Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 135:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 135:6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased — All that he has done is right, and therefore it is pleasing in his sight. He is the author of all existence. Angels, men, spirits, the heavens, the earth, and all their contents, were made by him, and are under his control.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 135-136 God’s choice of Israel

Two hymns for use in Israel’s public worship appear here side by side. The first is a hymn of praise, the second a hymn of thanksgiving. The two hymns are similar in that they both recall God’s loving acts in nature and on behalf of his people Israel. These acts display God’s incomparable greatness on the one hand and show up the uselessness of the gods of the heathen on the other.
A call goes out to the worshippers gathered in the temple to praise God because he has chosen the nation Israel to be his people (135:1-4). God’s choice of Israel is particularly significant, because anything God does is deliberate. It is as sure and certain as his acts in the creation and control of nature (5-7). He demonstrated his special care for the people of Israel by rescuing them from Egypt, conquering their foes and giving them Canaan for their homeland (8-14). By contrast the so-called gods of other nations are merely useless pieces of metal (15-18). All Israelites should therefore offer thankful worship to their covenant God (19-21).

In the Jewish tradition, Psalms 136:0 was sung after the Hallel at the Passover Feast (see note introducing Psalms 113:0). In each verse the leader sings of the greatness of God, and the congregation replies that this is seen in his loyal love to his people, a love that will never end. Israel’s God is good, and he is the only true God (136:1-3). He has perfect wisdom and he made all things (4-9). He saved his people from Egypt (10-15), gave them victory over their enemies (16-20) and led them into Canaan (21-22). All this was not because his people deserved his blessings, but because he exercised his steadfast love towards them (23-26).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

IV.

“Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that hath he done, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps; Who causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who maketh lightnings for the rain; Who bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.”

A fourth reason why God should be praised is that he is the “God of all creation.” Heaven, earth, seas and all `deeps,’ - everything that exists is subject to the will and the pleasure of the Almighty God. “As the universal sovereign, God is entitled to universal praise and worship.”Ibid.

“Who causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth” This is not a question, but a declaration. The great and inexplicable mystery of the ascent of waters from the surface of the seas and their return to earth as rain is mentioned here because of the very mystery of what happens. As Job expressed it, “God bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.” (Job 26:8).

Thirteen hundred millions of tons of water ascend into the heavens every minute of the day, contrary to the law of gravity. Who does this? God.

Spurgeon mentioned a certain scientist who calculated that from every square mile of the ocean’s surface, every twelve hours, the process which we call evaporation, “Lifts 6,914 tons of water from the surface of the sea.”Charles Haddon Spurgeon, op. cit., p. 267. At least 135,000,000 square miles of the planet earth are oceans, to say nothing of about one third of a million square miles of lakes.Encyclopedia Britannica World Atlas, 1961, pp. 287, 288. Multiplying this times approximately 7,000 tons of water each twelve hours gives almost a trillion tons. The meaning of this is simply astounding. It means that approximately 1,300,000,000 tons of water per minute enter the heavens via evaporation.

Here indeed are the “waters above the firmament,” as God revealed in Genesis 1:7. Despite this truth, we read some recent so-called “interpreter” who actually wrote that, “`The waters above the firmament’ was an ancient superstition founded upon a myth!”

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Whatsoever the Lord pleased - God is an absolute sovereign. He has formed a plan, and has carried it out. He has made the world as he chose, and he has ordered all its arrangements according to his own pleasure. As a universal sovereign, he has a right to universal adoration. See the notes at Psalms 115:3.

