Week 31, Psalm 136-140

For Psalm 135 and 136

Psalm 113 through 118 are considered a set of six Hallel or Hallelujah (Praise the Lord) Psalms. They were sung in post exilic times at Passover (Days of Unleavened Bread), Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Soncino commentary notes that they were further distinguished as the Hallel of Egypt (from the mention of Egypt in 114:1) from "the Great Hallel," which was defined as the songs of ascents (120-134). Sometimes 135 and 136 were included in the "Great Hallel". Jesus and the disciples traditionally sang 118 and possibly several or all of them at the Passover before he was crucified. Also note that 146-150, the concluding set of psalms are all Hallel psalms. That is, they each begin and end with "Hallel" (Hallelujah) or "Praise ye the Lord."

Psalm 136

Author: Not known.

Time/Occasion: Post-exilic. Composed as a companion to 135, it parallels the previous psalm in its theme of Praise of the Creator and Redeemer of Israel but with a different emphasis. The same and similar examples are cited (Israel's firstborn, Pharaoh, Sihon, Og). Obviously arranged for antiphonal singing (one group sings, a second group answers, the first group continues, alternating, etc.). One example would be that the declarations of praise were sung by the Levitical Choir, and the people answered. The refrain is repeated in every verse -- 26 times. His "mercy" is more accurately translated "steadfast love" in several translations.

Main theme: Praise to the Creator and Redeemer because of His steadfast love.

V. 5-9. God the Creator

V. 10-15. Deliverance from Egyptian slavery

V. 16-22. Through the wilderness into the Promised Land

Hymnal: #79 His Mercy Never Fails.

Personal application: To translate this phrase "His mercy endures forever" is true but not adequate. The Hebrew word "hesed" is translated kindness, loving kindness, covenant faithfulness, unfailing love, and steadfast love. It carries the concept of forgiveness, active commitment, compassion, mercy, endearment, constancy, and steadfastness -- much more than merely mercy. The best rendering that captures the meaning of the Hebrew word is steadfast love, as the NLT translates it.

Mercy is a product of or an ingredient/element of God's steadfast love. Therefore, it can be used as a representative metaphor for the complete and multi-faceted love of God. To say, "He is rich in mercy," (Ephesians 2:4) IS to say by implication that He is rich in all aspects of spiritual love or outgoing concern. The words plenteous (Ps. 86:5), abundant, great, everlasting, and many others are used to reveal to us the depth and magnitude of God's feelings of love in all its aspects toward us. His steadfast love is the essence of God's goodness toward us. He exhibits this love in unlimited ways, both positive and negative, in order to show His great goodness as well as His severity (Romans 11:22) in blessing and correcting His people, and in defending them by punishing enemies of His people. That explains how His steadfast love can smite, overthrow, and slay (V. 10, 15, 18), as well as bless, inspire, comfort, etc.

God's steadfast love toward His created children is the divine motive or agenda that drives the plan of salvation. It is the bedrock of our relationship with God and our conversion. God's steadfast love certainly deserves a whole Psalm with 26 repetitions to emphasize how overwhelmingly important it is for us to understand.

Psalm 137

Author: Not known

Time/Occasion: Exiles had returned from Babylon in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. They were among the ruins of their former home recounting the bitter experiences when they were maliciously taunted and invited to sing songs of Zion -- probably Psalms of the temple service -- for the amusement of the audience. To sing praises to God in the context of the blasphemous mockery of God would have been unthinkable and blasphemous in itself, so they refused and put their musical instruments aside. Perhaps some were willing to play the puppet and entertain the captors. "There we sat down" may refer to the custom of sitting on the ground while mourning. With its passionate love for Zion expressed in V. 5-6, this psalm was attached to the "Great Hallel" (120-136) as a final declaration of complete devotion to the center of Israel's worship of the true God and of His work on earth.

Main theme: Bitter memories of being punished with recommitment to God and His Work.

Hymnal: #80 By the Waters of Babylon.

Personal application: The imprecation (call for punishment) in V. 7-9 is a call for justice, which is righteous. The wretched expression of misery and desire for vengeance (natural reaction to humiliation and pain) is used to express the yearning for things to be made right. It doesn't tacitly approve vengeance.

This Psalm has a strong parallel with end time prophecies for the Church. Those who don't value it and leave the fellowship or in some way let their association slip away, remember the Church and its blessings with bitterness after having experienced great loss and destruction in their own lives and the lives of those who they love. The Laodicean Church of Revelation 3 is pictured in similar circumstances. Taken as prophecy for the Church in the end times, it draws a striking parallel between God's people in ancient times and at the end time after being left without protection to be punished.

One theme running through the Psalms is love for and devotion to the Church. Because God's Church (OT and NT) has had such trouble all through its history, many have drawn wrong conclusions and been led away from fellowship. Many have not left the truth but have lost that desire to be together and serve the world together. There is an emotional devotion to the family and the family business of God on earth, as it were -- the work of spreading the gospel with each other as co-workers. This is important and vital, because working together on a project draws us closer to each other. Working together causes us to grow spiritually, and growing spiritually causes a greater desire to do God's work, thereby serving God and man. The Church with its opportunities for fellowship and work is one of the greatest blessings God has given us. We need this part of God's program and should take advantage of it for we suffer great loss without it!

