Psalm 134 [MT 135]

Very pleasant ought it be to us, and we should rejoice because it is pleasant, to which this Psalm exhorts us. For it says, "Praise the name of the Lord" [Psalm 135:1]. And it immediately appends the reason, why it is just to praise the name of the Lord. "Praise the Lord, you servants." What more just? What more worthy? What more thankful?...For if He teaches His own servants who have deserved well of Him, the preachers of His Word, the rulers of His Church, the worshippers of His name, the obeyers of His command, that in their own conscience they should possess the sweetness of their life, lest they be corrupted by the praise or disheartened by the reproach of men; how much the more is He above all, the unchangeable One, who teaches these things, neither the greater if you praise, or the less if you reproach. For you will do nothing out of place, by praising your Lord, as servants. And if you were to be for ever only servants, you ought to praise the Lord; how much more ought ye servants to praise the Lord, that you may hereafter gain the privilege of sons?

After the previous psalms (as has been said), in which the prophet ascended by divine mercy to the peak of all virtues, he addresses those who stand in the house of the Lord so that after all God's immense acts of kindness have been conferred, the heavens and the earth would not cease to praise their Creator. And see with what distinction those commandments have grown in these two verses. First he said, "Praise the name of the Lord." And lest you should think that this was commanded to any and all, he added, "Praise the Lord, you servants," that is, "You who are his servants, devoted with eager will, and sense that you have a Lord whom you do not despise by any superstition." Third, he says, "You who stand in the house of the Lord," that is, "You who stand in holy belief in him with a persevering and unvacillating will." This is said against those who have suffered a downfall and fallen suddenly from the honor conferred upon them. Next are the words, "In the halls of the house of our God." The first entrance of a rather large home is called the hall. There those who live there have been known to make hearths for themselves to drive out the cold. And from the very murky billows of black smoke, these places were called halls (atria) on the grounds that they are pitch black (atra), as antiquity has passed down to us. And because no statement stands empty, which does not seem to contain some mystery, he also says that even those who seem to enter the first portion of the Lord's house ought to praise the Lord.

...Therefore, "Ye who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord" (ver. 2). Be thankful; ye were without, and ye stand within. Since then ye stand, is it a small thing for you to think where He should be praised, who raised you when you were cast down, and caused you to stand in His house, to know Him, and to praise Him? Is it a small boon, that we stand in the house of the Lord? ...If one thinks of this, and is not unthankful, he will utterly despise himself in comparison with the love of his Lord, who hath done so great things for him. And since he hath nothing wherewith to repay God for so great benefits, what remains for him but to give Him thanks, not to repay Him? It belongs to the very act of thanksgiving, to "receive the cup of the Lord, and to call upon His name." For what can the servant repay the Lord for all that He hath given him?

But you say to me, "What am I going to do? If there will be no use for my members there, what am I going to do?" Does existing, seeing, loving, praising seem idleness to you? Behold! These holy days that are celebrated after the resurrection of the Lord signify the life that is to come after our resurrection. For just as the forty days before Easter symbolized the life full of suffering in this mortal period of distress, so these joyful days point to the future life, where we are destined to reign with the Lord. The life that is signified by the forty days before Easter is our burden now; the life that is symbolized by the fifty days after Easter is not possessed now but is an object of hope and is loved while it is hoped for. By that very love we praise God, who promised this eternal life to us, and our praises are Alleluias. For what does "Alleluia" mean? It is a Hebrew word signifying "praise God," allelu meaning "praise" and Ia meaning "God." Therefore, by our "Alleluia" we cry out, "Praise God," and we arouse one another to praise God. We sing praises to God, we chant our "Alleluias" with hearts attuned to harmony far better than with the chords of the lyre. When we have sung our praises, impelled by our weakness we withdraw to refresh our bodies. Why do we do this, except because we are faint? Furthermore, the weakness of the flesh is so great and the annoyance of this life so oppressive that everything, no matter how great it be, eventually leads to aversion. When these days were drawing to a close, how we longed for those of the coming year, and with how much eagerness we approached them after a lapse of time! But, if we were given the command "Sing Alleluias without ceasing," we would excuse ourselves. Why? Because in our weariness we would not be able to do so, because even in the face of such a good we would be overcome by our distaste. There [in the risen life] no weakness, no aversion will exist. Stand and give praise, you "who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God." Why do you question what you are going to do there? The psalmist says, "Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord; they shall praise you forever and ever."

