Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 2 Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; 8 he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. 9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.
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Psalm 113 – Why ‘Praise the LORD’?
(Verses 1-3) We can learn so much about praising the LORD from this psalm’s first three verses. Before I came to know Christ, I rarely praised God unless I, or my loved ones, benefited from something unusually good. I was very selfish. Then, after seeing how my sister’s life changed after she received Christ, I began to think through the gospel and ended up by realising that I was a guilty sinner who deserved God’s punishment, that Jesus was both God and sinless man, and had borne my sins and their penalty for me when He died on the cross. I believed that because Jesus rose again, He could live in my life by the Holy Spirit if I turned from my sins and asked God to forgive me and enter my life as my Lord. When that happened it did cause me to ‘praise the LORD’, who had become my Saviour. As I read the Bible each day, I began to see how great and loving God really is. I began to praise Him for who He is, as well as for what He had done, is doing, and will do for me and for many others worldwide.
Now learn five things about praising the LORD:
1) Do it!
2) If I serve the LORD that increases my desire to praise Him – He is a loving and kind Lord.
3) Praise His name. There are many names used for God in the Bible. The two I love most are ‘Jesus’ which means ‘God saves’, and ‘Emmanuel’ which means ‘God with us.’ We praise Him because He saves us and is with us!
4) The LORD should be praised at all times, ‘now and forevermore’.
5) His name is to be praised geographically wherever the sun shines – in other words, everywhere. If you know the Lord Jesus, these five occasions to praise Him are for you too!
(Verses 4-6) Think of ‘all the nations’ with their billions of people, huge natural resources, armaments, and finances: ‘The LORD is exalted’ over all of them and over what they have and can do. But He is even more exalted than that! His glory is also ‘above the heavens’ whether atmospheric heavens that planes fly across, starry heavens which are infinite and beyond our ability to fully explore, or Heaven which awaits all who repent and trust in our Creator-Redeemer God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only is our Triune God, (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) ‘the One who sits enthroned on high’. He actually ‘stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth.’ God is so exalted and majestic.
(Verses 7-9) God’s principle of blessing is to raise those who are cast down, like a ‘barren woman’ who becomes a ‘happy mother of children’. The ‘poor’ and ‘needy’ are lifted from the ‘dust’ and ‘ash heap’ to Heaven’s glory. Jesus taught ‘everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ (Luke 18:14) Only those will be in Heaven who have humbled themselves over their wrong-doings and guilt, repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus. No wonder we end the psalm with ‘Praise the LORD’! If you know Jesus, ‘Praise the LORD’. If you do not know Him, trust Him now!
