(REFLECTIONS ON Psalm 113–Psalm 114)

Although we may say that God is in heaven and we are down on earth, but today’s psalmist writes that “The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.” No, His glory is not in the heavens, because even the heavens are God’s creation and cannot contain Him.

The psalmist continues writing, “Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth?”

What is humility? Humility is the Lord that came from His glory above the heavens to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth. Yes, that the Lord came down to heaven was already an act of great humility.

How much greater that He didn’t just stop at heaven, but came down to earth to dwell with the Israelites in the tabernacle and the Temple. The greatest gift of all was coming down in the form of humanity, through His Son Jesus Christ, and not only dwelling as us, but sacrificing Himself for us.

The greatest gift of all did not just end with death in sacrifice, but through His resurrection, going back to the heavens, back to above the heavens in glory. However, this glory was not just His own, but He is lifting up those that believe and trust in His name to glory with Him.

That is why the psalmist writes that the Lord raises the poor, lifts the needy, makes them sit with princes, and makes the barren woman a joyful mother of children, meaning that in the Lord is new identity, new life, not only spiritually, but physical and practically as well.

Just as the psalmist writes, “Judah became His sanctuary, Israel, His dominion,” through the greatest gift of all we have become His sanctuary, His dominion, meaning that there is no separation, no distance, no barrier between us and God.

That is the new identity we have in Christ, as sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, and no longer separated from God who is high above the heavens, but with us, and in us, as we are with Him, and in Him.

Brothers and sisters, there is no greater gift than this, and we are the recipients, not for what we deserve or what we have done, but as an act of the Lord’s grace and mercy. This what Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love as no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” And this what He did, from above the heavens, to the cross, and in His resurrection, the greatest gift of all.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Psalm 113
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Psalm 114