{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov! Good morning, and welcome back to Mishkan Katan, where this morning after nearly 2 months away, we are returning to our study of the book of psalms. But first, we have just entered the month of Cheshvon, a quieter month, by comparison than the month of Tishri, although it has been called “MarCheshvon”, meaning bitter Cheshvon”. Why? Well, it contains no feasts or fasts, and it marks the start of the rainy season, in Israel. Furthermore, the month is viewed as a time of judgment, because we read in Genesis 7 and 8 that the Great Flood started in Cheshvon (on the 17th) and ended just over a year later, also in Cheshvon, (on the 27th.) The original name in Hebrew for this month is Bul, which is remarkably similar to the He few word “Marbul”, which means “flood.”
This biblical month is also believed, according to tradition, to be the month in which both Rachel and Sarah died. And, in the first Temple Period, just after the nation of Israel became divided into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah), the first ruler of the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam, established a “look-alike” (heathen) festival in that region, to rival the divinely-appointed festivals still being celebrated in Judah.
And finally, in this last historical note, King Solomon completed the First Temple in this month, but it was not inaugurated until the next month, Kislev, thereby, again as was stated earlier, depriving Cheshvon of any holidays, festivals or fasts.
Looking toward the future, the sages believe the 3rd Temple will be consecrated during Cheshvon. They believe this will be the millennial temple. But, Messianic believers know from the whole of Scripture that the 3rd Temple will be built and in use during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the 7-year Tribulation period. That Temple will then be replaced by the Fourth Temple, the Ezekiel Temple, at the beginning of the Messianic Age.
OK! We are going to begin this morning in Psalm 135, and we only have 15 more psalms before we get to the end of the book. I hope that you had a joyful and meaningful fall holidays with your family and loved ones. I enjoyed so much returning to the themes of the fall festivals in my sessions with you over the past month.
Turn in your copy of the scriptures to Psalm 135, and let’s get started. Scan the verses with me as we go, because I am not going to read the entire psalm until the end.
While you are turning there…When we ended our last session we had finished the Psalms of Ascent, Psalms 120-134. This psalm, 135, along with the next two, 136 and 137, form a sort of addendum to the Psalms of Ascent.
Psalm 135 is essentially a messianic hymn. What do I mean by that? Well, in this Psalm, the writer is looking forward toward the messianic age, when the Messiah will rule over all the Earth. In the psalm, you’re going to see that he singles out notable events of the history of the Jewish people, and in so doing he praises Hashem for his wonderful works.
According to the sage, Ibn Ezra, this song was composed for the priests who performed the service and also for the Levites who sing, in the Temple. So, when you read in verse one, a reference to the servant of Hashem, Ibn Ezra believes that this is who the Psalm is referring to. According to Jewish belief and theology, during the messianic era, another temple will be built and will be active. This is the temple that is described in the book of Ezekiel. Many Christian theologians concur with this Jewish belief. In that age, there will be priests and there will be Levites, actively serving in the temple. Ezekiel describes some of the rituals they will perform. This is a bit of an aside, but my personal belief is that they will not be performing all of the exact same sacrifices they performed when the previous temples were standing. But, they will be used by Hashem in the service of King Messiah, Yeshua.
Verse two refers to the worshipers at that temple. Elsewhere in scripture, we are told that people from all over the whole earth will come to Jerusalem to worship. At that time, in that age, widespread wickedness will have been eradicated, and “the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters that cover the sea”. This is a reference to the Messianic Age, from Habakkuk 2:14.
