Psalm 113

Psalm chapter 113 is starting a new section in the Psalms, even though your Bible may not reflect it. The 113th Psalm through the 118th Psalm, are what we call the, Hallel Psalms, and the word, Hallel means, praise. And they were sung during the various Jewish festivals like Passover, and Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, Psalm 113 and 114 were sung before they ate the Passover meal. And then 15, 16, 17, and 18, were actually sung at the conclusion of the Passover meal. When the Gospel accounts tell us after the final Passover that Jesus celebrated with His disciples, when it says, they sang a hymn and then went to the Mount of Olives, (Matthew 26:30, Mark 14:26) they were probably singing Psalm 118, more than likely, if they sang them in order. Because that was the final Psalm that they sang before they left for the Mount of Olives. And these had a very, very important place in the life of the of Israel these next Psalms here. Psalm 113, as we begin the Hallel Psalms, is a very simple Psalm that calls upon God's people to praise His name. And then it lists the reasons why. And you're going to find that many of these Psalms are very much praise oriented. And they begin and usually end that same way, as this one does,

(ESV) And remember the name is always speaking of His character.

And here's the first reason why. Verse 4 and 5,

The first reason to praise the Lord, is that He is high and lifted up, His glory above the heavens. He is above and sovereignly above all of the nations. Do you ever get... Do you ever read the news or watch the news and get scared about what's going on in the world? I would encourage you to probably stop watching the news. Or, maybe, watch a little less and read your Bible a little more. Because the Bible is going to remind you that there is a sovereign God who is over all of the nations. And that means over the plans of men. And that's what this begins to say here in verse 4, the Lord is above all the nations. He's high above all the nations, what's going on in the Soviet Union or Russia now. And all the things that we hear about. And then Iran, we're hearing about more stuff going on. There's always bad news coming out of Iran it seems. And then, we've got this and that and the other thing going on. And you've probably heard about the fact that, they've been raining missiles on Israel, here just this last week. Pray for one of our couples Ken and Connie Moral are over there, I think right now. Or, they... At least they were, over the last several days. They may be back by now, I guess. But anyway. I told him, I said, hey, you're going to have a great time. And they said, well, they've been bombing people. I said, that's alright, you'll be fine. But... And then all this stuff started up even more. Anyway, the Lord is high above all. And he asked the question in verse 5, "Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,..." You and I know, no one who is like Him. He “…looks far down on the heavens and the earth." And then he gives the second reason to, "Praise the LORD!"

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And that's basically describing me right there. I don't know if it describes you. If you feel like it describes you. But I feel like it's: I put Paul right there. "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap." And I don't know about this next part, "8 to make them sit with princes," as far as my life. But he says, that's something the Lord can do. And sitting "with the princes of his people." And then, "9 He (also) gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children." And then it ends the way it began, "Praise the LORD!" And it's talking about how He acts on behalf of the poor and needy. And gives those as reasons to, "Praise the LORD!" Have you ever stopped to just think about the humility of God? That the humility that it takes for Him to condescend to just take care of us, to be with the poor and needy. You and I have a natural magnetic attraction - I'm talking about our flesh - to the rich and famous. That's why those programs are really popular on TV. You notice they never made a program, lifestyles of the poor and needy. That's not that interesting. But we like to... And practically, every Disney cartoon that ever came out was - the princess ones - were all rags to riches. We like those things. We like that. But God reaches out to touch the poor and to lift them up. And I like that. He makes them sit with important people. And He blesses the barren woman. I just... I like that. God's humility, God's concern, and compassion, reasons to, "Praise the LORD!"