The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"praise ye the LORD," Hebrew halelu-Yah (הַלְלוּ־יָהּ). The psalm opens and closes with this shout, so that everything between is framed by it. The whole chapter is an unfolding of what the single word already says.

"servants of the LORD," avdei YHWH (עַבְדֵי יְהוָה). Who is to lead this praise? Those who belong to Him, who serve Him, are called to strike up the endless, universal song.

"the name of the LORD," shem YHWH (שֵׁם יְהוָה). The theme of these opening verses is the name, repeated again and again. To praise God's name is to praise God as He has made Himself known, His revealed character, His reputation, His very self.

"from this time forth and for evermore," me'attah ve'ad-olam (מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עוֹלָם). The first of two vast dimensions the psalm asks this praise to fill: all time. His praise is to run without a break from now into eternity, never ceasing, never falling silent.

"from the rising of the sun unto the going down," mimmizrach-shemesh ad-mevo'o (מִמִּזְרַח־שֶׁמֶשׁ עַד־מְבוֹאוֹ). The second dimension: all space. From east to west, across the whole face of the earth, wherever the sun shines, His name is to be sung, a continuous, worldwide chorus that leaves no corner silent.

Explanation

The theme of these opening verses is the name of the LORD, which is repeated again and again, "praise the name of the LORD... Blessed be the name of the LORD... the LORD'S name is to be praised." To praise God's name is to praise God as He has made Himself known, His revealed character, His reputation, His very self. And the psalm asks that this praise fill two vast dimensions. First, all time: "Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore." His praise is to run without a break from now into eternity, never ceasing, never falling silent. Second, all space: "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised." From east to west, across the whole face of the earth, wherever the sun shines, His name is to be sung. Put the two together and you have a picture of praise that fills every hour and every place, a continuous, worldwide chorus that never stops and leaves no corner silent. And who is to lead it? "O ye servants of the LORD." Those who belong to Him, who serve Him, are called to strike up this endless, universal song, so that the name of the LORD is never without praise somewhere on the earth, at any moment, until the day it fills eternity.

Gospel Focus

"From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised", this worldwide praise is fulfilled in the gospel, which carries the name of the Lord to every nation. God foretold it through Malachi: "from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles" (Malachi 1:11). The name that is now to fill all the earth is the name of Jesus, "a name which is above every name," and the servants of the Lord, His church, are the ones sent to make that name known from east to west. So the psalm's call is our commission: as those who have been made servants of the Lord Jesus, let us bless His name here and now, "from this time forth," and carry His praise to every place the sun touches, until the whole earth, and then eternity, is filled with the praise of His name.

Word Study

"high above all nations," Hebrew ram al-kol-goyim (רָם עַל־כָּל־גּוֹיִם). Every nation that ever boasted of its greatness lies beneath Him. The psalm begins its measurement of God's height at the top of the human scale, and does not stop there.

"his glory above the heavens," al hashamayim kevodo (עַל הַשָּׁמַיִם כְּבוֹדוֹ). He is not merely higher than earth; He is higher than the heavens themselves. The loftiest angel, the farthest star, the highest heaven is beneath Him.

"who is like unto the LORD," mi ka-YHWH (מִי כַּיהוָה). The question has an obvious answer: no one. No god of the nations is like this. The idols of the heathen are proud and remote, needing to be carried and served; but the true God, the very highest, is also the One who stoops.

"who dwelleth on high," hammagbihi lashavet (הַמַּגְבִּיהִי לָשָׁבֶת). His very dwelling is set on high; height is where He is at home. That is what makes the next phrase so astonishing.

"who humbleth himself to behold," hammashpili lir'ot (הַמַּשְׁפִּילִי לִרְאוֹת). Read it slowly. God is so high that for Him even to look at heaven is an act of condescension, a stooping down. If He must humble Himself merely to behold the angels and the stars, how much lower He stoops to behold us. His greatness is not shown by keeping His distance, but by His willingness to come down.

