When reading the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, there are lots of little details that seem to stand out. Small things that are mentioned, in passing, and then the story moves on. And, perhaps, as you read, there are things that you wonder about, things that you’d like to know more about, questions that you have. I have a few of them as well - stored up and ready for the day I meet Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and get to finally ask my questions!
Our series tonight begins to answer one of the questions that I had. You see, both Matthew and Luke tell us that at the end of the Last Supper, ‘When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.’ (Matt 26:30, Mark 24:26). Having been in the choir from the age of 8, any time I read that, I would always wonder, what hymn did they sing? And looking through the hymnbook, none of the hymns in the Church Hymnal seemed to be old enough, mot written from the 1700s on. So I stored up that question.
But now I know the answer! Within Judaism, there were set readings and set Psalms for every day and season. And at Passover, there were six Psalms that were set - the Psalms that we’ll look at between now and Palm Sunday - Psalms 113 - 118, the Egyptian Hallel. So as we study these Psalms in the run up to Easter, we are hearing the songs that Jesus sung as he celebrated Passover, as he prepared to go to the cross to be our Passover Lamb.
So let’s dive in to tonight’s Psalm, Psalm 113. And straight away, we see that it is a call to praise. That’s very obvious in the first three verses, isn’t it? In each of the verses, we find the word praise or praised.
I’m sure you know of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Maybe some time we’ll sing it in church. But that word ‘Hallelujah’ is the first line of this Psalm in Hebrew. Where we have ‘Praise the LORD’, that literally says in Hebrew ‘Hallelu Yah’ (see footnote). So this Psalm is like an Old Testament Hallelujah chorus, calling people to praise the LORD. It’s the first line, and it’s the last line, so it’s all about praising the LORD.
But we’re told much more than just to praise the LORD. We’re also told the who, the when and the where in those opening verses. In the rest of verse 1 we find the who: ‘Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.’ So the call is going out to everyone who is a servant of the LORD, who serves the LORD, to praise the LORD. And, as we’ll see, this isn’t just a select few, it’s not just those who wear robes or dog collars - it’s for everyone who serves the LORD in whatever way. So are you a servant of the LORD? This Psalm calls you to praise the name of the LORD.
As well as the who, we’re also told the when. Verse 2: ‘Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and for evermore.’ So when is the name of the LORD to be praised? Is it just for a short while? Just when it suits? Does it have an expiry date, a cut-off point, a backstop? No, it’s both now, here and now, and for evermore. The call is to permanent praise. So if it’s now, then it’s time to praise - it’s what we’ll be doing for ever, so why not start now?
So we’ve seen the who, the when, but what about the where? Is it just in the temple, or just in Jerusalem? No! The scope is much bigger than that - the call to praise goes out further: ‘From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.’ (3) The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west, so if the sun shines on you, this is a call to praise wherever you are. This is a world-wide call for worship.
Down beside the Odyssey in Belfast, there’s the W5 science exploration centre. Through lots of interactive displays, children are introduced to learning about their world while having fun. The name W5 comes from the 5 Ws - who, what, where, why, when. We’ve seen four of them already - the what of praising; the who - servants of the LORD; the when - now and for evermore; and the where - all over the world. The one we haven’t seen yet is the why - but that’s what verse 4-6 answer.
So why should we praise the name of the LORD? Why should we join in this Hallelujah chorus? We are called to praise the high-over-all LORD.
Do you see the sorts of words that are used to describe the LORD? He is exalted over (4), above (4), enthroned on high (5), stoops down to look (6). All those words combine to show us that the LORD is high-over-all. In Ulster-Scots, the chief executive of a company is the ‘high heid yin’, but the LORD really is high-over-all.
He is exalted high over all the nations. Remember that these are Psalms reflecting on the Passover experience of Israel - who had been slaves in Egypt. And so as the Israelites think of their past treatment at the hands of Egypt, or the current and future threats, and their time of exile in Babylon, time and again they had experienced the height of the power of other nations. Yet they remind themselves that God is higher than the nations - all the nations. He is exalted high over all the nations.
And linked to that, his glory is exalted above the heavens. Just think of the glory of the heavens - a glimpse of a rainbow, the majesty of a sunrise, or the glory of a beautiful sunset. Yet God’s glory is above the heavens. It’s above and beyond anything that we can see. So why should we praise? Because he is the high over all LORD.
