PATCHWORK OF PRAISE
Opening Prayer
God, I praise You. You are worthy of all the praise and honor I have to give.
Read Psalm 135
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord;
praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own,
Israel to be his treasured possession.
5 I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 The Lord does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.
7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstborn of people and animals.
9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan—
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 Your name, Lord, endures forever,
your renown, Lord, through all generations.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
19 All you Israelites, praise the Lord;
house of Aaron, praise the Lord;
20 house of Levi, praise the Lord;
you who fear him, praise the Lord.
21 Praise be to the Lord from Zion,
to him who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What are some of your favorite Bible promises?This psalm is considered a mosaic of other passages from Old Testament Scripture. You will find pieces from other psalms (Psa. 95, 115, 116, 134, 136), Deuteronomy 7 and 32 and Exodus 3, among others. And yet, this psalm fits and flows together as its own stand-alone work of art.
The psalmist shares with us an important worship concept in the creation of this poem. Do you sometimes find it hard to know how to pray? Even as the author chose poignant passages of Scripture to fit together in his praise, we too can praise God by praying the Scriptures.
The author also repeats some of his phrases several times—he invokes his hearers to praise the Lord throughout the entire passage. This repetition is not only for poetical value, it serves to remind the singers and the hearers of the importance of these truths and injunctions. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves over and over of God’s truths. Sometimes we need to dig back into Scripture to rediscover the promises and praise-worthiness of God. If we look and reflect, we will find many reasons for praise!
Apply
Take this psalm as your example and search back through your favorite Scriptures to create your own “patchwork” of praise.
Closing prayer
Use this psalm or the one you just created to praise God today.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2025 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.