Verse four provides the reason that the redeemed should praise God and declare the goodness of his name as they worship him. The reason is because Father Yahweh selected as His chosen people the nation referred to here as Jacob. The Jewish stages comment that when the nation sometimes called Israel, and sometimes called, Jacob is mentioned in the scriptures, the term Israel is used when the nation is dwelling in the holy land. That name signifies triumph over evil and adversity. The reference there is Genesis 32 verse 29. But, when the nation is an exile, as it was for most of the past 2000 years, it is referred to as Jacob. This name alludes to the oppression the Jewish people have endured from the tyranny of hostile, gentile nations. The point, though here, is that of all nations, the Jewish nation has the greatest obligation to praise the name of HaShem. Despite the rising antisemitism present in our current day, the nation of the Jews remains Hashem’s treasure.
The sages say that the nation will not achieve it’s most full and glorious potential until the messianic age. As followers of Yeshua, we agree with this statement, because we know the scriptures in the Brit Chadasha tell us that in the end, during the last years of the Time of Jacob‘s Trouble, all Israel will come to recognize Yeshua as its Mashiach. When that happens, the nation will indeed be on the cusp of the messianic age, and will at that time achieve it’s fullness of joy. I long to see that day!
Verse five asserts Hashem’s supremacy over all other gods, all of which are false. These are the gods worshiped by pagans and pagan nations. Versus six through seven detail, Hashim‘s creative acts, his mastery over all the forces of creation. When he manifested himself in the God-man Yeshua, we saw this at work. Yeshua walked upon the waters of the Sea of Galilee, and He calmed the storms upon the same. These verses are also reminiscent of passages in the book of Job, where an answer to Job’s challenge to him, God ask him where he, Job was, when he created all that is.
If you were watching this in real time, many of us prayed Ernestly that the recent hurricane that came ashore near Pensacola, Florida, hurricane Isaiah’s, would be less in its strength, so that it’s destructive properties would be scaled back. And, he who hears an answer, his prayers answered this one. It was the first hurricane of this hurricane season in the Gulf of America. For this fact, alone, there was a lot of fear surrounding it. But also, this hurricane occurred very late in the hurricane season, another anomaly. Regardless, he who raises clouds from the end of the Earth, who makes lightning bolts for the rain, who brings fourth wind from his treasuries, scaled back this mighty weather system, and saved many lives. We thank him for these answered prayers! One of my favorite Rabbi‘s, Rabbi, Eric Tokajer, lives in Pensacola. I’m thankful that Pensacola was not utterly devastated by the storm.
In verses eight and nine, the Psalmist recounts the mighty Works of God, in regard to his deliverance of the Hebrew people and other God fears from the clutches of the Egyptian pharaoh, in the great Exodus. In first eight, the last plague is referenced, that is, the plague upon the first born of Egypt. Even though this was the last plague to occur, it was the first plague predicted. We see this in Exodus chapter 4, verses 22 and 23. There, God refers to Israel as his first born. And he goes on to say that, unless the pharaoh would let his son go, that is the Hebrew people, God would slay, pharaohs son. Of course, that is exactly what happened, as most of you know.
Versus 11 and 12 refer to a couple of Canaanite kings. According to Joshua Chapter 12, verses nine through 24, there were a total of 31 Canaanite Kings. Why were these two, Og, and Sichon, mentioned specifically?
The sages say that these two are singled out for two reasons. First, they were two of the first kings toppled by the Hebrew people, the Jewish nation, and secondly, because they were two of the mightiest. We are told in Amos 2:9 that the people of these two kingdoms were inordinately tall and strong, a reference to their bloodlines carrying vestiges of the Nephilim. Og was himself a giant, whose bed was approximately 10 feet long, in order to comfortably accommodate his unusual height. These kings ruled in the land that became what is known today as the Golan, near the border with and even extending into present-day Syria. It was land in the northeast sector of the land grant God made to Israel as its heritage.
Verse 13 speaks of the eternality of Hashem’s supremacy, that generation after generation (dor v’dor in Hebrew) will know and serve Him.
