Psalm 135: The God Who Does Whatever He Pleases

There is a line in this psalm that ought to stop us in our tracks: "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places." It is not an argument for God's sovereignty; it is simply a statement of it, delivered with the quiet confidence of someone describing the weather. And from this single fact — that God does what He pleases — the psalm unfolds a catalogue of wonders: vapours ascending from the ends of the earth, lightnings made for the rain, wind drawn from secret treasuries. Then come the historical acts — Egypt struck, nations overthrown, kings defeated — not as brute force but as the deliberate pleasure of a God who chose Jacob for Himself and called Israel His peculiar treasure. The psalm then turns its gaze to the idols of the nations, those silver and gold statues with mouths that cannot speak and eyes that cannot see, and delivers the most devastating critique imaginable: "They that make them are like unto them." You become what you worship. If your god is dead metal, you will slowly calcify into something equally lifeless. But if your God pulls wind from His treasuries and calls you His treasure — well. That changes everything. Praise ye the Lord.

00:00 Praise Ye the Name of the Lord
00:18 His Peculiar Treasure
00:32 Whatsoever the Lord Pleased
00:48 Vapours, Lightning, and Wind
01:02 Egypt, Sihon, and Og
01:20 The Idols of the Heathen
01:38 You Become What You Worship
01:52 Bless the Lord, O Israel