Psalms 113:1-9: a reflection

1Praise the LORD! Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the LORD’s name. 2Blessed be the LORD’s name, from this time forward and forever more. 3From the rising of the sun to its going down, the LORD’s name is to be praised. 4The LORD is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens. 5Who is like the LORD, our God, who has his seat on high, 6who stoops down to see in heaven and on the earth? 7He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the needy from the ash heap, 8that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. 9He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!

Psalm 113 lifts up the greatness of God, high above all nations, his glory above the heavens; and then it says something that holds his majesty and his tenderness together. Who is like the LORD our God, who has his seat on high, who stoops down to see the heaven and the earth? The God who is exalted above all things stoops down; and when he stoops, it is to lift the lowly: He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to seat them with princes.

Notice the wonderful combination in this psalm: God is high above all, and yet he stoops low to the lowly. His greatness does not make him distant from the poor and needy; rather, the exalted God stoops down, notices those in the dust and on the ash heap, and lifts them up. His majesty and his tenderness go together; the God enthroned on high is the same God who raises the poor and settles the barren woman as a joyful mother.

That is a comfort for all who feel low, poor, or overlooked. The God who is exalted above all is not too great to notice you, nor too high to stoop down to your low place. He sees those in the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap; he raises the lowly to sit with princes. When you feel low, forgotten, in the dust, remember the God of this psalm, high above all yet stooping down to lift the lowly. He is not indifferent to your low place; he stoops to it, and is able to lift you up. Trust the exalted God whose greatness expresses itself in stooping to raise the poor and needy, and who may lift you from your own dust and ash heap.

Lord, Psalm 113 praises you as exalted above all nations, your glory above the heavens, and yet as the God who stoops down to lift the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap. Thank you that your majesty and your tenderness go together. Your greatness does not make you distant from the poor and needy; you stoop down, notice those in the dust, and lift them up. When I feel low, forgotten, in the dust, remind me of this: that you, high above all, stoop down to lift the lowly. You are not too great to notice me, nor too high to stoop to my low place. You see those in the dust; you lift the needy from the ash heap. Help me trust you, whose greatness expresses itself in stooping to raise the poor and needy, and who are able to lift me from my own dust. I praise you, the God who is high yet stoops low.