Psalm 113 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 113 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.
Verse 2Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore.
Verse 3From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Verse 4The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
Verse 5Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,
Verse 6who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
Verse 7He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
Verse 8to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
Verse 9He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
Karl Barth wrote: "[Mozart] does not reveal in his music any doctrine and certainly not himself... he just sings and sounds. ... Nor does he will to proclaim the praise of God. He just does it."
Walter Brueggemann, in his book Israel’s Praise: Doxology Against Idolatry and Ideology, says that Israel sings continuously, because it has "this inexplicable passion against suffering, and it has learned that silence breeds suffering.”
Psalm 113 defies human ideology obsessed with capturing God. Israel sings of a God who continues to make and unmake us, to create and destroy us, to fill the hungry with good things and to send the rich away empty. This psalm reminds us that only God is worthy to sing God’s own praise. It is when we stop speaking and simply start singing that God can speak God’s own praise through us.
Prayer
Lord, help us to see that your gracious ordaining has sent all that is needful. Amen.