June 2008 Lectio Divina

Psalm 135
Praise for the wonderful things God does for us

He has won us for himself…and you must proclaim what he has done for you. He has called you out of darkness into his own wonderful light (see 1 Peter 2:9)

Praise the name of the Lord,
praise him, servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord
in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord for the Lord is good.
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself
and Israel for his own possession.

For I know the Lord is great,
that our Lord is high above all gods.

The Lord does whatever he wills,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.

He summons clouds from the ends of the earth;
makes lightning produce the rain;
from his treasuries he sends forth the wind.

The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,
of man and beast alike.

Signs and wonders he worked
in the midst of your land, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.

Nations in their greatness he struck
and kings in the splendor he slew.
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, the king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
He let Israel inherit their land:
on his people their land he bestowed.

This psalm was undoubtedly sung at one of Israel’s festivals, probably the feast of the Passover. Although it includes parts of other psalms (notably Psalm 115 and 136), Psalm 135 has a real unity and development of thought. The psalm gives thanks to the Lord for his work in creation and in Israel’s history, and contrasts this with the futility of pagan idols who can do nothing.

Praise the Lord for the Lord is good.
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself
and Israel for his own possession.

We begin to hear the reasons why we should praise the Lord. The first of them is because of the way he has shown his goodness and love by choosing Israel to be his people. Israel’s identity and value rested solely in the fact that the Lord had chosen her for himself. Israel belonged to the Lord alone. The sentence carries over this fact to the new Israel, the church: You are a chosen race. Sing the praises of one who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).

For I know the Lord is great,
that our Lord is high above all gods.

Creation becomes the next reason why we should praise the Lord. In creation his greatness is revealed. He does whatever he wills.

He summons clouds from the ends of the earth;
makes lightning produce the rain;

Lightning often accompanies heavy rain in Palestine, but to say that the lightning produces the rain is poetry, not science.

The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,
of man and beast alike.

Signs and wonders he worked
in the midst of your land, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.

From creation we move to the Exodus. The psalm rehearses only the bare outline of events. The death of the first-born was the climax of the plagues sent on Egypt to make Pharaoh change his mind and let the people go. It was the catalyst for the Exodus. Signs and wonders are events that specifically reveal the majesty and glory of God. St. John takes up the word sign and uses it in the same sense to describe Jesus’ miracles.

Nations in their greatness he struck
and kings in the splendor he slew.
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, the king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
He let Israel inherit their land:
on his people their land he bestowed.

We skip straight from the flight out of Egypt to the entry into the Promised Land, leaving out the crossing of the Red Sea and all the wilderness events. Sihon and Og are singled out because they were the first kings defeated by Israel in their march into the promised land. The Amorites lived in the territory we today call Jordan. Bashan is in this area too. The story of the conquests is told in Numbers 21:21-35. The description of the land as Israel’s inheritance makes a link back to the Lord’s promise to Abraham, to give him the land as ‘an everlasting possession’ (Genesis 17:8).

Lord, your name stands for ever,
unforgotten from age to age:
for he Lord does justice for his people;
the Lord takes pity on his servants.

God’s character as revealed in the Exodus is of one who liberates the oppressed, does justice for his people, the implication being that he will always act in this way. His character is unchanging, his name stands for ever.

Commentary from ‘The School of Prayer’ – an Introduction to the Divine Office for All Christians, by John Brook, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota (1992).