In heaven, and in earth ... - These are put for the universe; these are the universe. In these places - in all worlds - on the land and in the ocean - even in the profound depths of the sea, there is nothing which has not been placed there by his will, and which he has not arranged according to his eternal plan.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

6.Whatsoever doth please him, etc. This is that immeasurable greatness of the divine being, of which he had just spoken. He not only founded heaven and earth at first, but governs all things according to his power. To own that God made the world, but maintain that he sits idle in heaven, and takes no concern in the management of it, is to cast an impious aspersion upon his power; and yet the idea, absurd as it is, obtains wide currency amongst men. They would not say, perhaps, in so many words, that they believed that God slept in heaven, but in imagining, as they do, that he resigns the reins to chance or fortune, they leave him the mere shadow of a power, such as is not manifested in effects; whereas Scripture teaches us that it is a real practical power, by which he governs the whole world as he does according to his will. The Psalmist expressly asserts every part of the world to be under the divine care, and that nothing takes place by Chance, or without determination. According to a very common opinion, all the power necessary to be assigned to God in the matter, is that of a universal providence, which I do not profess to understand. The distinction here made between the heavens, earth, and waters, denotes a particular governments. The term חפר , chaphets, is emphatical. The Holy Spirit declares that he does whatsoever pleases him. That confused sort of divine government which many talk of, amounts to no more than a certain maintenance of order in the world, without due counsel. No account whatever is made of his will in this way, for will implies counsel and method. Consequently there is a special providence exerted in the government of the various parts of the world, there is no such thing as chance, and what appears most fortuitous, is in reality ordered by his secret wisdom. We are not called to inquire why he wills events which contradict our sense of what his administration should be, but if we would not unsettle the very foundations of religion, we must hold by this as a firm principle, that nothing happens without, the divine will and decree. ⁽¹⁶¹⁾ His will may be mysterious, but it is to be regarded with reverence, as the fountain of all justice and rectitude, unquestionably entitled as it is to our supreme consideration. For farther information upon this subject the reader may consult Psalms 115:0.

(161) “Neantmoins si nous ne voulons arracher tons les rudimens de la vraye religion, ceci doit demeurer ferme,”etc. — Fr.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 135:1-21 is one of those psalms that begins and ends with the word Hallelujah.

Praise ye the LORD ( Psalms 135:1 ).

Hallelujah.

Praise the name of Yahweh; praise him, O ye servants of Yahweh. Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the LORD ( Psalms 135:1-3 );

So this exhortation of praising God repeated, emphasized, and repeated for emphasis. "Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Praise Him all ye servants. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord." And now He's going to tell you why you should praise Him.

for the LORD is good ( Psalms 135:3 ):

How are you to praise Him?

sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant ( Psalms 135:3 ).

And again, why?

For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel as his peculiar treasure ( Psalms 135:4 ).

Now we are told in the New Testament that you have become His peculiar people, which we told you Thursday night was His people of possession. The word peculiar is the word possess. So you are the people that God has claimed as His possession is what it is. Now Israel was God-possessed, they were His treasure. He possessed them as His treasure. He claimed them. "I possess you as My treasure." God possesses you as His people. And so Israel is His possessed treasure, or the treasure that He possesses.

For I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is above all gods ( Psalms 135:5 ).

Now there are many gods that people worship and serve, but they are not living; they are not true. There is One true and living God, the maker of the heaven and the earth. And our Lord is above all of the gods that men have made.

Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and in the deep places ( Psalms 135:6 ).

God's pleasure, God's will. Whatever He pleases. Who can say unto the Lord, "Why have you done thus?" He does what He pleases to do. I have no right to challenge Him. I have no power to resist Him. In the book of Revelation, chapter 4, when the elders fall down and cast their golden crowns before the throne of God, they say, "O Lord, Thou art worthy to receive glory and honor: for Thou has created all things, and for Thy good pleasure they are and were created" ( Revelation 4:11 ).

Now, like it or not, God made you for His own pleasure. He didn't make me for my pleasure. Nor will my life ever be fulfilled if I seek only my pleasure. That can be a very empty, futile, frustrating life seeking my own pleasure. I can only find fulfillment when I bring God pleasure, because that's why He made me. And to answer to the reason for my being, I must bring pleasure to God. He has done whatever He pleased.

He causes the vapors ( Psalms 135:7 )

And, of course, praise the Lord because of His power over the universe, His creation of the universe.