Explanation

Here the psalm sets before us a truth so staggering it can hardly be measured: how high God is, and therefore how low He must stoop to notice us at all. "The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens... who dwelleth on high." He is not merely higher than earth, He is higher than the heavens themselves; the loftiest angel, the farthest star, the highest heaven is beneath Him. And now catch the astonishing thing the psalm says next: "Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth." Read that slowly. God is so high that for Him even to look at heaven, the very heavens, is an act of condescension, a stooping down. If He must humble Himself merely to behold the angels and the stars, how much lower He stoops to behold us, and lower still to care for us. The question "Who is like unto the LORD our God?" has an obvious answer: no one. No god of the nations is like this. The idols of the heathen are proud and remote, needing to be carried and served; but the true God, the very highest, is also the One who stoops. And this is the point that makes verses 4 to 6 the hinge of the whole psalm: His greatness is not shown by keeping His distance, but by His willingness to come down. The Most High is the God who bends low, and that sets up the wonder of what He does next, stooping not only to behold the lowly, but to lift them.

Gospel Focus

"Who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold", this God who stoops even to look at the heavens stooped infinitely lower in Jesus Christ, humbling Himself all the way down to a manger and a cross. For He, "being in the form of God... made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:6-8). The One who must stoop to behold the highest heaven came down below the lowest, into our flesh, our sorrow, our death. "Who is like unto the LORD our God?" No other god ever came down; the gods of men are proud and unreachable. But ours is the God who descends, and His descent is our salvation. So when you feel too low, too small, too lost for God to notice, remember: the God who humbles Himself merely to behold the heavens has stooped, in Christ, all the way down to you.

Word Study

"raiseth up the poor out of the dust," Hebrew meqimi me'afar dal (מְקִימִי מֵעָפָר דָּל). Now we see why the highest God stoops so low: not merely to look at the lowly, but to lift them. He reaches down to the very bottom, to the dust itself.

"the dunghill," ashpot (אַשְׁפֹּת), the refuse heap. This is the place of the discarded and the destitute, the lowest and dirtiest spot there is. It is exactly where God goes looking.

"set him with princes," lehoshivi im-nedivim (לְהוֹשִׁיבִי עִם־נְדִיבִים). He raises whoever He finds there all the way to the top, "even with the princes of his people." From the refuse heap to the royal court, from the dust to the throne, that is the reach of God's grace.

"the barren woman," aqeret habbayit (עֲקֶרֶת הַבַּיִת). The psalm gives a second, tender example of the same reversal. Here is the woman whose case seemed hopeless, whose emptiness was a lifelong grief.

"a joyful mother of children," em habbanim semechah (אֵם הַבָּנִים שְׂמֵחָה). To her God gives a full house and a heart of joy. What men call hopeless, God calls an opportunity for grace, and so the psalm ends where it began, in praise.

Explanation

Now we see why the highest God stoops so low: not merely to look at the lowly, but to lift them. And notice the extremes He joins. He reaches down to the very bottom, "the dust," "the dunghill", the rubbish heap, the place of the discarded and the destitute, the lowest and dirtiest spot there is. And He raises whoever He finds there all the way to the top: "That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people." From the refuse heap to the royal court, from the dust to the throne, that is the reach of God's grace. He specializes in the impossible reversal, taking the person the world has thrown away and seating him among the nobles. This is the God of the great reversal, and the psalm gives a second, tender example of it: "He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children." To the woman whose case seemed hopeless, whose emptiness was a lifelong grief, He gives a full house and a heart of joy. What men call hopeless, God calls an opportunity for grace. The poor in the dust, the barren in her sorrow, these are exactly the ones the high God delights to lift, so that His power might be seen in raising the lowest to glory. And so the psalm ends where it began, in praise: "Praise ye the LORD", for who could see such stooping love and not sing?

Gospel Focus

"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust... That he may set him with princes", this great reversal is the very melody of the gospel. Mary sang it when she carried the Christ: "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree" (Luke 1:52), echoing Hannah's song, "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes" (1 Samuel 2:8). It is the Lord Jesus who lifts the lowly, for God hath "chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom" (James 2:5), and He raises His people from the dust of death to reign with Him, "raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6), the beggars of the dunghill seated with the Prince of princes. And the barren made a joyful mother pictures the church, once desolate, now fruitful, for "Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not... for the desolate hath many more children" (Galatians 4:27). So if you are in the dust, take heart: the highest God stoops to the lowest, and in Christ He lifts the poor to sit with princes. Praise ye the LORD.