Psalm 113: Knowing God Evokes Praise!

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Psalm 113:1–9 (ESV)

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore!

3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,

the name of the Lord is to be praised!

4 The Lord is high above all nations,

and his glory above the heavens!

5 Who is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high,

6 who looks far down

on the heavens and the earth?

7 He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

8 to make them sit with princes,

with the princes of his people.

9 He gives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!

Opening Prayer

Praise the Lord!

Again the psalmist begins within an exclamation to Praise the Lord!

And, then he immediately gives us two commands...

The 1st command...

Psalm 113:1 (ESV)

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

The command to praise is directed to a qualified group.

servants of the Lord

In Christ, we see the embodiment of servanthood.

He served the will of His Father.

And, by doing so, He served for the benefit of His elect people.

(Bragging about job, boss, love their job, love going into work)

We, as Christians, have been given the privilege of serving the Lord.

We have been brought into the King’s castle to serve Him.

And, the beauty of serving the Lord...

Is that all we do to serve Him reciprocates into our benefit.

Our joy.

Our happiness.

Our unending pleasure.

All are full and overflowing in the service of our King, the Lord.

And, we need this reminder.

A reminder of our role of servant before God...

And, that by and through serving Hims is how we actually find/experience what is best for us.

Too often, we forget this and try to take the role of Director of our life...

And, we start treating God as if he were a mere stage hand to our life that we are directing.

And, rather than praise we request with a tone/undertone of “hurry up, if you know what’s good for you.”

The psalmist reminds us of who is actually worthy of praise.

Who is actually the Director and who is actually the one who serves the Director.

Praise the Lord, you blessed servants of the gracious Lord.

The 2nd command...

Psalm 113:1 (ESV)

praise the name of the Lord!

We are directed to praise something specific...

the name of the Lord

The name used here is Yahweh.

Which is the name given to Moses.

The name that means I AM THAT I AM

The One who was, who is, and who will always be.

He is the sovereign Lord...

Who does as He pleases in the heavens and no one can stay His hand.

It’s His name and no other that should be praised.

Praise = Worship

He alone is worthy of our worship.

Worship is given to something that deserves our obedience...

Obedience to One that trumps obedience to any other.

YAHWEH is the only One who deserves our worship/praise.

We do not deserve worship.

Our spouses do not deserve worship.

Our children do not deserve our worship.

Our leaders/government do not deserve our worship.

No one, but Yahweh is worthy of our praise & worship...

And, ultimate obedience.

The next two verses, which fit with these two commands are connected to the name Yahweh.

Psalm 113:2–3 (ESV)

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore!

3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,

the name of the Lord is to be praised!

We have these words that indicate unending time...

Unending repetition of praise!

And they match well with the name Yahweh...

The One who was, who is, and who will always be.

So, the psalmist is beckoning the hearer to...

Let Your Praise Begin & Never End

The word blessed here in v.3 is different than the word blessed from Psalm 112 where it said Blessed is the man...

The thought in Psalm 112 was the person who feared/worshipped the Lord was blessed meaning they were in a state of bliss.

The word blessed here in Psalm 113 is a different word.

So, when it says Blessed be the name of the Lord...

The meaning behind this word...

Is the bending of the knee for blessing.

So, if we are blessed by worshipping the Lord...

And, the psalmist is saying here may our knee be bowed at the name of the Lord...

The psalmist is telling us that at the thought of the name of the Lord...

And the mention of His name...

May worship & praise & adoration be evoked in our hearts...

May our hearts kneel in worship at the thought of the Lord.

The psalmist also gives us a timeline here of Praise for the Lord...

Psalm 113:2 (ESV)

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore!

It’s not too late to start praising the Lord...

What all people need is to...

Know God rightly

Cry out for wisdom

Ask God to reveal Himself in true knowledge.

And, when wisdom arrives...

The result will be that the name of the Lord will evoke worship.

And, if you are a Christian and have praised Him...

But have found yourself void of praise...

Start anew.

Know that it should never end.

Remember from a few psalms ago...

We grow accustom to thinks that are praise worthy...

And we put on an entitled attitude...

And, we don’t see the majesty in the ordinary...

But, the ordinary is just as majestic and the extraordinary.

For anything to exist...

For anything to be sustained...

For anything to be repetitious...

It is all worthy of praise.