What reason shall I give why you should praise Him? "Because the Lord is good" (ver. 3). Briefly in one word is here explained the praise of the Lord our God. "The Lord is good;" good, not in the same manner as the things which He here made are good. For God made all things very good; not only good, but also very good. He made the sky and earth, and all things which are in them good, and He made them very good. If He made all these things good, of what sort is He who made them? ...How far can we speak of His goodness? Who can conceive in his heart, or apprehend how good the Lord is? Let us however return to ourselves, and in us recognise Him, and praise the Maker in His works, because we are not fit to contemplate Him Himself. And in hope that we may be able to contemplate Him, when our heart hath been purified by faith, that hereafter it may rejoice in the Truth; now as He cannot be seen by us, let us look at His works, that we may not live without praising Him.

"For the Lord has chosen Jacob to Himself, Israel for His own possession" [Psalm 135:4]....Let not Jacob therefore extol himself, let him not boast himself, or ascribe it to his own merits. He was known before, predestinated before, elected before, not elected for his own merits, but found out, and gifted with life by the grace of God. So with all the Gentiles; for how did the wild-olive deserve, that it should be grafted in, from the bitterness of its berries, the barrenness of its wildness? It was the wood of the wilderness, not of the Lord's field, and yet He of His mercy grafted the wild-olive into the (true) olive. But up to this time the wild-olive was not grafted in.

..."Because," says he, "I know that the Lord is great, and our God is above all gods" [Psalm 135:5]. If we should say to him, we ask thee, explain to us His greatness; would he not perchance answer us, He whom I see is not so very great, if He be able to be expounded by me. Let him then return to His works, and tell us. Let him hold in his conscience the greatness of God, which he has seen, which he has committed to our faith, whither he could not lead our eyes, and enumerate some of the things which the Lord hath done here; that unto us, who cannot see His greatness as he can, He may become sweet through the works of His which we can comprehend....

"All whatsoever the Lord willed, He made in the heaven, and in the earth, in the sea, and in all its deep places" [Psalm 135:6]. Who can comprehend these things? Who can enumerate the works of the Lord in the heaven and earth, in the sea, and in all deep places? Yet if we cannot comprehend them all, we should believe and hold them without question, because whatever creature is in heaven, whatever is in earth, whatever is in the sea and in all deep places, has been made by the Lord. ...

But since I said that the Omnipotent can only not do what he does not will, lest anyone thinks I rashly said that the Omnipotent cannot do anything, the blessed Apostle also said: If we do not believe, he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself. But because he does not will it, he cannot, for he cannot will it. For justice cannot will to do what is unjust, wisdom cannot will what is foolish, nor can truth will what is false. Hence we are admonished that God is omnipotent, not only in what the Apostle says: He cannot deny himself, but in many things he cannot. Behold, I say, and dare to say in his truth, which I do not dare to deny: God the Omnipotent cannot die, cannot change, cannot be deceived, cannot become miserable, cannot be overcome. These and similar things, far be it from the Omnipotent to be able to do. And therefore, not only does the truth show that he is omnipotent because he cannot do these things, but it also compels the truth to state that he is not omnipotent who can do these things. For God is whatever he wills to be; therefore he is eternal, immutable, truthful, blessed, and invincible as he wills to be. Therefore, if he can be what he does not will, he is not omnipotent; but he is omnipotent, therefore he can do whatever he wills. And thus, what he does not will, he cannot be; for which reason he is called omnipotent, because he can do whatever he wills. Of whom the Psalm also says: In heaven and on earth, he has done all that he willed.

It is not, then, to be doubted that men's wills cannot, so as to prevent His doing what he wills, withstand the will of God, "who hath done all things whatsoever He pleased in heaven and in earth," and who also "has done those things that are to come;" since He does even concerning the wills themselves of men what He will, when He will. Unless, perchance (to mention some things among many), when God willed to give the kingdom to Saul, it was so in the power of the Israelites, as it certainly was placed in their will, either to subject themselves or not to the man in question, that they could even prevail to withstand God. God, however, did not do this, save by the will of the men themselves, because he beyond doubt had the most omnipotent power of inclining men's hearts whither it pleased Him. For thus it is written: "And Samuel sent the people away, and every one went away unto his own place. And Saul went away to his house in Gibeah: and there went away with Saul mighty men, whose hearts the Lord touched. And pestilent children said, Who shall save us? This man? And they despised him, and brought him no presents." Will any one say that any of those whose hearts the Lord touched to go with Saul would not have gone with him, or that any of those pestilent fellows, whose hearts He did not touch to do this, would have gone?

