March 19
Reading: Psalm 135
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD,
give praise, O servants of the LORD,
2 who 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 to his name, for it is pleasant!
4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
5 For I know that the LORD is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and of beast;
9 who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 who struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings,
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and gave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.
13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever,
your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.
14 For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
19 O house of Israel, bless the LORD!
O house of Aaron, bless the LORD!
20 O house of Levi, bless the LORD!
You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!
21 Blessed be the LORD from Zion,
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 135 begins and ends with “Hallelujah,” which means “Praise the Lord.” This psalm is filled with joy for God, His goodness and what He has done, for His great power and that He is not like the idols. Clearly this psalm was written for praise in the Temple, probably to be sung responsively by opposing choirs.
The structure of this psalm reveals its message.
vss. 1-4 Praise the Lord for He is good to Israel.
vss. 5-7 Praise the Lord for He is great above all gods, earth, seas, and the heavens.
vss. 8-14 The Lord conquers kings and rescues His people.
Sihon and Og were physically huge kings who opposed Israel in the wilderness. We read about them in Numbers 21.
vss. 15-18 Those who worship idols become like them.
vss. 19-21 Bless the Lord who lives amid His people.
Verses 15-18 seem out of place. They are not. The psalmist is intentionally putting the worship of idols in opposition to the praise of Yahweh.
What is idolatry? Why is it so terrible? Idolatry is missing out on the greatness of God. Verse 18 brings to the fore a startling insight. After reading that the man-made idols are dumb, blind, deaf, and dead; the psalmist tells us that those who make them and trust them become like them; dumb, blind, deaf, and dead.
In 2008 G.K. Beale published a book titled, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry. We are meant by God to worship Him and so reflect His image to all creation. We are the only part of God’s creation that must choose to worship Him. Everything else worships the Lord by the very nature of things. We are called to worship God, but when we exchange the worship of the Lord for the worship of ourselves, creatures, or stuff we make, we are exchanging the image of God for the image of created things.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:21-23