The psalmist continues...

3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,

the name of the Lord is to be praised!

When you wake up, until you go to sleep...

The most beneficial, worthy, joy-invoking thing you can do is to praise the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

That’s not just a command for the glory of God.

That is just as much a command for the benefit of the obedient.

Our life, the air that we breathe was intended for the use of praising God...

And, our praising God is the context of our greatest joy.

The Lord’s name, who He is...

Is to be praised.

We Should Marvel at God

Psalm 113:4–6 (ESV)

4 The Lord is high above all nations,

and his glory above the heavens!

5 Who is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high,

6 who looks far down

on the heavens and the earth?

The psalmist is giving us the best picture he can of the comparison of God to the entirety of creation.

He is high above all nations...

The psalmist is not trying to give us God’s location.

The Bible teaches us that God is omnipresent...

He is everywhere.

The psalmist is teaching us that His worthiness of praise is infinitely higher than that of the earth.

—> He is the sovereign of the earth.

His glory is not only higher than the earth...

His glory is above the heavens.

He transcends all of creation.

His glory makes the glory of the entire creation pale in comparison.

His glory makes the glory of the sun, a flickering candle.

The Sun, Moon, Stars, Galaxies...

Planets, Earth, Mountains, Oceans, Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Earthquakes...

Nations, Militaries, Kingdoms, the whole of technology...

All together in their wonder, majesty, brightness...

Pale in comparison to the One who spoke them into existence.

He is the only Creator...

And, all other things have been created by Him.

What power and altogether otherness of God!

God transcends the creation.

The psalmist moves us from this declaration of infinite glory in v.4...

A glory that transcends all of creation...

To v.5-6...

5 Who is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high,

6 who looks far down

on the heavens and the earth?

He‘s giving us a rhetorical question...

Which is meant to teach us that there is nothing to compare God to.

There is nothing to compare God to...

Because He is like nothing else.

The Lord is seated on High...

Again, location is not in mind...

Loftiness, omnipotence, glory is in mind.

He is so much more glorious...

There’s this imagery of squinting & straining to even recognize our existence compared to His glory.

Who else is like this?

No one.

But, now we have this very cool, praise invoking transition.

The psalmist wants us to see how glorious and powerful God is...

Infinite in glory, majesty, and holiness...

In order to draw us in to see how God uses these attributes of His glory.

Look at His Display of Power

How does God use His power towards weaker vessels?

How does God interact with those who are lesser than equal?

Does He use His power to dominate, degrade, demean?

How does such a glorious, majestic, powerful being as God use His power?

Psalm 113:7–9 (ESV)

7 He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

8 to make them sit with princes,

with the princes of his people.

9 He gives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!

A more amazing feature of this graciousness by God...

This display of power to help...

Is that mankind’s rebellion is what caused our horrific circumstances.

The psalmist is informing the hearers that God looks for those in need...

Those who are without...

Those who cannot help themselves...

And stoops down to the very lowest of lows...

And, lifts us up.

Is He obligated?

Is there benefit for Him in doing such?

Job 35:4–8 (ESV)

4 I will answer you and your friends with you.

5 Look at the heavens, and see;

and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.

6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?

And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him?

Or what does he receive from your hand?

8 Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,

and your righteousness a son of man.

Elihu has heard enough.

Job’s friends have been everything, but help.

And, now Job is veering from truth.

And, what Elihu clarifies here is this absolute truth of God...

That what we do has no impact upon God, whatsoever.

God is self-existent.

He is independent from all other things...

All of creation.

When we do right…it adds nothing to God...

God is not benefited from it.

When we sin, it takes away nothing from God.

God is not diminished in the least by it.

What we do, impacts one another...

But, what creation does, does not positively benefit or negatively diminish God of anything.

He is all together self-existent, self-sustaining...

And, He is who He is…in and of Himself.

And, He is immutable…He does not change!

Take-Away

The beauty of this truth is that God gives to us...

He seeks to benefit His creation...

Not because it benefits Him...

But because it benefits us.

And, the ultimate benefit to us...

Is the Cross...

Where God’s justice met God’s love...

And, unjust sinners become just in the eyes of God...

BY FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE!

And with regards to the Law of God...

In Christ, we have become righteous...

Fully forgiven.

What a God!

What a Lord!

What a Savior!

ClosingPrayer