Providence, then, is the solicitude that God has for existing things. And again, providence is that will of God by which all existing things receive suitable guidance through to their end. But, if providence is God's will, then, according to right reason, everything that has come about through providence has quite necessarily come about in the best manner and that most befitting God, so that it could not have happened in a better way. Now, the Maker of existing things must be the same as their Provider, for it is neither fitting nor logical that one should be their creator and another their provider, because in such a case they would both be definitely wanting—the one in the matter of creating and the other in that of providing. Hence, God is both Creator and Provider, and his power of creating, sustaining and providing is his good will. For "whatsoever the Lord pleased he has done, in heaven and in earth," and none resisted his will. He willed all things to be made, and they were made; he wills the world to endure, and it does endure; and all things whatsoever he wills are done.

"Raising the clouds from the ends of the earth" [Psalm 135:7]. We see these works of God in His creation. For the clouds come from the ends of the earth to the midst thereof, and rain; you scan not whence they arise. Hence the prophet signifies this, from "the ends of the earth," whether it be from the bottom, or from the circumference of the ends of the earth, whencesoever He wills He raises the clouds, only from the earth. "He has made lightnings into rain." For lightnings without rain would frighten you, and bestow nothing on you. "He makes lightnings unto rain." It lightens, and you tremble; it rains, you rejoice. "He has made lightnings unto rain." He who terrified you, Himself causest that you should rejoice. "Who brings the winds out of His treasures," their causes are hidden, you know not whence they come. When the wind blows, you feel it; why it blows, or from what treasure of His wisdom it is brought forth, you know not; [John 3:8] yet you owe to God the worship of faith, for it would not blow unless He had bidden who made it, unless He had brought it forth who created it.

The sky above, the earth and ocean's mightydepths, The orbs presiding over day and over night, The winds and tempests, lightnings, showers of rain and clouds, The polar stars, the star of evening, heat and snow, The fountains, hoarfrosts, precious veins of ore and streams, One in their might one both the Father and the Son, And that one splendor generated by one light With all the Godhead's plenitude of brightness shone. In God one undivided being operates, And by one power was created all that is, The rugged cliffs and level plains and mountain dells, Wild beasts, the fowl of air and reptiles, all that swim, The beasts of burden, cattle, oxen, mammoth brutes, The flowers and shrubs, the vines, the herbs and woodland groves, All plants that shed their fragrance, plants that food supply.

We see therefore these things in that work of His; we praise, we marvel at, we bless God; let us see what He has done among men for His people. "Who smote the first-born of Egypt." But withal those divine doings are told which you might love, those are not told which you might fear. Attend, and see that also when He is angry, He does what He wills.

"He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt!" You know, you have read what the hand of the Lord did by Moses in Egypt, to crush and cast down the proud Egyptians, "on Pharaoh and on all his servants." Little did He in Egypt: what did He after His people was led out thence?

"Who smote many nations," who possessed that land, which God willed to give His people.

"And slew mighty kings, Sehon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan." All these things which the Psalm records simply, do we read likewise in others of the Lord's books, and there the hand of the Lord is great. When you see what has been done to the wicked, take heed lest it be done to you....But when the good man sees what the wicked has suffered, let him cleanse himself from all iniquity, lest he fall into a like punishment, a like chastisement. Then you have thoroughly understood these things. What did God then? He drove out the wicked.

All these things which the Psalm records simply, do we read likewise in others of the Lord's books, and there the hand of the Lord is great. When thou seest what has been done to the wicked, take heed lest it be done to thee. ...But when the good man sees what the wicked has suffered, let him cleanse himself from all iniquity, lest he fall into a like punishment, a like chastisement. Then ye have thoroughly understood these things. What did God then? He drove out the wicked, "And he gave their land for an inheritance, even an inheritance to Israel His servant" (ver. 12).

Then follows the loud cry of His praise. "Thy Name, O Lord, is for ever and ever" (ver. 13), after all these things which Thou hast done. For what do I see that Thou hast done? I behold Thy creation which Thou hast made in heaven, I behold this lower part, where we dwell, and here I see Thy gifts of clouds, and winds, and rain. I regard Thy people; Thou leddest them from the house of bondage, and didst signs and wonders upon their enemies. Thou punishedst those who caused them trouble, Thou dravest the wicked from their land, Thou killedst their kings, Thou gavest their land to Thy people: I have seen all these things, and filled with joy have said, "Lord, Thy Name is for ever and ever."

