Psalms 135-136

What’s Happening?

The twin Psalms of 135 and 136 give Israel worship songs to sing at the end of the fifteen Songs of Ascent. After God’s people were exiled under evil powers, they began to ascend in pilgrimages back to Jerusalem, the mountain city of God’s presence. Both songs sing the same story: God saved his people from exile and conquered their wicked captors because his love endures forever. The four sections of both Psalms reflect each other, grounding every word of praise and every action of God in his never-ending love.  

Both songs open and close with invitations to celebration, calling the people of God to worship God (Psalm 135:1, 19; 136:1, 23). The returning exiles worship God because of his power and his choice. He is the most powerful God above all gods (Psalm 136:2). Yet he has chosen Israel as his people and he will never let them go (Psalm 135:4). These two realities—God’s ultimate power and his irrevocable choice—mean that his love for his people can endure forever (Psalm 136). If God is more powerful than any other god, nothing can stop his love from rescuing his people. If God himself will not stop loving his people, then that love must endure forever. The only response to such a powerful God and such an enduring love is thanks, celebration, and worship. 

Both Psalms then proclaim the ultimate power of God against all other gods. He alone holds the exalted place above all earthly and heavenly creation, powers, and beings (Psalm 135:5). With such authority, he alone has the power to create the heavens and the earth and fill them with life and light (Psalm 135:7; 136:4-9). Any other power is bound within what God himself created, while God is free to do all that he pleases (Psalm 135:6). Beautifully, he is pleased to use his unstoppable power to love and rescue his people from the inferior gods that have enslaved them.    

Both Psalms then recount the Exodus story, naming the victories God won over rival powers to free his people. Whereas God’s rule over his people lasts forever, the rule of Pharaoh—who enslaved them—was broken and his lineage cut off (Psalm 135:8; 136:10-11). Even the natural world of the sea, the land, and the animals bent under God’s power in the plagues and miracles he worked to release his people (Psalm 135:9; 136:12-16). After their release from Egypt, rival nations like the Amorites and Canaanites tried to take God’s people from him (Psalm 135:10-11; 136:17-20). But God defeated every power, even the giant-king Og. Og descended from both earthly and spiritual powers, but he is no match for the God of heaven and earth (Deuteronomy 3:11). The powers of man and the spiritual realm are powerless to steal God’s people from him (Psalm 135:15-18). Nothing can stop God’s love from rescuing his people. 

God’s enduring love is emphasized in every part of the song in Psalm 136. The refrain, “his love endures forever,” is repeated between every single line to poetically imbue the song with a never-ending confession of God’s never-ending love. The congregation sang this refrain as a response to the leader recounting all that God has done through Israel's history. This repetition was a testimony to Israel that nothing can or will stop God’s love from pursuing and rescuing his people. 

Where is the Gospel?

Psalms 135 and 136 are twin songs, but the Gospel gives us a third. Just as Israel sang of their God who defeated Egypt and the giant-king Og, we too can sing of Jesus who has conquered the greater enemies that enslave us—sin, death, and the powers of darkness.

Like Israel, we were in exile, bound by powers too strong for us. Corruption in our world, sin in our hearts, and death itself held us captive. But the story of Jesus maps perfectly onto the song these Psalms sing. He is the God above all gods, the Lord of lords, the King of kings (Revelation 19:16). The Red Sea parted at his command, the plagues fell by his hand, and all of creation exists through his rule. Yet this Creator did not stay distant. He entered his creation to rescue his enslaved people.

In Jesus, the one who does whatever pleases him was pleased to humble himself, to take on our form, and to fight our enemies. The rulers of earth—governors, religious leaders, and nations—rose up against him. The rulers of heaven—sin, Satan, and death—did their worst. They imprisoned, mocked, and crucified him. But like Egypt, like Og, like every god, their reign was cut off. Jesus rose from the dead, triumphing over every principality and power (Colossians 2:15). He broke open the grave and rescued all who were enslaved to death.

This is why Paul says nothing—“neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers”—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38–39). If Jesus is Lord of all creation, then no rival power can overcome him. And if Jesus has chosen to love us—even when we were enemies and exiles—then nothing can undo his choice (Romans 5:8).

The Psalms say it again and again: “his love endures forever.” In Jesus, that refrain has been ultimately revealed. His death proves it, his resurrection secures it, and his reign guarantees it. Nothing can stop Jesus’ love. Nothing can end his love. Nothing will ever separate us from his love.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit, whose love endures forever, would open your eyes to see the God whose love endures forever. And may you see Jesus, the King of kings, who defeated every power, whose love endures forever.