When verse 14 was written, remember, there had been no judgment (as far as exile goes) of the nation of Israel. We do not know who wrote this psalm, but it had to be one of the later psalms because it quotes four other psalms. In fact, this psalm is sometimes referred to as a collage psalm. Almost every word of it comes from another text in the Hebrew Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, including Deuteronomy, Jeremiah and Exodus! It has been said that every verse of the psalm quotes existing Scripture of that time, or is quoted later in other parts of the Bible.
More to our point, verse 14 warns that judgment of significant proportions is on the horizon, although the verse also contains the promise that it will not last forever. The Lord promised in this verse that He would take pity on His people, in some translations that He would vindicate them or that He would relent. I mentioned a moment ago that this Psalm quotes Deuteronomy, and here is that reference. Deut 32:36 is where God promised His people … That promise is repeated verbatim in this verse of Psalm 135.
Verses 15 through 17 is a rather famous set of verses that describe the man-made idols heathen nations worship. If they sound familiar to those of you who have been in this Psalms study for a while, they are very close parallels to Psalm 115:4-6, and 8. There are two levels of interpretation for these verses. First, a Hebrew word to describe these products of human hands is “ah-tsah-VEEM”, from the Hebrew word “ahts-VOOT”, which means “sadness”. In other words, the Psalmist is affirming that these lifeless idols do not bring joy or gladness into the lives of those who worship them, but only sadness. A Jewish commentary called Tzemach Tzedek makes the observation that the source of all sadness is believing that the amassing of wealth, i.e. silver and gold, will bring joy and delight to a person’s life. Instead “worshipping” money often leads to endless toil and incessant worry.
The pagan fashions the symbols that represent the spiritual forces, these lifeless objects, in the shape of a man so that all of the supposed forces would be directed towards man. These idols lack even the five senses possessed by an ordinary person. This indicates the pagan’s desire that the power the idol represents should be transferred to the worshipper himself.
Verse 18 makes the point that whatever you worship, that thing or that person you will become more like. And that’s true, whether what you worship is a lifeless object or some other person, place or activity that replaces your worship of the one true God. Idolatry never exalts a person or that person’s walk of holiness. Instead it brings him low.
Conversely, the more a person worships the Lord God of Heaven, perfectly revealed through His one, unique Son, Yeshua HaMashiach, the more that person will become like Him.
Verses 19-21 here are almost identical to Psalm 115:9-11. But, Psalm 135 takes the three-fold call from 115 and adds in a fourth category, the house of Levi. This designation refers to the Temple musicians who with instruments and song praise God in His Temple continually.
Let’s now read this psalm together. This is the CJB translation.
135 Halleluyah!
(1) Give praise to the name of Adonai!
Servants of Adonai, give praise!
2 You who stand in the house of Adonai,
in the courtyards of the house of our God,
3 praise Yah, for Adonai is good;
sing to his name, because it is pleasant.
4 For Yah chose Ya‘akov for himself,
Isra’el as his own unique treasure.
5 I know that Adonai is great,
that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Adonai does whatever pleases him,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas, in all the depths.
7 He raises clouds from the ends of the earth,
he makes the lightning flash in the rain
and brings the wind out from his storehouses.
8 He struck down Egypt’s firstborn,
humans and animals alike.
9 He sent signs and wonders among you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his subjects.
10 He struck many nations,
and slaughtered mighty kings —
11 Sichon king of the Emori,
‘Og king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Kena‘an.
12 Then he gave their land as a heritage,
to be possessed by Isra’el his people.
13 Adonai, your name continues forever,
your renown, Adonai, through all generations.
14 For Adonai will vindicate his people,
he will take pity on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they can’t speak;
they have eyes, but they can’t see;
17 they have ears, but they can’t listen;
and they have no breath in their mouths;
18 The people who make them will become like them,
along with everyone who trusts in them.
19 House of Isra’el, bless Adonai!
House of Aharon, bless Adonai!
20 House of Levi, bless Adonai!
You who fear Adonai, bless Adonai!
21 Blessed be Adonai out of Tziyon,
he who dwells in Yerushalayim!