...All these things then did God overthrow, in the body at that time, when our fathers were led out of the land of Egypt, in the spirit now. Nor does His Hand cease until the end. Therefore deem not that these mighty deeds of God were then finished and have ceased. "Thy Name, O Lord," he says, "is for ever." That is, Thy loving-kindness ceaseth not, Thy hand ceaseth not for ever from doing these things, which then Thou didst afore declare in a figure. "But they are written for our admonition, on whom the end of the ages is come." One generation and another generation; the generation by which we are made the faithful, and are born again by baptism; the generation by which we shall rise again from the dead, and shall live with the Angels for ever. Thy Memorial, O Lord, is above this generation, and above that; for neither doth He now forget to call us, nor then will He forget to crown us.

"The Lord has judged His people, and will be called upon among His servants" [Psalm 135:14]. Already has He judged the people. Save the final judgment, the people of the Jews is judged. What is "judged"? The just are taken away, the unjust are left. But if I lie, or am thought to lie, because I have said, it is already judged, hear the Lord saying, "I have come for judgment into this world, that they who see not may see, and they who see may be made blind." [John 9:39] The proud are made blind, the lowly are enlightened. Therefore, "He has judged His people." Isaiah spoke the judgment. "And now, thou house of Jacob, come ye, let us walk in the light of the Lord." [Isaiah 2:5] This is a small matter; but what follows? "For He has put away His people, the house of Israel." The house of Jacob is the house of Israel; for he who is Jacob, the same is Israel....Therefore God had judged His people, by separating the evil and the good; that is to say, "He shall be called upon among His servants." By whom? By the Gentiles. For how vast are the nations who have come in by faith. How many farms and desert places now come in to us? They come thence no one can tell how numerously; they would believe. We say to them, What will you? They answer, To know the glory of God. Believe, my brethren, that we wonder and rejoice at such a claim of these rustic people. They come I know not whither, roused up by I know not whom. How shall I say, I know not by whom? I know indeed by whom, because He says, "No one comes to Me, save whom the Father draws." [John 6:44] They come suddenly from the woods, the desert, the most distant and lofty mountains, to the Church; and many of them, nay, near all hold this language, so that we see of a truth that God teaches them within. The prophecy of Scripture is fulfilled, when it says, "And they shall all be taught of God." [Isaiah 54:13] We say to them, What do ye long for? And they answer, To see the glory of God. [John 6:45] "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." [Romans 3:23] They believe, they are sanctified, they will to have clergy ordained for them. Is it not fulfilled, "and He will be called upon among His servants"?

Lastly, after all that arrangement and dispensation, the Spirit of God turns itself to reproaching and ridiculing those idols, which are now ridiculed by their very worshippers. "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold" [Psalm 135:15]. As God made all these things, who made whatever He would in heaven and earth, what can anything that man makes be, but an object of ridicule, not adoration? Was He perchance about to speak of "the idols of the Gentiles," that we might despise them all? Was He about to speak of the idols of the heathen, stones and wood, plaster and pottery? I say not these, they are mean materials. I speak of that which they specially love, that which they specially honour. "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." Surely it is gold, surely it is silver: because silver glitters, and gold glitters, have they therefore eyes, or do they see?

Therefore, who would not blush, if they had any humanity, to close the day without a number of psalms, when the birds themselves prance about in the sweetness of a psalter as their way of giving thanks? Who would not blush to fail to make his glory resound with the sweetness of verses, when the birds proclaim his praise with the song they sing? Therefore, brother, imitate the tiny birds by rendering thanks to the Maker morning and evening. And if you are more pious, imitate the nightingale; because the day alone does not suffice for speaking praises—it passes through the watches of the night in its all-night song! Therefore, you too overcome the day with your praises and add to your work the courses of the night, and comfort with a series of psalms the sleepless industry of the work you have undertaken! And because I have mentioned these birds which keep watch at night, I do not want you to imitate the owl; although it keeps watch at night, it is nonetheless lazy or blind during the day; with its big eyes it is content with the dark shadows and abhors the splendor of the sun. In a marvelous manner, it finds light in the darkness, but is blinded by the light. That animal is an example of the heretics and heathen. They embrace the shadows of the devil, abhor the light of the Savior, and with the big eyes of their arguments they discern empty matters but do not look towards eternal things. The Lord says about them: "They have eyes and yet do not see; they walk in darkness." Their eyes are keen when it comes to superstition, but are dim when it comes to divine matters; although they think that they fly away by their subtle discourses, nonetheless like true owls they are thrown into confusion by the splendor of the light.

