Psalms 113:1 - Meaning and Application

This psalm calls us to give God the glory that belongs to his name. The call is urgent: “Praise the Lord,” and again, “Praise him, praise him.” This shows that praise is a necessary and beautiful duty, one that pleases God and belongs at the heart of religion.

We should do this often and with full hearts. The fact that we are urged so strongly to praise God also shows how slow we are to do it. We need to be stirred up again and again, by repeated teaching and reminders. Those who praise God much themselves will invite others to do the same, because they feel both the weight of the duty and the joy of it.

The call is also wide open. It comes to the Lord’s servants, the people who know him best and receive most from him. Praise is their proper work, because they are his servants. It is fitting for them to speak well of their Master and honor him as much as they can. Some take this to refer especially to the Levites, the Old Testament temple servants, but all Christians are now a royal priesthood, called to declare the praises of him who called them out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9).

The psalm also reaches beyond one group or one age. Praise should continue “from this time forth forevermore.” Let this work not die with us, but continue in a better world, and let those who come after us keep it going. God should be blessed in our day, and his name should be blessed always.

It should also be praised everywhere, “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” That means throughout the whole world. All who enjoy the sun’s light, and know that it will one day set, should thank the Father of lights for it. God’s name deserves praise from every nation, because everywhere we can see the clear signs of his wisdom, power, and goodness. It is sad that so many people do not know him and give to others the praise that belongs to him alone.

There is also a glimpse here of the gospel age. When God’s people are no longer limited to the Jewish nation, but spread through all the earth, then in every place spiritual worship will rise to him, as Malachi foretold (Malachi 1:11). From east to west, the Lord’s name will be praised by people in every land.

We are also told what to praise God for. First, we should look up in faith and consider how high his glory is in the upper world. He is high above all nations, even their greatest kings and most numerous peoples. All the nations together are still beneath him, like a drop in a bucket and fine dust on a scale (Isaiah 40:15, 17). So let all nations think and speak highly of God, for he is far above them all.

He is also high above the heavens. His throne is in the highest heaven, and that should lift our hearts in praise (Lamentations 3:41). He is above the angels themselves. His brightness is greater than theirs, his power is above theirs, and even they cannot fully describe him. We must say with wonder, “Who is like the Lord our God?” None can compare with him, not among earthly rulers or heavenly beings. He is to be praised as infinitely great, because he dwells on high, sees all things, rules all things, and rightly receives all praise.

We should also look around and notice how wide his goodness reaches in the lower world. He humbles himself to look upon heaven and earth. This is not because he needs anything from them, but because of his own gracious will. God is so great that he does not ignore any of his creatures (Job 36:5). He takes notice of all things under him, though he is infinitely above them.

It is an act of condescending goodness that he cares for the things in heaven, sustaining the angels, directing them, and accepting their service and praise. He does not need them, and they do not add to his fullness. It is even more astonishing that he looks on the things of the earth, visits the children of men, and oversees their lives. He notices what they say and do, orders their affairs, and fills the earth with his goodness. In this, he sets us an example of stooping to do good and taking real notice of those beneath us.

If it is such a great act of humility for God to look on the things in heaven and earth, how much greater was the humility of the Son of God, who came from heaven to earth and took our human nature, so that he might seek and save the lost. In that, he truly humbled himself.

God also shows special kindness to the least and lowest people in this weak and troubled world. He does not only look on the great things in the earth, but also on the smallest things, the ones that powerful people usually ignore. He does more than notice them, he works wonders for them. He acts in ways that are far beyond the usual order of events, showing that the world is not ruled by blind nature, but by the God of nature, who delights in doing what we did not expect.

Those who have long been looked down on are sometimes suddenly made honored (Psalm 113:7-8): he lifts the poor from the dust, so that he may place him with princes. In this, God sometimes displays his own wisdom, power, and rule. When he has a great work to do, he often chooses people who seem the least likely, and who are least thought of by themselves or others, to hold the highest place of honor. Gideon was taken from threshing grain, Saul from looking for lost donkeys, and David from watching sheep. The apostles were sent from fishing to become fishers of men. God puts the treasure of the gospel into clay jars, and he chooses the weak and foolish people of the world to preach it and shame the wise and strong (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). In this way, the greatness of the power is shown to come from God, and all can see that promotion comes from him.

God also sometimes rewards the deep faith and patient endurance of his people, who have long suffered poverty and shame. When Joseph’s virtue was tested and made clear, he was raised from prison dust and seated with princes. Wise people will notice these works of providence, God’s careful rule over events, and will understand them as the loving-kindness of the Lord. Some have applied this passage to the work of redemption through Jesus Christ, and not without reason, because through him poor fallen people are lifted from the dust, even from the dung heap of sin, and set among princes, among angels, the princes of his people. Hannah sang about this same truth (1 Samuel 2:6-8).

Those who have long been childless are sometimes suddenly made fruitful (Psalm 113:9). This may point back to Sarah and Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Samson’s mother, or ahead to Elizabeth. There have been many such cases in which God has looked on the trouble of his handmaids and taken away their shame. He makes the barren woman keep house. That means he not only builds up the family, but also gives the husband and wife work and care to carry. Those who enjoy the comfort of a family must also take the responsibility of caring for it. Bearing children and guiding the household are joined together (1 Timothy 5:14). When God places a barren woman in a family, he expects her to watch over her household well (Proverbs 31:27). She is called a joyful mother of children, not only because, in ordinary cases, the pain is forgotten when a child is born, but because there is special joy when a child comes to someone who had long been childless, as in Luke 1:14. That calls for special thanksgiving: Praise the Lord.

Even so, joy should be mixed with humility and reverence, because a sorrowful mother can become sorrowful again if her children are taken from her or become a source of grief. This verse can also be applied to the gospel church among the Gentiles, the nations, whose growth is pictured by this same image in Isaiah 54:1 and Galatians 4:27. We, as sinners from the Gentiles and children of the desolate, have good reason to say, Praise the Lord.