is above all gods’ (v. 5)” McCann, 1220.

Who makes lightning for the rain- Job 38:22; Ps 77:17-18; 104:3-4 “His greatness even extends to the elements and powers of nature and wind (cf. Jer. 10:13; 51:16). The Canaanites believed that these powers belonged to Baal, but the psalmist confesses rightly that only Yahweh has power to ‘the ends of the earth’” VanGemeren, 820-821.

Who brings forth wind from His treasuries

135:8 He smote the firstborn of Egypt- 136:10; 78:51; 105:36; Ex. 12:29 Verses 5-7 stress the LORD’s power in nature while vs. 8-14

A Song of Ascents- “The pilgrimage began in ‘Kedar’ (120:5); it ends in the Lord’s house wherein the pilgrims ‘bless the Lord’ (2) and He blesses them (3)’” Motyer, 576. This “forms a magnificent conclusion to this collection of psalms” VanGemeren, 817. It is “a brief word of departure as they ready themselves to return to their homes in the surrounding countryside” NICOT, 940.

134:1 Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD- Allen says, 216, Behold “is here uniquely with an imperative” and he translates this Come.

Ps. 124:6 The word bless is used in each of these verses. In the first two verses servants are blessing the LORD but in vs. 3 the LORD is blessing us. “The Hebrew root that the NRSV regularly translates as ‘bless’ originally meant more literally ‘to kneel,’ as in paying homage to a superior (see above on Ps. 95:6; see also Pss. 16:7; 26:12; 34:1; 63:4; 103:1-2; 115:18; 135:19-20; 145:1, 10)” McCann, 1217.

In our attitude to God, bless means “to praise, thank, and glorify God” Miller, 416. The NIV translates 134:1-2 praise and 134:3 bless. This obscures the fact that all the verses use the same Hebrew word.

“Servants could apply to the whole nation in a different context, but here refers to those officiants who stand to minister (Ps. 135:1-2; Deut. 10:8) day and night (I Chron. 9:33) at the temple. By night is a plural in Hebrew and probably is to be taken in the distributive sense of ‘night after night’” Miller, 416-417.

The first step of the LORD blessing us originally is left out. “But the exchange is quite unequal: to bless God is to acknowledge gratefully what He is; but to bless man, God must make of him what he is not, give him what he has not” Kidner, 454.

Who serve by night in the house of the LORD- 122:1-2. I Chron. 23:26, 30. Serve is literally stand here- Ps. 135:1-2; Deut. 10:8; 18:7; I Chron. 23:30.
Exodus 12:42; Isaiah 30:29 Passover seems to have been celebrated at night. God, our Keeper, neither slumbers nor sleeps- Ps. 121:4- so this may be a wish that He is praised continually at the temple- Broyles, 475. “Evening duties included keeping the lampstand and the sacrifices burning as well as guarding the gates (Ex. 27:21; Lev. 6:9; I Chr. 9:22-27)” Longman, 441.

“Later Jewish tradition associates nocturnal services with the Feast of Tabernacles, the ceremony of water libation during the nights of the festival (Cf. Mishnah, Sukk. 5:4)” Allen, 218.

134:2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary- Ex. 9:29; I Kings 8:30; Ps. 28:2; 63:4; I Tim. 2:8. Sanctuary is a single word and may refer to worshiping in holiness or to the holy place, sanctuary- Kidner, 454.
And bless the LORD

134:3 May the LORD bless you from Zion- Lev. 9:22-23; Num. 6:24-26; Ps. 128:5-6. The God who made everything dwells in a special way in Zion and sends His blessings from there. “Like His commandment, his blessing is not ‘far off’; not ‘in heaven’ nor ‘beyond the sea,’ but ‘every near you’ (Deut. 30:11-14; Rom. 10:6ff)” Kidner, 454. “Dynamic potential is given to those who give Yahweh since acknowledgment of His power…He generously shares with His devoted followers from His own resources of omnipotence so that abundant life may be theirs: Allen, 218.
He who made heaven and earth- Ps. 115:15; 121:2; 124:8; 146:6 He is LORD of all. The Creator of all “makes Himself known in historical relationships that are marked by particular people and particular places” Broyles, 475.

Jesus and Psalm 134
Luke 24:50-53
Eph. 1:3

Psalm 133

A Song of Ascents, of David

“The brief didactic psalm employs two beautiful similes to illustrate the beauty and value of unity” Miller, 415. The two similes are the oil and dew.

“The pilgrims came from many different walks of life, regions, and tribes, as they gathered for one purpose: the worship of the Lord in Jerusalem” VanGemeren, 815.

133:1 Behold, how good- “It is interesting that he gives no explanation as to why unity is good. Perhaps he does not need to do so, because this should be self-evident to everyone” Willis, vol. 3, 95. The word good is used in Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 31. It is not good that man live alone in Gen. 2:18. “The word good in Ps. 133:1 reminds the reciter of God’s provision of the community and relatedness for humanity” NICOT, 938.

and how pleasant it is- Psalm 16:6, 11; 135:3; 147:1 “Again, the poet gives no reason for this” Willis, 95. “Strife demands more energy, whereas peaceful unity means the corporate body can reach common goals with less stress. If individual cooperate, then their efforts are multiplied” Longman, 439.