Halleluyah!
Psalm 136 is called The Great Hallel, because for one reason it extols Hashem as the sustainer of every living thing. This psalm is considered so important and integral. It is recited every Sabbath morning. It is also included in the rituals for Pesach, Passover.
This past April, 2026, I did a teaching called “Pesach Special”, which included a detailed teaching on this psalm. I could regurgitate that this morning, but most of my viewers were present for that teaching or listened to it later. If you were not, or did not, you can find it on either my blog (the teaching notes), or the video on my YouTube channel. Both sites are organized by date, with the most recent at the top of each. You can find directions/addresses to both those in the banner that is floating by repeatedly on the bottom of your screen.
Still, this psalm is so beautiful! Let’s not go on without at least reading it together.
136 Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his grace continues forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his grace continues forever;
4 to him who alone has done great wonders,
for his grace continues forever;
5 to him who skillfully made the heavens,
for his grace continues forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth on the water,
for his grace continues forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his grace continues forever;
8 the sun to rule the day,
for his grace continues forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule the night,
for his grace continues forever;
10 to him who struck down Egypt’s firstborn,
for his grace continues forever;
11 and brought Isra’el out from among them,
for his grace continues forever;
12 with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
for his grace continues forever;
13 to him who split apart the Sea of Suf,
for his grace continues forever;
14 and made Isra’el cross right through it,
for his grace continues forever;
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Sea of Suf,
for his grace continues forever;
16 to him who led his people through the desert,
for his grace continues forever;
17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his grace continues forever;
18 yes, he slaughtered powerful kings,
for his grace continues forever;
19 Sichon king of the Emori,
for his grace continues forever;
20 and ‘Og king of Bashan,
for his grace continues forever;
21 then he gave their land as a heritage,
for his grace continues forever;
22 to be possessed by Isra’el his servant,
for his grace continues forever;
23 who remembers us whenever we are brought low,
for his grace continues forever;
24 and rescues us from our enemies,
for his grace continues forever;
25 who provides food for every living creature,
for his grace continues forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his grace continues forever.
Your translation may have said, “His mercy endures forever,”. The Hebrew word translated as “mercy” or “grace” or “kindness” is “chesed”, which means all three of those and more. It is a goodness and love that the translators find difficult to quantify or describe with just one, single English word.
We are going to move on, then, to Psalm 137.
This psalm reads like a dirge. Some of you may be unfamiliar with that English word. It means “a slow, solemn composition, expressing grief or loss, sometimes written to commemorate the passing of a notable person.” Psalm 137 conveys the intense mourning of a once-free people who had been carted over 600 miles away into exile by a pagan kingdom. The psalm is divided into 3 sections: 1) sorrowful remembrance; 2) an oath of fidelity to Jerusalem; 3) a call to Hashem for the punishment of Edom and Babylon.
Many among those who keep Torah recite this psalm every day, after their meals. Some of you know that observant Torah-keepers, as the commandment requires, say their “grace” or “blessing“ after they have eaten, not before. This “grace after meals” is called “Birkat HaMazon”. Psalm 137 is customarily recited before that grace after meals, to keep fresh in our minds the horrible destruction of the First and Second Temples. This psalm is not recited on the joyous feast days, however, because it is deemed improper on days of joy to dwell on the tragedy of these destructions. Instead, Psalm 126 is recited in its place.
There is also a Jewish wedding custom associated with this psalm. Customarily, the Jewish bridegroom recites verse 7 as he stands under the canopy, the chuppah, awaiting the arrival of his bride, which fulfills the eternal vow to not elevate even one’s most beloved, one’s foremost joy, above the city of Jerusalem.
Let’s read together this relatively short psalm.
137 By the rivers of Bavel we sat down and wept
as we remembered Tziyon.
2 We had hung up our lyres
on the willows that were there,
3 when those who had taken us captive
asked us to sing them a song;
our tormentors demanded joy from us —
“Sing us one of the songs from Tziyon!”
