Psalm 113

Psalm 113

Who Is Like God?

I. God must be praised because there is no one else like Him; so His people must praise His name, at all times, and in all places (Vv. 1-3)

a. Who is like the LORD our God? No one, He has no equal, so we must praise God for who He is. Proper praise of God is a combination of our spontaneous of joy over who He is and what He does, and the intentional and cultivated attitude of our hearts towards God. The psalmist’s repeated call to praise God speaks to our tendency to grow cold in our praise, allowing our hearts to be overwhelmed by life in this fallen world, because we simply don’t enjoy God as we should. While it’s true that all people will bow before God one day, it’s also true that only those who belong to Him, “servants of the LORD” are able to truly enjoy and praise Him through a personal relationship with Him. So all who belong to Him, are called to serve and praise His Name, which is to say, praise His nature and character as He reveals Himself. The Name of the LORD comes from the Hebrew verb “to be”, and is best described as “I AM”, or “I AM WHO I AM”. God is not just an abstract thought or idea, but He’s a person who reveals Himself. He is self-existent and eternal. There’s no point in which He was created, and not a point at which He won’t be anymore. God is also self-sufficient. There’s no point at which He’s less than all He needs, and we have nothing to contribute to Him. Lastly, God is unchangeable. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can trust God to be who He reveals Himself to be, but we must also know that He’s unavoidable and inescapable, and will not ever go away or be ignored. Thus, because of who God is, those who belong to Him must praise His Name all the time “this time forth and forever”, and everywhere “From where sun rises to where it sets”. The name of the Lord is to be praised. (Vv. 1-3; Exod. 3:14; 33:18-19; 34:5-7; Ps. 34:22; 90:1-2; Isa. 41:8-9; Mal. 1:11a; Phil 2:9-11; Heb. 13:8; 1 Pet. 2:9-12)

II. God must be praised because there is no one else like Him; He his greater than the greatest and gracious to the lowest of the low (Vv. 4-9)

a. Who is like the LORD our God? No one, He has no equal, and so He must be praised, not just because He has no equal, but also because what He does can’t be equaled. God does what He does, because He is who He is. God is the only all sovereign and all-powerful God. He’s not only high above all nations and peoples, but He’s also high above all the heavens. God is so great, sovereign, powerful, and high that He has to “humble Himself”, or “stoop down” in order to look at the heavens, much less the earth. In His exclusive, great, all sovereign, and all-powerful nature, God can do anything He wants, anytime He wants, anywhere He wants, any way He wants, and because He wants. So what does He do in all His greatness, and with all His sovereign power? (Vv. 4-6; Ps. 103:19; Isa. 40:12-26; Jer. 32:17; Mal. 1:11b; Rom. 11:33-36)

b. God chooses to humble Himself from the highest of highs, and pour out His grace on the lowest of the low. In His literally limitless and infinite greatness and power, God not only reaches down to the lowest of low, He reaches down to the poor and the needy to raise them from the dust and the ash heap and raises them to the place of princes. The indication is that God chooses to use His infinite power to not only provide for the physical needs of the poor and needy, but also to provide for us in our spiritual poverty by reaching down into the depths of our sin, to raise us up, and seat us with His exalted Son! Verses 7-8 come as an almost direct quote from Hannah’s song, who praised God, that after she cried out to Him in her barrenness, He chose to graciously bless her with a son, Samuel, whom she committed to the service of the Lord. Throughout God’s Word, He repeatedly provides graciously, in the exercise of His power and for His glory, for the greatest good of His creation whom He loves, and for the blessing of those who are His. In Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, and Mary, the virgin mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God worked through those who were unable to do anything themselves, and exercised His limitless sovereign power to graciously bring salvation through Jesus to all those who call on Him. This psalms ends with a single barren women because God, in His infinite greatness and power, blesses and saves us one at a time, by Personally reaching down to the powerless, suffering, and downcast, and restoring us to relationship with Him through His Son. Who is like the LORD our God? No one, so praise the LORD! (Vv. 7-9; Gen. 21:1-3; 25:21; 29:31; 1 Sam. 1:1-2:11; Ps. 138:6-8; Micah 7:18; Luke 1:46-55; John 3:16; Eph. 2:1-9; 3:20; Phil. 2:5-8; Rom. 3:23; 4:1-4; 5:6-11; 6:23; 10:13)

c. "God created the world out of nothing, and so long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us." ~ Martin Luther