Psalms 135:13 - Forerunner Commentary

Psalms 135:13

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Psalm 135:13
Excerpted from: Psalm Genres (Part Five): Psalms of Praise

These two verses, 13 and 14, act as a kind of conclusion taken from what God did for Israel: from Egypt, their redemption in Egypt, to their conquest of the land. It is as if the psalmist, when he was going through these historical things, sat back, kind of thought a little bit after writing that, and considering God's acts of salvation there, and he said to himself, I need to make this point plain. God saved our forefathers but they did not deserve it. It happened because God is God. So he remarks about His name. He remarks about His fame. He remarks that God is Judge and that He is compassionate.

We need to know something. If you look in the margin, if you have marginal references in your Bible, it will tell you that these two verses come from two verses in the Pentateuch. Verse 13 alludes to Exodus 3:15. We are going to go back there. If you know your chapters, Exodus 3 is "Moses meets God." The burning bush and where God reveals His name to Moses.

That last bit, that last sentence in Exodus 3:15 is what the psalmist copied over into Psalm 135:13. "Your name, O Lord, endures forever, Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations." We have to understand the significance of a name to the Hebrews. We think of a name as something that identifies a person. But in Hebrew, a name not only identifies, but it encapsulates or represents everything about that person. I mean, you think of anyone, any name, and your mind will begin to build not just a picture of the person, but all the deeds you know about, the things that they have said, their character, a lot of different things, and that is why the word 'name' is so significant in the Bible. The name of the Lord means a whole lot more than just Yahweh, you know, an identifier. It means everything about God, all His character.

And so when the psalmist repeats Exodus 3:15 and says, "Your name, O Lord, endures forever," he is bringing out a far greater point than maybe just on the surface. So when God said His name to Moses as the I AM or I AM WHO I AM, not only is His name permanent, and that is the name that the Israelites will use forever for Him, but He is also referring in a slightly offhanded way to us that His holy righteous character, what He is, is also eternal. It does not change. It is constant. So what He says about Himself in Exodus 34, when Moses again was able to see God's hind parts and He preaches him that sermon, He gives him a listing of characteristics of Him. And those characteristics are going to be eternal. They will not change either.

So not only the name of God as Yahweh, the I AM is a permanent name as Israel's God's covenant name, but all the character of God that goes with that name will also be everlasting. You remember in Malachi 3:6 it says,

That is very interesting and that is part of what we are getting at here in Psalm 135:13 taken from Exodus 3:15. What He is saying in terms of His name being everlasting is that He can be trusted to do what He promises because He never changes. It is eternal. It is everlasting. And what He has promised is to save. Because—simple answer—He is what He is—always. And because He is a gracious, merciful, loving, covenant-keeping God, then He will save us. He is not fickle, and that is why Israel is not consumed even though they deserve it. God is essentially saying, "If I were any different, Israel, you'd be dead. You'd be those grease spots on the road. But because I'm a loving, gracious, merciful, covenant-keeping God, you're not consumed because I chose you for salvation." And He says the same thing to us. It is all based on Him, who He is, what He is. And that He is true.

Now what about the next part about His fame? "Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations" back in 135:13. I think the better word would be renown here for fame. I actually like better than that is what was said in Exodus 3:15, memorial or remembrance would actually be better terms here. Because it is a quote of what was said back … . . .

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The Names of God

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