4 How can we sing a song about Adonai
here on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Yerushalayim,
may my right hand wither away!
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I fail to count Yerushalayim
the greatest of all my joys.
7 Remember, Adonai, against the people of Edom
the day of Yerushalayim’s fall,
how they cried, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Raze it to the ground!”
8 Daughter of Bavel, you will be destroyed!
A blessing on anyone who pays you back
for the way you treated us!
9 A blessing on anyone who seizes your babies
and smashes them against a rock!
I want to make a few more comments about this psalm. In verse 1, we read in English that the captives “sat down”. The Hebrew word here is “yashavnu”. When I learned that word in my Hebrew courses, this verb, “yashav” was one of the first ones I was taught. It means either “sit” or “reside”. (The “nu” on the end connotes the “we” part.) OR, in cases like this, it can mean both sit or reside.
The stages say that when they dwell in the promised land, the nation of Judah, which is the southern kingdom that was carded off to Babylon, was accustomed to getting their drinking water from either fresh, pure springwater, or pure rainwater. When they got to Babylon, they had no choice, but to begin to drink the less sanitary river, water of the Euphrates, which was the main river of Babylonia. Babylonia was the capital city of Babylon. Accordingly, like when the Europeans came to North America, bringing diseases like smallpox that the native Americans were unaccustomed to, causing the Native Americans to die by the tens of thousands, many Jews died in Babylon because they encountered disease diseases to which their bodies were not accustomed. In fact, the sage is claim that the unhealthy waters of the river killed more Jews than did all the soldiers of nebulizer.
But, that wasn’t the only reason they wept. Their brightest and best young men, who were prescribed into service in the Kings Court there were eunuched, thereby stopping their generations. None of their intellect and other excellent attributes could be passed on. The Jewish people considered this type of situation, such a tragedy that the practice called Levirate Marriage began, as early as with Abraham. Levirate Marriage dictated that if a man’s brother died, the living brother would marry as one of his wives, the widow of his brother, so asked to continue his brother’s family line, so as to raise up descendants for his brother who had died. The castrating of their generation’s brightest and best was certainly a cause for great mourning. They were so distraught that they hung up their harps. Verse two says on the Willows in the country of Babylon, we hung up our keen-ROHT, our harps.
Have you ever been so distraught that you just could not even sing, you could not even praise. And so, therefore, you laid down your voice, or your musical instrument? I have been in that place. I was in a wonderful, thriving church at one time, where I was on a team of singers that lead in worship. But the church went through a terrible tragedy which led, through the actions of a small group of evil men, to the church splitting. I was one of the ones who left, because I could not bear her to remain and worship, pretending that all was well, with a group of so-called Christian people who had behaved in such a reprehensible, evil fashion. This situation, because I was so close to the ones hurt, grieved me so deeply, that, although I had been a trained singer for all of my adult life, I stopped singing. In essence, I hung up my harp. Although I have, since then resumed, rediscovering my joy, it took eight years for that to take place. Eight years of deep grief. So, to some extent, I understand the people of Judah, who sat down, residing in the land of Babylon, but weeping. They wept, thirdly, because they remembered what they had lost. Tears of regret and longing.
Another Jewish commentary, Pesikta Rabassi, states that the esteemed prophet, Jeremiah, went with the exiles as far as the Euphrates River, before turning back for Judea. He reasoned that if he stayed with this group, who would comfort those left behind in Judea? Only the sick, very poor and very elderly had been left behind, those the Babylonians did not think could even survive the trip. Jeremiah’s perceived abandonment of them made the exiles feel as though they were experiencing a new, deeper form of exile, being cut off from their foremost prophet. Isaiah, who was roughly a contemporary of Jeremiah, had been murdered by Nebuchadnezzar by this time. The people began to weep and wail all the more. According to the Midrash, Jeremiah chided them that had they wept and repented so before the Lord God while they were still in Zion they never would have suffered the pain of exile. Along these same lines, when asked by their captors (who mocked them) to sing a joyful song extoling Zion, they replied that if only they had given more attention to proper praise to the One, True God when they lived securely in Zion they would never have been exiled.