"I am the Lord your God. You shall not make for yourselves idols fashioned by the hand, neither set up a graven image. Nor shall you set up a remarkable stone in your land [to worship it]: I am the Lord your God." These words indeed were first spoken by the Lord by the lips of Moses, being applicable certainly to whomsoever the Lord God of Israel may lead forth in like manner from the Egypt of a most superstitious world and from the place of human slavery. But from the mouth of every prophet in succession sounds forth also utterances of the same God, augmenting the same law of his by a renewal of the same commands, and in the first place announcing no other duty in so special a manner as being on guard against all making and worshiping of idols; as when by the mouth of David he says, "The gods of the nations are silver and gold: they have eyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not; they have a nose, and smell not; a mouth, and they speak not; hands, and they handle not; feet and they walk not. Like to them shall be they who make them and trust in them."

But as these things are senseless, why make ye men of silver and gold to be gods? See ye not that the gods which you make see not? "They have a mouth, and will not speak; they have eyes, and will not see" [Psalm 135:16].

"They have ears, and will not hear; neither is there any breath in their mouth" [Psalm 135:17]; "they have nostrils, and will not smell; they have hands, and will not work; they have feet, and will not walk." All these things could the carpenter, the silversmith, the goldsmith make, both eyes, and ears, and nostrils, and mouth, and hands, and feet, but he could give neither sight to the eyes, nor hearing to the ears, nor speech to the mouth, nor smell to the nostrils, nor motion to the hands, or going to the feet.

And man, you laugh doubtless at what you have made, if you know by whom you are made. But of them who know not, what is said? "All they who make them, and all they who trust in them, are like them" [Psalm 135:18]. And ye believe, brethren, that there is a likeness to these idols expressed not in their flesh, but in their inner man. For "they have ears, and hear not." God calls to them indeed, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." [Matthew 11:15] They have eyes, and see not, for they have the eyes of the body, and not the eyes of faith. Lastly, this prophecy is fulfilled among all the nations....Is it not fulfilled? Is it not seen, as it is written? And they who remain have eyes, and see not; have nostrils, and smell not. They perceive not that savour. "We are a good savour of Christ," [2 Corinthians 2:15] as the apostle says everywhere. What profits it, that they have nostrils, and smell not that so sweet savour of Christ? Truly it is done in them, and truly it is said of them, "All they who make them," etc.

But daily do men believe through the miracles of Christ our Lord; daily the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf are opened, the nostrils of the senseless are breathed into, the tongues of the dumb are loosed, the hands of the palsied are strengthened, the feet of the lame are guided; sons of Abraham are raised up of these stones, [Matthew 3:9] to all of whom be it said, "Bless the Lord, you house of Israel" [Psalm 135:19]. All are sons of Abraham; and if sons of Abraham are raised up from these stones, it is plain that they are rather the house of Israel who belong to the house of Israel, the seed of Abraham, not by the flesh, but by faith. But even granting that it is said of that house, and the people of Israel is meant, from thence did the Apostles and thousands of the circumcised believe?

But even granting that it is said of that house, and the people of Israel is meant, from thence did the Apostles and thousands of the circumcised believe? "Bless the Lord, ye house of Aaron. Bless the Lord, ye house of Levi" (ver. 20). Bless the Lord, ye nations, this is, the "house of Israel" generally; bless Him, ye leaders, this is, the "house of Aaron;" bless Him, ye servants, this is, the "house of Levi." What of the other nations? "Ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord."

Let us also with one voice say what follows: "Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem" [Psalm 135:21]. Out of Zion is Jerusalem too. Zion is "watching," Jerusalem the "vision of peace." In what Jerusalem will He dwell now? In that which has fallen? Nay, but in that which is our mother, which is in the heavens, of which it is said, "The desolate has more children than she which has a husband." For now the Lord is from Zion, because we watch when He will come; now as long as we live in hope, we are in Zion. When our way is ended, we shall dwell in that city which will never fall, because the Lord dwells in her, and keeps her, which is the vision of peace, the eternal Jerusalem; for the praise of which, my brethren, language suffices not; where we shall find no enemy, either within the Church or without the Church, neither in our flesh, nor in our thoughts. For "death shall be swallowed up in victory," [1 Corinthians 15:54] and we shall be free to see God in eternal peace, being made citizens of Jerusalem, the city of God.