This Psalm is of the same character as the previous one. It is not entitled “a song of degrees,” nor has it, indeed, any title at all. It is a kind of adjective to the preceding Psalm. For the congregation are still at the house of God—the court of praise, which, as we saw, they had just reached. Out of Zion God is still shining.
The Lord Himself is praised, and His name is praised—His name, as distinguished from Himself, being that various honor and dignity which He has acquired by His mighty acts.
And the Lord of Israel is here glorified as the only true God who does His pleasure in heaven and on earth, and who also got Himself victory and honor in Egypt, among the Amorites, in Bashan, and in the kingdoms of Canaan, but all for the sake and on the behalf of His people. And how blessed is this association! The Lord who formed and spread out the heavens, and none other or less than He, was the one who parted Canaan by lot among the tribes. The one who measures the waters in the hollow of His hand is He who gathers the lambs in His bosom, and bears them in His arms (Isa. 40).
And very duly this Psalm of the returned captives, prepared for those who stand in the courts of the Lord, declares the vanity of the idols; for that had just been manifested in the downfall of Babylon, and in the decree of the Persian to let Israel depart from that stronghold of idolatry. The name of the only true God, the God of Israel, thus endures forever, while the memorials of all beside perish forever. (See also Psa. 135:1414For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants. (Psalm 135:14), and Deut. 32:3636For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. (Deuteronomy 32:36).)