A curious word in verse 3 is “tolahLAYnu”, which means “our tolals”. It is uncertain what a tolal is. Some have theorized it means some kind of musical instrument, but no one knows for sure. The ArtScroll translation leaves the word untranslated.
That aforementioned commentary, the Pesikta Rabassi, says that this refusal by the captives led to the Babylonians becoming infuriated, whereupon they slew many multitudes of the Jews, piling their dead bodies in mounds or heaps. The word tolal is very similar to the Hebrew word for piles or heaps or mounds. That word is “tee-LEEM”. TeeLEEMnu or ToLAHLnu. Another interpretation.
This psalm, then, concludes the section of psalms which began with Psalm 120.
Let’s now move on to Psalm 138, a short, 8-verse psalm, which is attributed to King David. In fact, this psalm is the first in the final set of 8 Davidic psalms, as they are presented in the book of 150 psalms. David’s humility shines through in this song of praise.
The translations of verse one are curious. I want to present to you two of them, and then give you the stark, pure Hebrew transliteration.
Here it is, first, in the ArtScroll translation:
Of David: I will thank you with all my heart, in the presence of judges I will sing to you.
Ok, now the CJB:
(0) By David:
(1) I give you thanks with all my heart.
Not to idols, but to you I sing praise.
Quite a difference, wouldn’t you say?!
This is why I study Hebrew. Here it is, translated from the original Hebrew:
To/For David: To You, with all my heart, before/in the presence of the gods I will sing your praises.
{parse}
Of course, “the gods” refers to the council of the gods, Hashem’s heavenly assembly of spiritual beings, referenced in Psalm 82 and referred to as “elders” in Revelation 5.
Well, singing praises to Hashem with one’s whole heart is an act of humility. So is prostrating oneself, that is, lying face-down on the ground, facing the Holy of Holies. David also expresses thanks in verse two. It is hard to be arrogant and truly thankful simultaneously. In verse 3 David gives God the credit for giving him boldness and strength.
The Jewish sages say that this psalm speaks of the Messianic Age, and they say so because of verses 4 and 5. It will not be until the 1000-year reign of Yeshua on the earth that the kings of the earth will glorify and sing praises to the Most High, to HaShem. By that point, those regents who remain alive through all of the horrors of The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, will have been thoroughly humbled, hence verse 6. The Talmud notes that it is human nature for the proud to notice only the proud, the exalted ones, and for the humble to notice those like themselves. But, the ways of God are just the opposite. Though He is high and exalted, He takes note of those who humble themselves, as David did. David realized the virtue of humbling himself, rather than to endure either spurning by Hashem or His corrective action!
Verse 8 is a plea for Hashem to display His kindness by not forsaking his chosen ones, David being one. This verse reminds me of the words of Yeshua in Matthew 28:20, where He said, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The same promise is found in Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8, and Joshua 1:5.
Let’s read this psalm together.
138 (0) By David:
(1) I give you thanks with all my heart.
Not to idols, but to you I sing praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your grace and truth;
for you have made your word [even] greater
than the whole of your reputation.
3 When I called, you answered me,
you made me bold and strong.
4 All the kings of the earth will thank you, Adonai,
when they hear the words you have spoken.
5 They will sing about Adonai’s ways,
“Great is the glory of Adonai!”
6 For though Adonai is high, he cares for the lowly;
while the proud he perceives from afar.
7 You keep me alive when surrounded by danger;
you put out your hand when my enemies rage;
with your right hand you save me.
8 Adonai will fulfill his purpose for me.
Your grace, Adonai, continues forever.
Don’t abandon the work of your hands!
