Psalm 135 NKJV
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.
The King’s Jewel Box
My Notes
“For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure.” — Psalm 135:4 (NKJV)
Have you ever wondered why you love the people you love? Usually, we can point to something: they’re funny, they’re kind, or they’ve been there for us. But when we look at why God chose Jacob, we run into a bit of a mystery.
By nature, Jacob wasn’t exactly “Person of the Year.” His very name meant “supplanter” or “cheater.” He was a schemer who spent a good chunk of his life trying to manipulate his way into blessings. Yet, the Psalmist gives us this incredible reason for praise: God chose him anyway. Sovereign Grace God didn’t choose Jacob because of a “foresight” that Jacob would eventually become a saint. He chose Jacob because He chose to love him. It was sovereign grace, plain and simple. This is the third great reason to praise the Lord in this Psalm: His election. He doesn’t set His love on us because we are “more in number” or more impressive than anyone else. In fact, like Israel, we are often the “least of all.” He loves us because He loves us.
The Royal Treasure (Segullah) The Hebrew word for “special treasure” is segullah. It refers to the private, costly jewels that a King would lock away in a secret chest with his own hands. These aren’t just the public crown jewels used for ceremonies; these are the King’s personal favorites.
Think about that for a second. To the Maker of heaven and earth, you aren’t just a face in the crowd or a cog in a religious machine. You are His segullah. You are a “secret jewel” He keeps for His own special use and delight.
A Name Change and a Purpose When God chooses, He also transforms. He takes “Jacob” (the supplanter) and makes him “Israel” (the prince). He takes our messy past and gives us a royal future. But this dignity comes with a duty. We weren’t chosen just so we could feel special; we were chosen to be the trustees of His truth and the mirrors of His mercy.
If the Creator of the universe has pulled you out of the world and called you His own “special treasure,” how can you keep your mouth shut? As Spurgeon noted, if we didn’t extol Him for this surprising favor, the very stones in the street would cry out against us.
Key Takeaways
- Grace Over Merit: God’s choice is based on His character, not our performance. Jacob was chosen before he had done anything “lovable.”
- The Segullah Identity: We are God’s private treasure—precious, honorable, and kept by His own hand.
- A Royal Purpose: We are chosen “unto Himself.” Our lives are meant to answer His divine purposes and bless the world around us.
- New Names: Election leads to transformation. God changes who we are (from Jacob to Israel) when He brings us into His family.
Cross References (NKJV)
Exodus 19:5
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”
Deuteronomy 7:7-8
“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
A Closing Prayer
Abba, I am overwhelmed by the thought that You have chosen me. I know my own heart—I know the “Jacob” inside of me that tries to scheme and manipulate. Yet, You have called me Your special treasure. Thank You for the grace that chose me when I was unlovable and for the love that keeps me as Your own personal jewel. Help me to live today as a “trustee of Your truth.” Let my life reflect Your mercy to a world that doesn’t yet know it is loved. I thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Some things to think about:
- The “Jacob” Reality: Be honest—what parts of your character or past make you feel “un-choosable”?
- The Jewel Box: Spend a few minutes imagining yourself as God’s segullah (His private, precious treasure). How does this change the way you see your value today compared to how the world sees it?
- The Purpose of the Treasure: If you are a “mirror of His mercy,” who in your life right now needs to see that mercy reflected through your actions?
Proverb for Today
When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Proverbs 2:10-13 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
The commentaries below view God’s choice of Jacob as sovereign grace, independent of merit. This election transforms “supplanters” into “princes” and God’s “peculiar treasure” (segullah). Like a king’s private jewels, believers are kept for His personal delight and glory. Being chosen “unto Himself” obligates the spiritual Israel to offer heartfelt praise. As His prized possession, we are protected like a monarch’s finest gems, redeemed to reflect His mercy and worship Him eternally.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself.” Jehovah hath chosen Jacob. Should not the sons of Jacob praise him who has so singularly favored them Election is one of the most forcible arguments for adoring love. Chosen! chosen unto himself!—who can be grateful enough for being concerned in this privilege “Jacob have I loved,” said Jehovah, and he gave no reason for his love except that he chose to love. Jacob had then done neither good nor evil, yet thus the Lord determined, and thus he spake. If it be said that the choice was made upon foresight of Jacob’s character, it is, perhaps, even more remarkable, for there was little enough about Jacob that could deserve special choice. By nature, Jacob was by no means the most lovable of men. No, it was sovereign grace which dictated the choice. But, mark, it was not a choice whose main result was the personal welfare of Jacob’s seed: the nation was chosen by God unto himself, to answer the divine ends and purposes in blessing all mankind. Jacob’s race was chosen to be the Lord’s own, to be the trustees of his truth, the maintainers of his worship, the mirrors of his mercy. Chosen they were; but mainly for this end, that they might be a peculiar people, set apart unto the service of the true God.
