EBC Abridged: “The Hallel psalms are found in three separate collections: the “Egyptian Hallel” (113-118), the “Great Hallel” (120-136), and the concluding Hallel psalms (146-150)….The Egyptian Hallel and the Great Hallel were sung during the annual feasts (Lev 23; Nu 10:10). The Egyptian Hallel psalms received a special place in the Passover liturgy, as 113-114 were recited or sung before and 115-118 after the festive meal (cf. Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26). The concluding Hallel psalms (146-150) were incorporated in the daily prayers in the synagogue after the destruction of the temple (A.D. 70).”
Psalms 113:1 ¶ Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
The Psalmist opens with the shout of Hallelujah, “Praise ye the LORD.” He calls for all God’s servants to join him in praising the LORD, whose name sets Him apart; He is the great “I AM.”
Exodus 3:13–14 “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
Note that the address is to the “servants” of the LORD, those that are bond-servants (from the Hebrew), servants by choice. The word actually comes from a root that identifies a worshipper.
Psalms 113:2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.
Psalms 113:3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised.
The LORD is deserving of praise forever. Words of praise should be on our lips throughout the day every single day.
Wiersbe: “To ‘glorify’ or ‘praise’ God means to make God look good to those who ignore Him, oppose Him, or do not know Him.”
Psalms 113:4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
The glory of the LORD is above the heavens, far above our abode here on planet earth. Maybe he was thinking of the words that Solomon spoke when they moved the ark into the temple.
1 Kings 8:23 “And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart….”
Psalms 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
Psalms 113:6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
The Psalmist is not asking a question in these verses; he is making an exclamation. Obviously, there is no other being like the LORD our God. When I read these verses, my mind immediately went to the words of the LORD recorded by Isaiah and the words of David.
Isaiah 45:5–6 “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
Isaiah 46:9–10 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure….”
Psalms 103:13–14 “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
Wiersbe: “It is not our Lord’s transcendence that captivates the psalmist but His willingness to humble Himself and pay attention to mere mortals who do not always honor Him. Most ancient kings were inaccessible to their people, but our God sees us and knows our every need. For the believer, God’s throne is not only a throne of glory and authority, but it is also a throne of grace.”
Psalms 113:7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
Psalms 113:8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.
These verses are taken from Hannah’s song of praise to the LORD, thanking Him for giving her a son.
1 Samuel 2:8 “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.”
According to His purposes, the LORD can raise up a poor and needy man and make him a prince among his people—and/or a prince before the LORD.
We are so focused on the present that I think we often lose sight of the fact that God sees us differently than does the world. Those that are poor by worldly standards are often rich in the eyes of God. Those that are among the common folk here on earth will prove to be among the royalty in heaven.
1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
Revelation 2:8-9 “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write…I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)….”
Psalms 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
The LORD is the one that opens and closes wombs. He can turn the sorrow and shame of a barren woman to joy when he gives her children.
Genesis 20:18 “For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.”
Genesis 30:22 “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.”
Spurgeon: “The glorious Lord displays his condescending grace in regarding those who are despised on account of their barrenness, whether it be of body or of soul. Sarah, Rachel, the wife of Manoah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and others were all instances of the miraculous power of God in literally fulfilling the statement of the Psalmist.”
And the Psalmist closes with another “Hallelujah!”
Spurgeon: “The Psalm is a circle, ending where it began, praising the Lord from its first syllable to its last. May our life psalm partake of the same character, and never know a break or a conclusion. In an endless circle let us bless the Lord, whose mercies never cease. Let us praise him in youth, and all along our years of strength; and when we bow in the ripeness of abundant age, let us still praise the Lord, who doth not cast off his old servants.”
EBC Abridged: “The Hallel psalms are found in three separate collections: the “Egyptian Hallel” (113-118), the “Great Hallel” (120-136), and the concluding Hallel psalms (146-150)….The Egyptian Hallel and the Great Hallel were sung during the annual feasts (Lev 23; Nu 10:10). The Egyptian Hallel psalms received a special place in the Passover liturgy, as 113-114 were recited or sung before and 115-118 after the festive meal (cf. Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26). The concluding Hallel psalms (146-150) were incorporated in the daily prayers in the synagogue after the destruction of the temple (A.D. 70).”
Psalms 114:1 ¶ When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
Psalms 114:2 Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
The psalmist opens by remembering how God delivered “the house of Jacob,” the people of Israel, from Egypt, a place where the people spoke a language foreign to them. He jumps over the years of wandering in the wilderness to recall how God had established His people in the Promised Land. He established the tribal land of Judah as His sanctuary, His earthly dwelling place represented by the temple, and the land of Israel as a whole as His kingdom. Though He allowed them to form a government headed by an earthly king, the LORD was always to be acknowledged as the supreme authority.
Reminder: God had chosen Israel as His peculiar possession among all the nations.
Deuteronomy 7:6–8 “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
Psalms 114:3 The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
Psalms 114:4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
Psalms 114:5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
Psalms 114:6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
These verses refer to how God miraculously delivered His people by parting the waters of the Red Sea and how He parted the waters of the Jordan River to allow them to cross over to begin taking possession of the Promised Land. I’m not sure to what the reference the mountains and hills refer unless there was an earthquake involved at those times. Maybe it is referencing the time when God came down to meet the people from Mount Sinai, accompanied by lightning, thunder and smoke. Maybe it is just the composer’s way of picturing how the creation rejoices when God displays His power over His creation.
Psalms 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Psalms 114:8 Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
The psalmist closes by calling for the earth to tremble at the presence of the LORD, the God of Jacob (Israel), the very same God that brought water from the rock to provide for His people.
Exodus 17:6 “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
And if the earth should tremble at such a display of God’s power, shouldn’t we!