He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; and he makes the lightning for the rain; he brings the wind out of his treasuries. He smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast. He sent his tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, upon all of his servants. He smote the great nations, he slew the mighty kings ( Psalms 135:7-10 );

In other words, "Israel, praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord," and all. Why? Because He delivered you out of Egypt. He delivered the land into your hand. He smote,

The kings of Sihon, the Amorites, Og the king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan: and he gave their land for a heritage, a heritage unto Israel and his people. Thy name, O Yahweh, endures for ever; and thy memorial, O Yahweh, throughout all the generations. For the LORD [or Yahweh] will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants ( Psalms 135:11-14 ).

Now in contrast, here is God. Has done all of these marvellous mighty things, demonstrating His power, His authority, His love.

But the idols of the heathen ( Psalms 135:15 )

You see, He's the Lord over all the gods. "The gods of the heathen," the idols that they have made,

are silver and gold, they are the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: and so is every one that trusteth in them ( Psalms 135:15-18 ).

Now we had this same concept given to us in the one-hundred-and-fifteenth psalm where he said much the same thing in talking about the idols of the heathen. He makes these philosophical observations. Number one, men often make their own gods. They'll carve them out of silver, gold, wood, stone. When a man makes his own god, he makes his god like himself. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feet. Because I have eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feet. But he makes his god, in reality, the god that he has made, he makes his god, but the god that he has made is less than he is. For though he put eyes on the god, the eyes can't see. Though he put feet on them, they can't walk. Though he put ears on them, they can't hear. So the god is less than the man who has made it. But the damning aspect of the philosophy is that a man becomes like his god. They that have made them have become like the gods that they have made. They that make them are like unto them. And so is every one that trusts in them.

In other words, a man becomes like his god. Thus, if you've made your own god, you made a god that is really less than you are, and thus, in worshipping that god, the projection of yourself, you are worshipping something really that is less than you. And then you become like it. Therefore, it is degrading. It's downhill. It's a degrading experience to worship your own gods of your own concepts, your own ideas, and all. It is a degrading experience, because your god is always too small and he is even less than you and you're becoming like him. And so it is always degrading for any society or any man to worship anything other than the true and the living God that made the heavens and the earth. To worship any other God is degrading. You see, men are in the process of being degraded as they worship other gods. "They that worship them have become like unto them; so is every one that trusts in them" ( Psalms 115:8 ). A man becomes like his god. That can be a damning philosophy, or it can be a blessed philosophy. It all depends on who your god is.

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, it doth not yet appear what we're going to be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him" ( 1 John 3:2 ). Why? Because a man becomes like his god. That's blessing. That's glorious. I'm thrilled, because I'm serving the true and the living God. If I wasn't serving the true and the living God, that would terrify me. To think that I was becoming like my god.

As I see men worshipping pleasure, living after sex, living after pleasure, becoming like their gods, being obsessed by lust. As I see men who are living after power, that driving ambition, destroying others, climbing to the top. Scratching, clawing, crawling over others. Disregarding others. Obsessed by power. And becoming like their god. How tragic. "But we, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed from glory to glory into the same image" ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). A man becomes like his god. It surely places a high priority and an importance upon worshipping the true and the living God.

Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron: Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: and ye that reverence the LORD, bless the LORD ( Psalms 135:19-20 ).

That should include all of you.

Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwells at Jerusalem. Hallelujah ( Psalms 135:21 ).

So the last of the psalms. We get to Psalms 145:1-21 on through to the end. They all begin and end with Hallelujah. It's just one of those favorite words of exhortation unto praise. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 135

This psalm of descriptive praise lauds God for His greatness and for blessing His people. Like Psalms 134, it calls on the priests to praise the Lord.

"The status of Psalms 135, 136 in relation to the Great Hallel psalms . . . in ancient Judaism is not clear. Some Jewish authorities include Psalms 135, 136 as a part of the collection of Psalms 120-136, whereas others limit the Great Hallel psalms to 135-136, or even to Psalms 136 alone. Like the Songs of Ascents, Psalms 135 is related to one of the great feasts; but it is far from clear at which feast it was sung." [Note: Ibid., pp. 818-19.]

