Praise ye the name of the Lord: O you his servants, praise the Lord:

“Very pleasant ought it be to us, and we should rejoice because it is pleasant, to which this Psalm exhorts us. For it says, "Praise the name of the Lord" [Psalm 135:1]. And it immediately appends the reason, why it is just to praise the name of the Lord. "Praise the Lord, you servants." What more just? What more worthy? What more thankful?...For if He teaches His own servants who have deserved well of Him, the preachers of His Word, the rulers of His Church, the worshippers of His name, the obeyers of His command, that in their own conscience they should possess the sweetness of their life, lest they be corrupted by the praise or disheartened by the reproach of men; how much the more is He above all, the unchangeable One, who teaches these things, neither the greater if you praise, or the less if you reproach. For you will do nothing out of place, by praising your Lord, as servants. And if you were to be for ever only servants, you ought to praise the Lord; how much more ought ye servants to praise the Lord, that you may hereafter gain the privilege of sons?”

“Praise ye the Lord,.... Or hallelujah; which may be considered as the title of the psalm; as in the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions: praise ye the name of the Lord; that is, the Lord himself, and the perfections of his nature; his greatness, goodness, grace, and mercy; his holiness, justice, power, truth, and faithfulness; and also his word, by which he makes known himself, and is a distinguishing blessing to his people, and to be praised for it; see Psa 48:1; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord; priests and Levites, and ministers of the word, and all the people of God; who once were the servants of sin, Satan, and the world, but now by the grace of God become his servants; see Rom 6:17. Some observe that the word praise is here used three times, which is thought not to be without a mystery; and may have regard to the three divine Persons in the Godhead, who are each to be praised; the Father for electing grace, the Son for redeeming grace, and the Spirit for regenerating and sanctifying grace.”

“Alleluia. The psalm turns on God’s praises, and might be composed by David, after he had settled the order of the Levites, though it may suit all people. (Berthier) — The latter part agrees with Psalm cxiii., and Jeremias x., which might lead us to conclude that it was composed after the captivity, perhaps for the dedication of the second temple. The next psalm is a repetition of this, with the chorus interspersed. (Calmet)”

“The beginning is taken from Psa 134:1; Psa 135:2 recalls Psa 116:19 (cf. Psa 92:14); and Psa 135:4 is an echo of Deu 7:6. The servants of Jahve to whom the summons is addressed, are not, as in Psa 134:1., His official servants in particular, but according to Psa 135:2, where the courts, in the plural, are allotted to them as their standing-place, and according to Psa 135:19-20, those who fear Him as a body. The threefold Jahve at the beginning is then repeated in Jāh (הללוּ־יהּ, cf. note 1 to PsPsa 104:35), Jahve, and Jāh. The subject of כּי נעים is by no means Jahve (Hupfeld), whom they did not dare to call נעים in the Old Testament, but either the Name, according to Ps 54:8 (Luther, Hitzig), or, which is favoured by Psa 147:1 (cf. Pro 22:18), the praising of His Name (Appolinaris: ἐπεὶ τόδε καλὸν ἀείδειν): His Name to praise is a delightful employ, which is incumbent on Israel as the people of His choice and of His possession.”