“And Israel for his peculiar treasure.” God’s choice exalts; for here the name is changed from Jacob, the supplanter, to Israel, the prince. The love of God gives a new name and imparts a new value, for the comparison to a royal treasure is a most honorable one. As kings have a special regalia, and a selection of the rarest jewels, so the Lord deigns to reckon his chosen nation as his wealth, his delight, his glory. What an honor to the spiritual Israel that they are all this to the Lord their God! We are a people near and dear unto him; precious and honorable in his sight. How can we refuse our loudest, heartiest, sweetest music? If we did not extol him, the stones in the street would cry out against us.
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Enduring Word
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself: The psalmist listed a third reason to praise God – His choosing of Israel for His special treasure. He did not choose Israel because they were great, but because He is great in love. (Guzik)
i. God told Israel this in Deuteronomy 7:7-8: The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers. (Guzik)
ii. “God’s choice exalts; for here the name is changed from Jacob, the supplanter, to Israel, the prince. The love of God gives a new name and imparts a new value; for the comparison to a royal treasure is a most honorable one.” (Spurgeon)
iii. Israel was called to praise God because He chose them; this is also a reason for the New Covenant believer. “Shall not we Christians, then, praise the same gracious Lord, who hath chosen us out of the world, who hath given unto us his gospel, who dwelleth in us by his Spirit, and who, by that Spirit, maketh us more than conquerors over our spiritual adversaries?” (Horne)
iv. For Himself: “It does not say, ‘unto heaven,’ – ‘unto certain privileges,’ – ‘unto certain favors.’ All that is quite true, but it does not say so here: ‘The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself.’ Oh, what a blessed choice is this – to be chosen unto God!” (Spurgeon)
His special treasure: This fulfills the declaration of God in Deuteronomy 7:6: For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. (Guzik)
i. His special treasure: “The Hebrew word segullah signifieth God’s special jewels, God’s proper ones, or God’s secret ones, that he keeps in store for himself, and for his own special service and use. Princes lock up with their own hands in secret their most precious and costly jewels; and so doth God his.” (Brooks, cited in Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself – The descendants of Jacob. He has selected them from among all the inhabitants of the earth to be his special people.
And Israel for his peculiar treasure – The word here rendered treasure, means that which is acquired; property; wealth. They were what God possessed, owned, or claimed among all the people of the earth as especially his own. He had chosen them; he had redeemed them; he had made them his own, and he regarded them with the interest with which anyone looks on his own property, the fruit of his own toil. See Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 32:9; 1 Kings 8:53.
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John Gill
For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself,…. To be his own special people, and not another’s; for his own service, and for his glory; and to be a habitation for himself, and to be forever with him. This is not to be understood personally of Jacob, though a chosen vessel of mercy; nor of his natural posterity as such, though chosen as a nation to outward favors; for not all they, only some of them, were chosen to special grace and glory, a remnant according to the election of grace: but mystical and spiritual Jacob and Israel are meant, even the whole church and people of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; these God has chosen, of his own free grace and good will, to all the blessings of grace and glory, and that from all eternity; which choice will remain firm and immutable, in time and forever; and therefore is worthy of praise and thanksgiving, now, and to all eternity;
[and] Israel for his peculiar treasure; by whom they are accounted as such; even as the peculiar treasure of kings, as silver, gold, jewels, and precious stones; as his inheritance, his portion, and peculiar people; see Exodus 19:5.
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Matthew Henry
The Lord hath chosen Jacob to himself, and therefore Jacob is bound to praise him; for therefore God chose a people to himself that they might be unto him for a name and a praise (Jer. 13:11), and therefore Jacob has abundant matter for praise, being thus dignified and distinguished. Israel is God’s peculiar treasure above all people (Ex. 19:5); they are his Segullah, a people appropriated to him, and that he has a delight in, precious in his sight and honourable. For this distinguishing, surprising favour, if the seed of Jacob do not praise him, they are the most unworthy, ungrateful people under the sun.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“His peculiar treasure.” Will not a man that is not defective in his prudentials secure his jewels? “They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a father his son that serveth him:” Mal 3:17. If a house be on fire, the owner of it will first take care of his wife and children, then of his jewels, and last of all, of his lumber and rubbish. Christ secures first his people, for they are his jewels; the world is but lumber and rubbish.
—Richard Mayhew.
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