133:2 It is like the precious oil upon the head- The word translated precious in vs. 2 is the same Hebrew word translated good in vs. 1. “The pouring of oil over the head seems to have been an act of hospitality, signaling joy and relatedness (see Pss. 23:5; 92:10; Luke 7:46) as well as an official act of consecrating kings and priests” McCann, 1214. Joy in Ecc. 9:7-8; Matt. 6:16-17.

Coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard- Lev. 21:5 The verb coming down is used three times- vss. 2, 2, 3. This stresses the origin of the blessings from heaven- Broyles, 474.

Unity “is like precious oil that runs down on the high priest’s beard, giving off a sweet-smelling fragrance (see Exodus 29:7; 30:22-33)” Lev. 8:12 Willis, 95. “Its fragrance could not be contained (Exodus 29:21)” Kidner, 453. “The anointed priest, in premonarchical days in particular, stood as a symbol of unity” Milller, 415. “The breastplate with the names of all 12 tribes. The oil thus symbolized the unity of the nation in worship under their consecrated priest” B.K. 888.

133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon- “The dew is understood to be an agency of fruitfulness” Alter, 463. Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 14:5 Mount Hermon is the only snow-capped mountain in Israel- Longman, 439. “Mount Hermon in the north at the headwaters of the Jordan is the highest elevation in Palestine. A spur of the Anti-Lebanon mountains. Mount Hermon reaches a height of over nine thousand feet. Heavy dew is to found on it slopes early in the summer mornings even during the dry season” Miller, 416.

Coming down upon the mountains of Zion- Ps. 48:2; 68:15-16; 87:2 “Situated more than one hundred air miles from Jerusalem, its dew could not literally come down upon the mountains of Zion. The simile is another allusion to the unifying effect that Jerusalem has on the nation” Miller, 416. Because of the geographical distance Alter, 463, emends the text to parched mountains instead of mountains of Zion.

Zion is stressed in the songs of ascents- Ps. 125:1; 126:1; 128:5; 129:5; 132:13; 133:3; 134:3.

Psalm 133 and Jesus

John 17:20-23; Eph. 2:11-22

Mark 14:3, 6 The anointing oil was poured down upon Jesus.

Matthew 10:34-37; Luke 12:51-53 Jesus is greater even than family and unity.

133:3 Mt. Zion as the place of blessing- Heb. 12:22-24; 13:14-16; Gal. 4:26; Rev. 14:1

A Song of Ascents

This is considerably longer than the other songs of Ascents- NICOT, 933. “Its length seems to signal its special importance” McCann, 1210. This is a royal psalm along the line of Psalms 2, 45, 72, 89, 101 and it also stresses God’s choice of Zion like Psalms 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122. “Psalm 132 impressively articulates the theological rationale for making the pilgrimage- namely, Zion is God’s chosen place (vv. 13-14; see Pss. 122:1-2, 9; 125:1-2; 126:1; 128:5; 129:5; 133:3; 134:3), as well as the site of David’s throne” McCann, 1210.

132:1-5 David’s swore to build God’s house

132:1 Remember, O LORD on David’s behalf- The request is like Neh. 5:19; 13:14, 22, 31.

Remember is used in Ex. 2:23-25; 6:5; 32:13; Lev. 26:42; Deut. 9:27. In context of the royal psalms see Ps. 89:47, 50.

132:2 How he swore to the LORD- The word oath or vow is not found of David’s words in II Sam. 7 or I Chron. 17 but we do see his desire to build the Lord’s house.

132:3 Surely I will not enter My house- The quote of vs. 2 gives rise to the quotation in vs. 3-5.

Nor lie on my bed- “The subordination of personal life, and comforts (are sacrificed) to the great priority” Motyer, 575.

132:4 I will not give sleep to my eyes- Prov. 6:4

Or slumber to my eyelids-

Nor lie on my bed- “The subordination of personal life, and comforts (are sacrificed) to the great priority” Motyer, 575.

132:5 Until I find a place for the LORD- Acts 7:46

132:6-9 The ark of the covenant

132:7 Let us go into His dwelling place- The verb go is the same as vs. 3 where David will not go into his tent. The word dwelling place in Ps. 74:7; 78:60; 84:1; 87:2. The same word is used in vs. 5. The statement of vs. 6 gives rise to the quotation of vs. 7-9. This call reminds us of Ps. 99:5, 9; 122:1.

132:10-12 The Lord’s oath to David

132:10 For the sake of David Your servant- I Kings 15:4-5 David is mentioned in the psalm in vs. 1, 10, 11, 17.

132:11 A truth from which He will not turn back- Acts 2:30 This word translated turn back is the same word translated turn away in vs. 10.

132:13-18 The LORD’s choice of Zion

132:13 For the LORD has chosen Zion- Ps. 46:4; 48:1-2; 78:67-68, 70; 87; 122:6-9 “Implicit in the oath is the choice of Zion” Motyer, 576. “The human response was all too cynical, treating God’s choice as something to be exploited; a shelter against His judgment (Jer. 7, especially vs. 8-15) or an asset to be commercialized (Mt. 21:12f.)” Kidner, 451.