"Every verse of this psalm either echoes, quotes or is quoted by some other part of Scripture." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 455.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The sovereignty of God is what called forth the poet’s praise in this psalm. The Lord chose Israel as His special treasure (cf. Deuteronomy 7:6). He is also greater than all the pagan gods because He does whatever pleases Him (cf. Psalms 115:3). This is obvious in His control of nature.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The cause for praise 135:4-18

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Whatsoever the Lord pleased, [that] did he,.... In creation, producing into being what creatures he thought fit; in providence, doing according to his will in heaven and in earth; in grace, predestinating men to grace and glory, according to the good pleasure of his will, and calling by his grace whom he pleased: so Christ quickens whom he will; and the Spirit dispenses his gifts and grace severally to men as he pleases. Sovereignty, or acting according to will and pleasure, is peculiar to the Lord; the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars, are at his direction, and act by the laws of creation, which are at his control; angels do his will, and not their own: the most arbitrary and despotic princes cannot do everything they please; but the Lord can and does, even everything;

in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places; in the formation of them, and filling them with inhabitants, and fitting them to perform the several ends and uses for which they were designed; as well as performing many wonderful things in them out of the ordinary course of nature, as did our Lord, or as were done when he was here on earth: a wonderful star appeared in the heavens, which guided the wise men to the place of his birth; unusual voices were heard from heaven at his baptism, transfiguration, and other times; the Spirit, with his extraordinary gifts, descended from hence after his ascension thither: surprising miracles were done by him on earth; the great work of redemption was finished here, where he glorified his divine Father; and throughout it he sent his apostles to publish his everlasting Gospel. He did wonders in the mighty waters; more than once he made the boisterous sea a calm, and walked upon the surface of it: and as of old he broke up the fountains of the great deep, and drowned the world; and at another time dried up the sea, and led his people through the depths, as through a wilderness; so he will hereafter bind the old serpent the devil, and cast him into the abyss, into the great deep, into the bottomless pit; where he will continue during the thousand years' reign of Christ with his saints.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.   8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.   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 a heritage, a heritage unto Israel his people.   13 Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.   14 For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

      The psalmist had suggested to us the goodness of God, as the proper matter of our cheerful praises; here he suggests to us the greatness of God as the proper matter of our awful praises; and on this he is most copious, because this we are less forward to consider.

      I. He asserts the doctrine of God's greatness (Psalms 135:5; Psalms 135:5): The Lord is great, great indeed, who knows no limits of time or place. He asserts it with assurance, "I know that he is so; know it not only by observation of the proofs of it, but by belief of the revelation of it. I know it; I am sure of it; I know it by my own experience of the divine greatness working on my soul." He asserts it with a holy defiance of all pretenders, though they should join in confederacy against him. He is not only above any god, but above all gods, infinitely above them, between him and them there is no comparison.

      II. He proves him to be a great God by the greatness of his power, Psalms 135:6; Psalms 135:6. 1. He has an absolute power, and may do what he will: Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he, and none could control him, or say unto him, What doest thou? He does what he pleases, because he pleases, and gives not an account of any of his matters. 2. He has an almighty power and can do what he will; if he will work, none shall hinder. 3. This absolute almighty power is of universal extent; he does what he will in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and in all the deep places that are in the bottom of the sea or the bowels of the earth. The gods of the heathen can do nothing; but our God can do any thing and does do every thing.

