Psalm 135:1 says this:
1 PRAISE THE LORD! (Hallelujah!) Praise the name of the LORD; praise Him, O you servants of the LORD!
That includes the people of Israel THEN, and all of God's people everywhere NOW! We are included in that command, so PRAISE HIM! I found this in the Bible Exposition Commentary:
The emphasis of the psalm is on praising the Lord because of who He is and what He has done for His people. It opens with the command to "praise the Lord" repeated four times and concludes with the command to "bless the Lord" also repeated four times. "Jehovah" is found thirteen times in the psalm, and the familiar phrase "praise the Lord" ("hallelujah") is repeated eight times. The psalm has been called "a mosaic" because it contains numerous quotations from other parts of Scripture, no doubt collected by a temple liturgist who, led by the Spirit, put the material together for a special occasion of worship. This psalm is an inspired statement of faith and believers today can shout a hearty "Amen!" to its affirmations.
AMEN!
John 12 has the account of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus with costly perfume. One thing that I noticed more clearly this time through is found in verses 9-11:
9 Now a great crown of the Jews heard that he was at Bethany, and they came there, not only because of Jesus but that they also might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, 11 Because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [were withdrawing from and leaving the Judeans] and believing in and adhering to Jesus.
They SHOULD have recognized Who Jesus was themselves, and been the first to declare Him to the people! They were so jealous of Jesus that they would stop at nothing to try to get rid of Him in order to keep things as they had always been! That same spirit drives people to do ungodly things today. Remember, we are not dealing with flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) and neither was Jesus! This would lead them to crucify the Lord of Glory! If the enemy had only known (1 Corinthians 2:8)! Thank God that he did not! Hallelujah!
Ezekiel 38-39 speak of the a war between Israel and those that would try to invade her from the north. They will NOT succeed, but this is the result in verses 22-23:
22 And with pestilence and with bloodshed will I enter into judgment with [Gog], and I will rain upon him and upon his hordes and upon the many peoples that are with him torrents of rain and great hailstones, firs and brimstone. 23 Thus will I demonstrate My greatness and My holiness, and i will be recognized, understood, and known in the eyes of many nations; yes they shall know that I am the LORD [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].
Ezekiel 39:27-29 speaks again of Israel:
27 When I have brought them again from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and My justice and holiness are set apart and vindicated through them in the sight of many nations, 28 Then shall they know, understand, and realize positively that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into captivity and exile among the nations and then gathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations any more [in the latter days]. 29 Neither will I hide My face and more then from them, when I have poured our My Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.
Much of this has already been fulfilled, some is yet to happen, but ALL will one day be accomplished exactly as the One, True God has said! We are living in MOST exciting times!
Shalom in Him!
