Sermon on Psalm 113

The following is a sermon I wrote during my internship. We walked together through the psalm, with each verse chanted in Hebrew throughout. The entire psalm was chanted at the end of the sermon. I had someone else do the chanting, and I think the variety of voices throughout the sermon was helpful.

The Psalms. 150 poems. And these are not just any poems. They are the prayer book of the Israelites – meant to be sung, not spoken. These are deep words, expressive and incredibly true to the human experience. There are desperate pleas for help, joyous hymns of praise, songs of thanksgiving, expressions of profound trust, cries of pain from deep grief

– some are individual expressions, some come from the depths of an entire community. The psalms express the spectrum of emotion, the width and breadth of the human experience – it is in this book of scripture that we can find a companion to laugh, cry, suffer, and celebrate with us. The psalms teach us much about the long journey of faith.

Inside of your bulletin on a blue sheet of paper is a copy of Psalm 113, printed in the original Hebrew. The English translation is in your Celebrate insert. Today we will journey through Psalm 113, exploring the richness of the poetry and language. Since the psalms were intended to be sung, we will hear each verse chanted in Hebrew before reflecting on it.

V.1 – “Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord”

The word Hallelujah, a word we use often in our hymns and liturgy, is a Hebrew word that translates to “let us praise the lord”. We are told three times in this one short verse to PRAISE! This first verse tells us very clearly we are about to hear a joyous hymn of praise to God. Psalm 113, in fact, is the first psalm in a group to be chanted at the Jewish celebration of Passover.

V.2 – “Let the name of the Lord be blessed, from this time forth forevermore.”

Praising God is not a one time event. It is not something to be reserved for special occasions. Certainly, when we gather for worship, this is a specific time we physically come together as a community to raise our praise to God. But praise for God can continue at all times – in what we do and say – in the way we live our lives – this too, is praise to God – which should continue from this time until forever!

V. 3 – “From the rising of the sun to its going down let the name of the Lord be praised”

Beautiful writing is used here to poetically describe when and where God should be praised. In this verse we have the rising sun and the setting sun – covering the entire span of the day –The Lord should be praised at all times. The rising sun and setting sun also cover the “ends” of the earth – covering all the land – emphasizing that the Lord should be praised in all places.

V. 4 – “The Lord is high above all nations, God’s glory above the heavens.”

The first three verses were emphatic about praise to God –it is incredibly important and should be done at all times in all places. Now the author begins to talk about why the Lord deserves our praise. The Hebrew word translated here as “nations” can also be translated as “people.” The lord is higher than all nations, than all people. We are not praising an equal or a friend or a peer – we should never forget that God is higher than all of us, even higher than the heavens.

V. 5 – Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high?

The Lord, more powerful than anyone or anything is also unique. Certainly no person can compare, but there are also no other gods that can compare. The psalms were written in a time and place where there were many religions, many gods. Today, we have gods or idols that we often are more focused on than God, we just don’t call them that…Our gods become money, popularity, getting more stuff, a need for control. We are reminded here that nothing else we find or seek after is as amazing, as powerful as the Lord our God!

V. 6 – who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

And here is where the picture gets exciting, becomes unexpected, and really blows us away. The Lord our God, the most powerful is willing to be lowered to us – God wants to see – God takes notice and takes interest. There is absolutely no reason that God NEEDS to do this, God is the most powerful. And yet, here is God, lowering Godself down to see heaven and earth. This is the will of God, the choice of God –to be see creation.

V. 7 – He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.

God is not simply coming down to take a look, to see what’s going on. God comes to be involved to interact. God is with the poor and needy – those who are easily ignored in the world – both the world when the Psalms were written AND in our world today. God is with those who are ostracized, avoided, made fun of, taken advantage of…God is with them and God transforms them, giving dignity to those who the world says are undignified, giving hope to those the world claims should have no hope.

V. 8 – to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

The poor and the needy sit with those who are highest, for in God’s eyes, all are beloved creation, all are to receive the love of God. In the end, the princes are princes of God’s people – God is the true ruler of our lives, our hearts, God has the final word, not any sort of power that is on this earth.

V. 9 – He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

A women without a child in the culture of this time was someone who was shamed, someone who had no place in society, but most importantly, since people lived on in their heirs, this was a woman who would not live on. To this person, God gives sanctuary, honor and eternal life. A home, a household, gives the woman place in society. Having children gives her honor. And those children mean that she will have eternal life. How else can the story of God’s power and goodness be ended than with the words – Hallelujah! Praise the lord!

The psalms have been read, spoken and sung by millions of people in many languages and worship settings. It is praise to God that has continued for thousands of years, and will continue for thousands more. As we listen to Psalm 113 today, and as we continue to read and chant the psalms as a community, we remember those who have come before us, we look forward to our continued journey of faith, and stand in awe of the power of our God, expressed in compassionate acts of lifting up the lowly, never letting anyone go unnoticed or uncared for, granting eternal life for all.