Psalms 138-145 is a collection of eight Davidic Psalms leading up to the final five-psalm conclusion. They were not necessarily composed by David but deal with similar issues to his early psalms. Some were likely Davidic psalms rewritten from an earlier time, and others were later (even post-exilic) ones composed in the style of David's early poems.

Psalm 138

Author: David (superscription). The Septuagint (LXX) adds "of Haggai and Zechariah" possibly re-edited in the times of those prophets.

Time/Occasion: Not known. The reference to the temple in V. 2 places it after David's time. It relates to a notable answer to prayer and appears to be from a king's personal perspective.

Main theme: Thanks and wholehearted praise for God's answers to prayers.

V.1-3. Praise to the God who hears and answers prayers.

V. 4-6. Praise to the God who takes action.

V. 7-8. Praise to the God who plans and fulfills His purpose.

Hymnal: #81 Lord, I Will Praise Thee!

Personal application:

V. 1. We should praise God (pray) with our whole heart. Sometimes we pray just because we know we should. Famous Scottish churchman and poet of the 1800's, Horatius Bonar, said that he had to go back and repent of his repentance since his first confession was just lip-service. We should reality-check ourselves often with the question: is my prayer, my study of God's Word, my weekly appointment with the Eternal at church services, my fellowship... whole-hearted praise of God, or something less? One of the elder members of a church I pastored early on (who became a mentor) made an insightful observation 35 years ago that impressed me: Speaking of a youth, he said, "Watch how he sings. [He sang with enthusiasm] A young man who will put his heart in it and sing praises to God sincerely will show you that his heart is humble and he respects God even if he does have some rough edges." Wouldn't it be the same for all of us? We should not allow ourselves the disrespectful luxury (sin) of lethargy and praise God with our whole heart!

V. 8. NLT: The Lord will work out His plans for my life... He does know what He wants for each of us (1 Corinthians 12:18) and has a plan to make it happen. If we knew what it was, we would jump in and try to do it our way, which would throw the whole thing off. We need to trust that He knows what He's doing and give it our best effort knowing the perfect wisdom of our Captain.

Psalm 139

Author: David (superscription).

Time/Occasion: Not known.

Main theme: A worshipful acknowledgement of God's supreme sovereignty in our personal relationship with Him and prayer for His personal examination of the heart of the worshipper.

The composition can be seen as four sections of six verses teaching four major qualities of God:

V. 1-6. His omniscience -- He knows everything.

V. 7-12. His omnipresence -- He is everywhere (through His Spirit).

V. 13-18. His omnipotence -- He has all power and controls everything.

V. 19-24. His holiness -- nothing unholy can be tolerated in the end.

Hymnal: N/A.

Personal application: The four categories of God's nature aren't treated as knowledge to be studied intellectually without the relationship but as great truths that have been realized through the experience of the relationship. This psalm views the petitioner in an intimate, personal relationship with God because of God's total knowledge of himself. No other type of genuine relationship is possible because God knows everything (about me), is all-powerful, is everywhere, and is absolutely holy.

The responses to each of these spiritual insights are wonder and adoration in the first three sections and commitment to total submission and conversion in the fourth.

Several especially profound statements are common memory verses: 2, 4, 7, 12, 14, 17, 22, and 23-24. V. 14. "I am fearfully and wonderfully made," is a recognizable saying in the culture.

One key that makes this psalm even more profound is to see the metaphoric meaning in the last section on commitment. Slaying of the wicked will happen literally in human experience but in our personal experience, we fight and destroy the spirit and evil thoughts and ideas of the wicked one -- Satan and his surrogates, both man and fallen spirits (1 Corinthians 3-6). We seek to push away the thoughts and influences of bloody men and

hate their vain and blasphemous thoughts in a way that leads us to perfect attitudes and thoughts.

The concluding requests of V. 23 and 24 are the product of a mature, converted Christian mind that has been through many a spiritual battle and has come to a deep understanding and conviction that we really do want God's will rather than our own. Psalm 139 can provide a refreshing renewal in our ongoing relationship with God, as it is based on and flows from the font of the First Commandment.

Psalm 140

Author: David (superscription).

Time/Occasion: Not known, but it was a later time in Israel's history when the righteous remnant were suffering grief at the hands of the ungodly.

Main theme: A prayer for protection with a concluding expression of faith.

Hymnal: N/A.

Personal application: Psalm 140 logically follows the concluding thought of 139. It describes the mental/spiritual battle we fight with the wicked powers of the spirit world -- our battle with Satan. We must recognize that we do fight a great enemy but can and will win the battle if we are totally committed (Luke 14:26-33). The head (V. 9) of the enemies that surround us is Satan the devil. Once again, slander is highlighted as a central element of attacking the righteous. They DO plot and plan to overthrow our salvation (V.3-4) and murder any one of us they can John 8:44; 1 Peter 5:8).

Ultimately by clinging to God, "We win!" It is from our relationship with God, which includes many pleas like Psalm 140, that deliverance and success come in the great battle for our lives.