Psalms 113
Butler1. PRAISE ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, Praise the name of the Lord. 2 Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same The LORD’s name is to be praised. 4 The LORD is high above all nations, And his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like unto the LORD our God,
That hath his seat on high, 6 That humbleth himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth? 7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, And lifteth up the needy from the dunghill; 8 That he may set him with princes, Even with the princes of his people. 9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, And to be a joyful mother of children. PRAISE YE THE LORD.
IN the Jewish Liturgy the so-called Hallel (Psalms 113-118), also called the Egyptian Hallel, as distinguished from the Great Hallel (Psalm 136), begins with this Psalm. This first Psalm of the series continued to be sung while the temple stood, and is still recited in Palestine eighteen times a year, apart from its customary, though not legal use, at the new moon. Outside of Palestine it is now yearly recited twenty-one times, on account of the addition of three great feast-days. At the family celebration of the Passover, Psalms 113 and 114 were sung before the emptying of the second cup, and Psalms 115-118 after the meal, and after the filling of the fourth cup. Moll.—This last, probably, was “the hymn” which our Lord and His apostles are said to have sung after His last Passover. P.—Tradition shows that the ancient Jews perceived in these six Psalms some link of close connection. They all sing of God the Redeemer, in some aspect of His redeeming character; and this being so, while they suited the paschal feast, we can see how appropriate they would be in the lips of the Redeemer, in His upper room. A. Bonar.
The Psalm may be said to be a connecting link between the song of Hannah and the “Magnificat” of the Virgin. P.
3. The believer’s heart is formed for and his soul delights to praise the Lord at all times; for he sees himself infinitely and entirely indebted to the grace of God for all he is, all he enjoys, and all he hopes for. It is his grief that he cannot praise the Lord as he would; for worthy is the Lord of unceasing praise. His mercies are renewed every morning, continued unto evening, and repeated in the night-season. W. Mason.
4. High above all nations (is) Jehovah; above the heavens (is) His (glory). The two clauses are declaratory of His infinite superiority both to the animate and inanimate creation, each being represented by its noblest part; the former by mankind, and that considered not as individuals but nations; the latter by the heavens. A.—His glory is above the nations, and above the heavens, and yet neither is neglected by Him; God is great, yet He despises not any (Job 36 : 5). He humbles Himself to behold all His creatures, all His subjects, though He is infinitely above them. Considering the infinite perfection, sufficiency, and felicity of the Divine nature, it is an act of wonderful condescension that God is pleased to take into the thoughts of His eternal counsel, and into the hand of His universal providence, both the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth (Dan. 4 : 35). H.
5,6. The more we know of the extent of creation the loftier is our conception of Him who sits in high authority over the concerns of so wide a universe. But is it not adding to the bright catalogue of His other attributes, to say that, while magnitude does not overpower Him, minuteness cannot escape Him and variety cannot bewilder Him; and that at the very time while the mind of the Deity is abroad over the whole vastness of creation, there is not one particle of matter, there is not one individual principle of rational or of animal existence, there is not one single world in that expanse which teems with them, that His eye does not discern as constantly, and His hand does not guide as unerringly, and His Spirit does not watch and care for as vigilantly as if it formed the one and exclusive object of His attention. Chalmers.
We can no more fathom the depth of the Divine condescension than we can measure the height of the Divine greatness. It is the infinite grandeur of God that magnifies His condescension. It does more than adorn and augment it; it makes it infinite. In both cases our finite understanding fail us. Like men standing on the shore of a wide ocean, we can see a vastness that surprises and fills the mind, but there is beyond our sight a boundless, immeasurable expanse, which no eye can reach. The goodness of God is as great as His majesty; as much exceeding all our conceptions of it as the glory that fills heaven and earth passes our understanding. It is not such mercy as we expect, or desire, or need; it is such mercy as corresponds with the grandeur of Jehovah, such mercy as even towers above His grandeur, and becomes the chief glory of His wonderful name. C. Bradley.
Two opposite results spring from the same order of thoughts with respect to the Divine Being. Among men of the world, wise as they are, in proportion as they have had high and exalted views of God, those lofty ideas tend to distrust; while just in proportion as we are enlightened on the very same subjects by the Scriptures of truth, rightly and spiritually understood, we as well as the authors of these sacred books, in proportion as we see the glory and the grandeur of God, are excited to a filial and comforting trust. There are two propositions in the text which human reason could never unite. “Who dwelleth on high,” but yet He “humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth.” And the reason why unassisted human faculties could never unite these two ideas is, that they could not, in the nature of things, be united but by a third discovery, which must have come from God Himself and show the two in perfect harmony, the discovery that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Richard Watson.
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. H.
7. From among those things that make God worthy to be praised the Psalm gives prominence to His condescension toward that which is lowly. What is meant is the humility of God, which stoops down for the exaltation of the lowly, and which performs its utmost in the work of redemption. This explains why it is that Mary, in her “Magnificat,” breaks forth into the same strain as the song of Hannah (1 Sam. 2) and this Psalm. D.
Almighty God cannot look above Himself, having no superiors; nor about Himself, having no equals; He beholds such as are below Him, and therefore the lower a man is, the nearer unto God; He resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5 : 5). He pulls down the mighty from their seat, and exalteth them of low degree. The Most High hath special eye to such as are most humble; for, as it followeth in our text, “He taketh up the simple out of the dust, and lifteth the poor out of the dirt.” Boys. —Great faith, then, ought to be exercised toward such a God. It is a lessening of His honor to allow either sins, or troubles, or wants to sink us into despair. He can stoop lower than we can fall. He can raise the meanest and poorest higher than the most heavenly-minded can conceive. He can succor where human kindness would abandon, comfort where the tenderest earthly friend would forsake, pardon where the most merciful of His creatures would condemn. Our firmest confidence, our most enlarged expectations, can never equal His love. C. Bradley.
9. Make the barren woman a joyful mother of children. He governs all things in the private family, as well as in the public weal. Children and the fruit of the womb are a gift and heritage that cometh of the Lord. It is God only who makes the barren woman “a mother,” and that “a joyful mother.” Boys.
The historical allusion here is to Hannah who, with other long childless mothers mentioned in the sacred history, was a type of the Church in its low estate, and more especially in exile. A. —The curse of barrenness was so bitter a thing in Jewish eyes that its removal was hailed as a special mark of Divine favor. The allusion to it here was suggested, doubtless by Hannah’s history, and by the strain of Hannah’s song, quoted in vs. 7, 8. P.
Praise ye the Lord. We may look abroad and see abundant occasion for praising God in His condescension to human affairs; but, after all, if we wish to find occasions of praise that most tenderly affect the heart, they will be most likely to be found in the domestic circle; in the mutual love, the common joy, the tender feelings which bind together the members of a family. Barnes.