      III. He gives instances of his great power,

      1. In the kingdom of nature, Psalms 135:7; Psalms 135:7. All the powers of nature prove the greatness of the God of nature, from whom they are derived and on whom they depend. The chain of natural causes was not only framed by him at first, but is still preserved by him. (1.) It is by his power that exhalations are drawn up from the terraqueous globe. The heat of the sun raises them, but it has that power from God, and therefore it is given as an instance of the glory of God that nothing is hidden from the heat of the sun, Psalms 19:6. He causes the vapours to ascend (not only unhelped, but unseen, by us) from the earth, from the ends of the earth, that is, from the seas, by which the earth is surrounded. (2.) It is he who, out of those vapours so raised, forms the rain, so that the earth is no loser by the vapours it sends up, for they are returned with advantage in fruitful showers. (3.) Out of the same vapours (such is his wonderful power) he makes lightnings or the rain; by them he opens the bottles of heaven, and shakes the clouds, that they may water the earth. Here are fire and water thoroughly reconciled by divine omnipotence. They come together, and yet the water does not quench the fire, nor the fire lick up the water, as fire from heaven did when God pleased, 1 Kings 18:38. (4.) The same exhalations, to serve another purpose, are converted into winds, which blow where they list, from what point of the compass they will, and we are so far from directing them that we cannot tell whence they come nor whither they go, but God brings them out of his treasuries with as much exactness and design as a prudent prince orders money to issue out of his exchequer.

      2. In the kingdoms of men; and here he mentions the great things God had formerly done for his people Israel, which were proofs of God's greatness as well as of his goodness, and confirmations of the truth of the scriptures of the Old Testament, which began to be written by Moses, the person employed in working those miracles. Observe God's sovereign dominion and irresistible power, (1.) In bringing Israel out of Egypt, humbling Pharaoh by many plagues, and so forcing him to let them go. These plagues are called tokens and wonders, because they came not in the common course of providence, but there was something miraculous in each of them. They were sent upon Pharaoh and all his servants, his subjects; but the Israelites, whom God claimed for his servants, his son, his first-born, his free-born, were exempted from them, and no plague came nigh their dwelling. The death of the first-born both of men and cattle was the heaviest of all the plagues, and that which gained the point. (2.) In destroying the kingdoms of Canaan before them, Psalms 135:10; Psalms 135:10. Those that were in possession of the land designed for Israel had all possible advantages for keeping possession. The people were numerous, and warlike, and confederate against Israel. They were great nations. Yet, if a great nation has a meek and mean-spirited prince, it lies exposed; but these great nations had mighty kings, and yet they were all smitten and slain--Sihon and Og, and all the kingdoms of Canaan,Psalms 135:10; Psalms 135:11. No power of hell or earth can prevent the accomplishment of the promise of God when the time, the set time, for it has come. (3.) In settling them in the land of promise. He that gives kingdoms to whomsoever he pleases gave Canaan to be a heritage to Israel his people. It came to them by inheritance, for their ancestors had the promise of it, though not the possession; and it descended as an inheritance to their seed. This was done long before, yet God is now praised for it; and with good reason, for the children were now enjoying the benefit of it.

      IV. He triumphs in the perpetuity of God's glory and grace. 1. Of his glory (Psalms 135:13; Psalms 135:13): Thy name, O God! endures for ever. God's manifestations of himself to his people have everlasting fruits and consequences. What God doeth it shall be for ever,Ecclesiastes 3:14. His name endures for ever in the constant and everlasting praises of his people; his memorial endures, has endured hitherto, and shall still endure throughout all generations of the church. This seems to refer to Exodus 3:15, where, when God had called himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he adds, This is my name for ever and this is my memorial unto all generations. God is, and will be, always the same to his church, a gracious, faithful, wonder-working God; and his church is, and will be, the same to him, a thankful praising people; and thus his name endures for ever. 2. Of his grace. He will be kind to his people. (1.) He will plead their cause against others that contend with them. He will judge his people, that is, he will judge for them, and will not suffer them to be run down. (2.) He will not himself contend for ever with them, but will repent himself concerning his servants, and not proceed in his controversy with them; he will be entreated for them, or he will be comforted concerning them; he will return in ways of mercy to them and will delight to do them good. Psalms 135:14; Deuteronomy 32:36 is taken from the song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:36.