1 Praise the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.
2 The Lord’s name should be praised
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name should be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
4 The Lord is supreme over all the nations;
his glory reaches to the skies.
5 No one is like the Lord our God,
who rules from heaven,
6 who bends down to look
at the skies and the earth.
7 The Lord lifts the poor from the dirt
and takes the helpless from the ashes.
8 He seats them with princes,
the princes of his people.
9 He gives children to the woman who has none
and makes her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!
This particular Psalm simply sizzles. It has within it, an inherent sense of God’s majesty, and glory. When we read it, we shouldn’t really read as much as we should be worshipping. The word “praise” is mentioned and indirectly on a dozen occasions. When we actually start praising Him, so much can happen. We have no idea.
One of the very essential issues is the need for humility. Servanthood really does become a certain factor, we see the humble rushed up to take a deeply significant place. As we gaze on these dear ones, we should be challenged, and look toward the very possibility of absorbing some of their contagion.
The Psalmist is a deep worshipper. He posits the question through out his declarations– who is like our God? Vv. 2-3.
”The Lord’s name should be praised
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name should be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.”
He basically realizes that “praising” God has got to be paramount among His creation. We must praise, “or else the rocks will cry out.” God has a reputation, and we can diminish it, or extol it. We have the choice, and a decisive opinion. Perhaps this is the vitality that the “heavenly realms” represents.
Vv. 4-6 truly comes with weight. These verses are obese, and we read them with the “fat” they come with. The Father is pursuing us, and pronouncing His reality– which is glory! His glory revealed is like explaining electricity to an Amazonian tribesman. They simply can’t comprehend what you are talking about. Until they are zapped!
Vv. 7-8 takes us quite deep into the behavior of the Lord God. The poor are lifted up into a place that is exceptional. We just might suggest the “people of the dirt” will become “people of the glory”. Imagine this quantum leap– dirty people are now full of His glory!
Vv. 8-9, to be made into this place is both outrageous and unreal. We move out of the filth and dirt, and given beautiful clothes, (Luke 15). We are suddenly and astonishingly recreated into truth and beauty. We are irrevocably ugly, and now made into people of beauty. We are now “seated with princes.” We really can’t reason through this.
V. 9 carries a gentleness and intimacy with it, and as we absorb it we can deeply understand the deep, deep heart of God. His very nature is now displayed. He loves to bless. To give to her who has no children, a child. This is amazingly rich, and our Father has a deep delight in making impossibilities very possible.
Psalm 113 carries with it a deep density of revealed truth. As we approach it, we find that it approaches us. When we read it, and think (and pray) it through, we discover many things. And perhaps the biggest is our new desire to worship Him. “Praise the Lord.”
The desire to worship Him . . .may it be always in place! God bless you, Pastor B!