And to make the point, in a slightly different way, verse 5 asks the question: ‘Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”
Who is like the LORD our God? The short answer is just two small words. Answer? No one! But the question goes on to show why no one else is like the LORD. He is the one who sits enthroned on high. He is enthroned - he’s on the throne, ruling and reigning over the world and the universe. And so the use of height emphasises his position - enthroned on high.
And verse 6 builds on that idea of height to show just how high over all he really is. ‘... who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth.’ When was the last time you stooped down to look at something? Maybe it was in the shop, as you tried to decide which tin of custard to buy. For me, it was probably in a bookshop, stooping down to see what books were on the bottom shelf. The image carries the idea of getting down low, in order to better see something far below.
And what is it that God stoops down to see? The heavens and the earth! We look up at the heavens, but God has to stoop down to look on us, because he is so high above us, enthroned on high.
So far we have seen that Psalm 113 is a call to praise the high-over-all LORD. And you might be thinking that the ‘why’ has so far been a bit above you. Yes, God is high over all. But does that mean that he doesn’t really know us, or doesn’t really care for us? That even when he stoops down to see us, it’s like us stooping down to watch creepy crawlies in the garden, casually watching a few ants for a moment or two?
Nothing could be further from the truth. God is not distant, aloof, and uncaring. You see, as Jesus sang this Psalm with his followers at the Passover, he himself had more then stooped down to look on the heavens and the earth - he had stepped down to become man. And why did he do it? Was it just out of interest? A way to pass the time, to see what it was like to be human - a bit like the way the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip would drive around London in his own Black Cab?
Psalm 113 tells us why the LORD is worthy of praise. Did you notice back in verses 1-3 that in each verse it mentions ‘the name of the LORD.’ Your name is more than just what people call you when they want your attention. Your name also refers to your character, to what sort of person you are. And God’s name is to be praised because of his character - he is the loving, caring, redeeming, saving God. And that’s what we see in the closing verses. The LORD stoops down to look and steps down to save.
Do you see the verbs (doing words) in verses 7-9? Here’s what the LORD does. He raises (7), lifts (7), seats (8) and settles (9). He comes down in order to lift up. He comes down to make a difference by saving and redeeming.
So in verse 7, it’s the poor who are raised from the dust, and the needy who are lifted from the ash heap. They’re down and out and desperate and destitute. They’re in the lowest place possible, dust and ash heap. But the LORD intervenes, he steps down in order to raise them and lift them. And where are they lifted to?
‘He seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.’ Paupers are seated with princes, it’s a real rags to riches story. Or maybe rags to royalty. It’s what Graham Kendrick captures so well in his song ‘Meekness and Majesty’ - ‘Lord of infinity stooping so tenderly, lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne.’
This is why Jesus came, and why the next day, Jesus will go to the cross - in that down, down, down descent that Philippians 2 records, making himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, humbling himself, obedient to death, even death on a cross. But it was for us that Jesus came down, down, down, in order to lift us to be with him. It’s so amazing, and all of grace.
That’s why it’s so shocking that, as they eat the Passover and sing these songs with Jesus, the disciples are busy arguing about which of them is the greatest! They have been chosen to sit on the twelve thrones, the princes of Israel, by God’s grace, yet they want to make sure their crown is bigger and better than everyone else’s!
The LORD’s character is all of grace, to save and rescue. He raises, lifts, and seats. But verse 9 reminds us, he also settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Through the Bible there are a number of times that this has happened. The one that springs to mind is the case of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Indeed, verses 7-8 in this Psalm are a quotation of her song in 1 Samuel 2 (verse 8). Hannah herself was the barren woman given the child Samuel. But there were more besides - Samson’s mother (Judges 13), Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1), and Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
She waited for her promised son, Isaac for twenty-five years before he was born. And it seems that Sarah is in view here, as the mother of the children of Abraham. In view is the family of Abraham, the children of Israel, the people of God - God’s family. Together we are being brought into God’s family and household, through Jesus our Lord and our Redeemer.
Perhaps as Jesus sang this song with his disciples, as they shared the Passover, he was reminded again of what his mission involved, and what he would accomplish the next day as he died on the cross. Through his death and his resurrection, we see more clearly what our God is like - his name and character, his uniqueness, his universal reign - and it calls forth our praise.
And so Psalm 113, the first of our Passover Praise Psalms, is a call to praise the high-over-all God who came down to raise us up.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 17th March 2019.
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