Psalm 113

PSALM 113Ps 113:1-9. God's majesty contrasted with His condescension and gracious dealings towards the humble furnish matter and a call for praise. The Jews, it is said, used this and Psalms 114-118 on their great festivals, and called them the Greater Hallel, or Hymn.1-3. Earnestness and zeal are denoted by the emphatic repetitions.servants of the Lord—or, all the people of God.name of the Lord—perfections (Ps 5:11; 111:9).

PSALM 113 This psalm begins and ends with "Hallelujah;" for, as many others, it is designed to promote the great and good work of praising God. I. We are here called upon and urged to praise God (v. 1-3). II. We are here furnished with matter for praise, and words are put into our mouths, in singing which we must with holy fear and love give to God the glory of, 1. The elevations of his glory and greatness (v. 4, 5). 2. The condescensions of his grace and goodness (v. 6-9), which very much illustrate one another, that we may be duly affected with both.Verses 1-9 In this psalm,I. We are extorted to give glory to God, to give him the glory due to his name.1. The invitation is very pressing: praise you the Lord, and again and again, Praise him, praise him; blessed be his name, for it is to be praised, v. 1-3. This intimates, (1.) That it is a necessary and most excellent duty, greatly pleasing to God, and has a large room in religion. (2.) That it is a duty we should much abound in, in which we should be frequently employed and greatly enlarged. (3.) That it is work which we are very backward to, and which we need to be engaged and excited to by precept upon precept and line upon line. (4.) That those who are much in praising God themselves will court others to it, both because they find the weight of the work, and that there is need of all the help they can fetch in (there is employment for all hearts, all hands, and all little enough), and because they find the pleasure of it, which they wish all their friends may share in.2. The invitation is very extensive. Observe, (1.) From whom God has praise—from his own people; they are here called upon to praise God, as those that will answer the call: Praise, O you servants of the Lord! They have most reason to praise him; for those that attend him as his servants know him best and receive most of his favours. And it is their business to praise him; that is the work required of them as his servants: it is easy pleasant work to speak well of their Master, and do him what honour they can; if they do not, who should? Some understand it of the Levites; but, if so, all Christians are a royal priesthood, to show forth the praises of him that has called them, 1 Pt. 2:9. The angels are the servants of the Lord; they need not be called upon by us to praise God, yet it is a comfort to us that they do praise him, and that they praise him better than we can. (2.) From whom he ought to have praise. [1.] From all ages (v. 2)—from this time forth for evermore. Let not this work die with us, but let us be doing it in a better world, and let those that come after us be doing it in this. Let not our seed degenerate, but let God be praised through all the generations of time, and not in this only. We must bless the Lord in our day, by saying, with the psalmist, Blessed be his name now and always. [2.] From all places—from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, that is, throughout the habitable world. Let all that enjoy the benefit of the sun rising (and those that do so must count upon it that the sun will set) give thanks for that light to the Father of lights. God’s name is to be praised; it ought to be praised by all nations; for in every place, from east to west, there appear the manifest proofs and products of his wisdom, power, and goodness; and it is to be lamented that so great a part of mankind are ignorant of him, and give that praise to others which is due to him alone. But perhaps there is more in it; as the former verse gave us a glimpse of the kingdom of glory, intimating that God’s name shall be blessed for ever (when time shall be no more that praise shall be the work of heaven), so this verse gives us a glimpse of the kingdom of grace in the gospel-dispensation of it. When the church shall no longer be confined to the Jewish nation, but shall spread itself all the world over, when in every place spiritual incense shall be offered to our God (Mal. 1:11), then from the rising to the setting of the sun the Lord’s name shall be praised by some in all countries.II. We are here directed what to give him the glory of.1. Let us look up with an eye of faith, and see how high his glory is in the upper world, and mention that to his praise, v. 4, 5. We are, in our praises, to exalt his name, for he is high, his glory is high. (1.) High above all nations, their kings though ever so pompous, their people though ever so numerous. Whether it be true of an earthly king or no that though he is major singulis—greater than individuals, he is minor universis—less than the whole, we will not dispute; but we are sure it is not true of the King of kings. Put all the nations together, and he is above them all; they are before him as the drop of the bucket and the small dust of the balance, Isa. 60:15, 17. Let all nations think and speak highly of God, for he is high above them all. (2.) High above the heavens; the throne of his glory is in the highest heavens, which should raise our hearts in praising him, Lam. 3:41. His glory is above the heavens, that is, above the angels; he is above what they are, for their brightness is nothing to his,—above what they do, for they are under his command and do his pleasure,—and above what even they can speak him to be. He is exalted above all blessing and praise, not only all ours, but all theirs.