Psalm 113 (NLT)
Psalms 113-118 are generally accepted as having special reference to the Passover, the feast which introduces us to the Old Testament Passover sacrificial lamb and the New Testament Lamb of God. This particular psalm, Psalm 113, is read before the Passover Seder.
So Great, Yet So Gracious
Freedom from Slavery
This psalm begins by calling Israel to “praise” the Lord three times in verse one. As “servants of the LORD” (113:1 KJV), those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (Ex. 12:13) were no longer Egyptian slaves. Jehovah is invoked as the One who promised the land of Canaan to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is also the prospect of an eternal inheritance whereby the children of Abraham will bless God from “this time forth and for evermore” (113:2). This also has special reference to New Jerusalem and the celestial land of everlasting possession (Gen. 13:15). In the days of the Tabernacle and the Temple there existed a basis for praise from the rising of the sun till the setting thereof (113:3). In addition to the morning and evening oblations, David formalized the consecutive praise of God in imitation of the heavenly hosts. Passover and the other set Feasts were connected ceremonies, telling us that we should not think we may be idle between formal gatherings. We should begin each day with thanksgiving and not rest our heads at night without committing ourselves to God.
–Tom Summerhill (and all blue)
1 Praise the Lord!
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The cry is both a personal statement of praise and an encouragement to others to do the same.
Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
now and forever.
3 Everywhere—from east to west—
praise the name of the Lord.
The psalmist now contrasts the glory of God with the humility of the Almighty. There is no one more glorious yet so humble as God. For thousands of years He hid His glory from men. The same God who created the millions of galaxies in immeasurable space, became the Babe of Bethlehem with a single star above His humble home. This same great God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush: “I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them” (Ex. 3:7-8). Israel saw that the Passover Lamb represented God “manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). To deliver us, the Son of God was “found in fashion as a Man” (Phil. 2:8).
4 For the Lord is high above the nations;
his glory is higher than the heavens.
5 Who can be compared with the Lord our God,
who is enthroned on high.
6 He stoops to look down
on heaven and on earth.
“If it be such condescension for God to behold things in heaven and earth, what an amazing condescension was it for the Son of God to come from heaven to earth and take our nature upon him, that he might seek and save them that were lost! Here indeed he humbled himself.”
–Charles Haddon Spurgeon
7 He lifts the poor from the dust
and the needy from the garbage dump.
8 He sets them among princes,
even the princes of his own people!
The phrase “joyful mother of children” (113:9) expresses a beautiful truth. Many Hebrew mothers wept when the Egyptians put their baby sons to death. But the children at the Passover table were proof of divine preservation and multiplication. In contrast, the Egyptian mothers wept when the destroying angel slew their firstborn.
9 He gives the childless woman a family,
making her a happy mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 113 blesses God for blessings received. Praising God is the recurrent theme of these Passover psalms, because they reminded Israel of her humiliation as slaves under the Egyptians. Now in their own land, Israel was blessed beyond measure. But their slavery must not be forgotten. Their army did not deliver them, the blood of the Lamb did (Ex. 12:17,51).
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Music:
HERE is Jason Silver and “Psalm 113.” Bluesy and fun.
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New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
DWELLING in the Word 