Psalms · psalm 113 of 150
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Psalm 113 is a hallelujah that calls the servants of the Lord to praise his name from now and forever, from east to west. It declares that the Lord is high above all nations and above the heavens, yet stoops down to look, raises the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap, seats him with princes and gives the barren woman a home as a joyful mother of children.
Psalm 113 is the first of six psalms (113-118) that Jewish tradition calls the Egyptian Hallel and that were sung at the great feasts, above all at Passover. It is likely that Jesus and his disciples sang these psalms at the end of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30). This psalm has no title and is brief, with nine verses that move from God's greatness to his tenderness.
The psalm opens with three calls to praise. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised, that is, in every place and at every time.
Verses 4-6 move to God's greatness. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? The question has no answer: no one compares to him. Even so, the God who dwells on high stoops down to look.
Verses 7-9 show what he sees when he stoops. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap to make him sit with princes, with the princes of his people. To the barren woman he gives a home, making her the joyous mother of children. The psalm ends with hallelujah.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. Praise has no boundaries of place or time: it takes in the whole day and the whole earth.
There is no one like the Lord, who is seated on high yet stoops to look on the heavens and the earth. God's greatness does not distance him from his creation: it leads him to bend toward it.
He raises the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap, to seat him with princes. God reverses the positions of this world and gives honor to one who has none.
He gives the barren woman a home and makes her a joyous mother of children. It recalls Hannah in 1 Samuel 2 and Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, and shows that God answers those who suffer a lack that seems beyond remedy.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The servants of the Lord. — Psalm 113:1
Answer: From the rising of the sun to its setting. — Psalm 113:3
Answer: Over all nations, and his glory above the heavens. — Psalm 113:4
Answer: He looks far down on the heavens and the earth. — Psalm 113:5-6
Answer: With princes, with the princes of his people. — Psalm 113:8
Answer: A home, as a joyous mother of children. — Psalm 113:9
Psalm 113 invites us to think of a God who is both high and near. In a class or small group we can talk about how we live the tension between his greatness and his tenderness, and how to imitate a God who stoops down toward the poor. If he humbles himself to look on the needy, we who worship him cannot ignore the one who suffers beside us.
The psalm also comforts anyone carrying a lack that seems final: poverty, loneliness, barrenness. It does not promise the same to everyone or in the same way, but it affirms that God sees and raises up. For Christians, the greatest sign of that stooping is Christ, who though rich became poor for us, as 2 Corinthians 8:9 says.
Psalm 113 ends with the God who gives joy to the barren woman. Psalm 114, the second of the Egyptian Hallel, recalls the exodus from Egypt and how the sea and the Jordan turned back before the Lord's presence.
It is the traditional name for the group of Psalms 113-118, which were sung at the great Jewish feasts, especially Passover, which recalls the exodus from Egypt. Some think they were the psalms Jesus and his disciples sang at the end of the Last Supper.
Verses 7-9 resemble 1 Samuel 2:5-8, Hannah's song, which raises the poor from the dust and gives children to the barren. They also recall Mary's song in Luke 1:46-55. All three celebrate God who reverses the world's positions.