WHERE THE PRAISE BEGINS (Psalm 113)

Do you ever get a song in your mind and then can’t get it out? All day long, you find yourself singing it, humming it, or thinking about it.

One of those all-day songs is found in Psalm 113. It begins with these words: “Praise ye the Lord.”

There is a pattern here. This is exactly how the two previous psalms began. Furthermore, virtually all of Psalm 113 is simply praise to God.

Verses 1-3: “Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised.”

This is why I call it an all-day song. It encourages you to start praising Him when you get up in the morning and continue until the day is done. In other words, every day should be a day of praise, and all day should be a moment of praise.

Psalm 113 begins for us a section within the Deuteronomy Psalms known to the Jewish people as the Halal. That is a word that means praise. Psalms 113-118 have been grouped together and sung during Jewish holidays. In fact, this particular psalm has often been sung early in the morning to set it all in motion. It is where praise begins.

What to Praise

Psalm 113 is filled with praise but also teaches us something about praise. This starts in verse 1, when we are told what to praise — His name. That is very important because we will come to His works, gifts, and blessings later in the psalm. But in reality, we just need to concentrate on His good name.

It is tragic that the name of our God is taken in vain today all over this world, and people use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as a curse word. What a heartbreaking thing when that name should be hallowed, revered, and worshipped. In fact, the only time in Scripture that the word “hallowed” is used is in reference to the Lord’s name.

There is no name like the name of our God. Use it with meaning and with faith. Speak of Him lovingly and adoringly. Speak of Him to others. Give Him praise and glory.

When to Praise

We are told when to praise in verse 2: Start right now and never stop. We live this life praising the Lord (or we should), and when we leave this world, we will go be with Him to praise Him for all eternity. Your life up there will be filled with praise; don’t you think this life should be the same?

In the previous psalm, we examined God's blessing on man, but in this psalm, all eyes are upon the Lord. We are to be a blessing to Him.

Verse 3 makes the instruction more personal, commanding us to spend every day praising Him. I wonder how many times we stop just to praise the Lord during an average day. Most of us do so during mealtime, but it should be a part of everything we do.

Notice that the reference to the name of the Lord is made again in verses 2-3. Don’t miss that. Make much of the name of our God.

Who we Praise

Verses 4-6 describe who we praise. “The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!”

I love the exclamation point at the end of verse 6. The psalmist was excited about the Lord. Are you?

Two major reasons for praising Him are emphasized in these three verses. The first is His highness. You could go to the highest seat of power in the world or find the most powerful person, and God is greater. He is above not only the nations but also the heavens, beyond the sun, moon, and stars. The greatest heaven is God’s.

But then we see His humbleness. God is so big that He fills up eternity, yet so personal that He comes to live in us. He is greater than we can imagine, yet so loving that He stoops to come to us. He holds the world in the palm of His hand, yet will consider my own life and yours. This is who we are praising.

Why we Praise

The psalm ends with why we praise. There is a list of sorts in verses 7-8.

“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.”

God takes the lowest and lifts them. We know this is true spiritually because He takes us from our lost condition to be seated with Him as His children. He also takes care of the needy regarding their physical needs both here in this world and in eternity. One day, all needs of that type will be gone, and those who were needy in an earthly sense — essentially all of us — will know blessing forevermore.

Verse 9: “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.” One of the greatest reasons for us to praise is because God has given us family and posterity. He has blessed our homes.

Psalm 113 ends exactly as it began: “Praise ye the Lord.”

The Jewish Halal is believed to have been sung by Jesus and His disciples on the night of His betrayal. The Bible tells us that after the Last Supper, they sang a hymn as they went out, and most scholars believe this is it.

If the Lord could sing Psalm 113 on His most difficult night, we can certainly do it today. Praise ye the Lord.