# 375 A journey through the Psalms. Psalm 135. The Lord is good – The Lord is great!

Goodness and greatness do not always sit together well in the same person. Some “great” people in history would never be described as “good,” in fact some have been particularly evil. And in the same way, some very “good” people have never (in the eyes of the world anyway) been considered “great.” In this Psalm though, the psalmist uses both of these descriptive words for the Lord.

Longman says, “This hymn celebrates the goodness and the greatness of God over all the other gods because of who he is (vv. 6-7) and his great acts of redemption (the exodus and conquest, vv. 8-12).”  (# 30)

The dictionary definition of good is:

“Having admirable, pleasing, superior, or positive qualities; not negative, bad or mediocre, morally excellent or admirable; virtuous; righteous…” (Dictionary.com)

Let me add to this:  true, worthy of reverence, honourable, just, pure, lovely and lovable, kind and winsome and gracious, worthy of praise (see Philippians 4:8 AMPC).

So, the psalmist says:

³ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
    sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own,
    Israel to be his treasured possession.

But the Lord is not only good, He is also great! In fact, He is not only great, He is the greatest. His greatness is “unparalleled.” (# 30) The Greek word often used in the Bible is μέγας (megas), and this is defined as ‘the upper range of scale.’ In fact, this is where we get our English word mega from. So, if there is a word that could truly describe God (and there is not), it may be that our God is MEGA!

The psalmist proclaims:

⁵ I know that the Lord is great,
    that our Lord is greater than all gods…

These other gods (idols, etc) who are described as:

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
¹⁷ They have ears, but cannot hear,
    nor is there breath in their mouths (i.e., dead!)
¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

Our God is the Living God and so the psalmist continues:

⁶ The Lord does whatever pleases him,
    in the heavens and on the earth,
    in the seas and all their depths.
⁷ He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
    he sends lightning with the rain
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

“God is unique… he is sovereign, totally free, omnipotent…  and omnipresent… He also controls nature.” (# 30) Our problem is finding enough words to describe God, i.e., there are just not enough!

Then he adds:

⁸ He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    the firstborn of people and animals.
⁹ He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
    against Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
    Og king of Bashan,
    and all the kings of Canaan—
¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance,
    an inheritance to his people Israel.

“The psalmist now rehearses the great acts of God in the past… he remembers the climactic plague… He then moves from the exodus to the conquest… While Israel fought, it was God the Warrior who gave them the victory and also the land, and thus it is he who deserves the praise.” (# 30)

And so, considering his goodness and greatness the psalmist proclaims:

¹³ Your name, Lord, endures forever,
    your renown, Lord, through all generations.
¹⁴ For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants…

And, just as he began this Psalm, he finishes:

¹⁹ All you Israelites, praise the Lord;
    house of Aaron, praise the Lord;
²⁰ house of Levi, praise the Lord;
    you who fear him, praise the Lord.
²¹ Praise be to the Lord from Zion,
    to him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

Today we can now celebrate the goodness and the greatness of God knowing that which was predicted in the OT concerning the Messiah is now revealed in Christ. Read Ephesians 1:3-14 and give thanks to God,

the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us…  ⁵ he predestined us…  ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins…  ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ…