Psalms — Chapter 135

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1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
2 Ye that 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 praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
4 For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
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 an heritage, an 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.
15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
19 Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
20 Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
Abrahamic Catechism
Bible Study
Psalms — Chapter 135
◈ Zohar

• The Zohar (II, 186a) identifies this psalm as the grand invocation of the divine Name for cosmic warfare. "Praise the Name" (Hallelu Et Shem Hashem) activates the Name as a weapon — each syllable of praise energizing the Name's Sefiratic components. The servants standing in the courts are the angelic warriors positioned for deployment.

• "For I know that Hashem is great, and that our Lord is above all gods" — the Zohar (III, 93a) establishes the Tzaddik's knowledge (Yadati) as the foundation of spiritual authority. One cannot wield what one does not understand. The knowledge that God exceeds all other powers gives the Tzaddik confidence to invoke the Name against any Klipah, regardless of its apparent rank.

• "Whatever Hashem pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps" — the Zohar (I, 47a) declares absolute divine sovereignty across all domains: heaven (the upper Sefirot), earth (Malkhut), seas (the collective unconscious), and deeps (the Klipot's territory). There is no domain where God's will does not operate, meaning the Sitra Achra has no safe haven.

• "He it is who strikes down the firstborn of Egypt" — the Zohar (II, 36a) recalls the ultimate act of spiritual warfare: the destruction of the Sitra Achra's firstborn forces in Egypt. The firstborn (Bechor) of each Klipah is its primary manifestation, its strongest aspect. Striking the firstborn is decapitating the enemy's leadership, causing the entire Klipah-structure to collapse.

• "Your name, Hashem, endures forever, Your renown, Hashem, throughout all ages" — the Zohar (III, 260a) concludes with the permanence of the divine Name against the temporary nature of the Klipot's names. Every Klipah has a name that gives it power, but these names expire. The divine Name endures forever, and this permanence guarantees the eventual expiration of every competing name.

✦ Talmud

• Berakhot 9b notes that "the Lord is above all gods" (verse 5) is the fundamental declaration of spiritual superiority — the Talmud reads the Exodus plagues (verse 8-9) as God's systematic demotion of the Egyptian divine hierarchy, each plague stripping a specific adversarial principality of its national franchise.

• Sanhedrin 91a connects "He makes lightning for the rain" (verse 7) to the Talmudic teaching on natural phenomena as God's military arsenal — weather, wind, and cosmic events are all weaponized by the divine command and cannot be permanently captured by adversarial forces.

• Avodah Zarah 2b notes the silver and gold idols (verses 15-18) who give their worshipers the spiritual condition of their makers — "those who make them will be like them" means the covenant of idolatry produces spiritual paralysis, the Sitra Achra's desired end-state for its servants.

• Megillah 17b links this psalm to the Amidah's structure — the recounting of God's greatness over nations and nature that fills the psalm is the liturgical preparation for bringing one's personal petitions before the God who is already established as supreme.

• Sotah 49a closes with the priests and Levites who bless Israel in the house of the Lord (verse 19-21) — the Talmud treats the coordinated blessing from all sectors of the covenant community as a spiritual event that overwhelms adversarial resistance through sheer volume of consecrated intention.