¹Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord ⁹ …Praise the Lord!

This psalm begins the collection often called the “Egyptian Hallel” psalms (13-18). Though this name is not given to them in Scripture, later Jewish writings saw these as a unit and employed them at various feasts and celebrations in the religious calendar. At the Passover celebration, for instance, the first two psalms (13 and 14) were recited before the meal, particularly before the second cup of wine was taken. The last four psalms (15-18) were recited after the meal and after the fourth cup of the celebration. This last note has a bearing on Jesus’ comments when He told the disciples at the end of the Last Supper that He would “not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matt 26:29).

Numerous other allusions are made to this set of psalms in the Gospel narratives. The common people of Jerusalem briefly exalted Jesus during His “triumphal entrance” to Jerusalem the week before His crucifixion, with a proclamation found in Psalm 118:25: “O Lord, do save, we beseech You…” (the Hebrew word for “do save” is hosanna—see also Matt. 21:9). The ultimate fulfillment will come only when, as Jesus said, all of Israel is ready to confess that, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord …” (Ps. 118:26, Matt. 23:39).

As the introduction to this collection of Hallel psalms, we observe that the repeated “praise the Lord” (in vss. 1 and 9) stands out. Our English word “Hallelujah” is a transliteration of the Hebrew wording for “Praise the Lord.” (Hallel is the verb that means “praise,” the “u” conveys that the verb is in the third person imperative (that is “you”), and the “jah” is the shortened form of the Hebrew form of the name Yahweh). To use the old King James translation, Hallelujah can be rendered “Praise ye the Lord.”

Psalm 113 is all about praising God in a descriptive way. The first five verses are timeless for all people everywhere. If we are believers, followers of the Lord, then we are His servants. We are called to “praise” and “bless” the name of the Lord. And this praise should occupy our day. Is this excessive religiosity? Not at all, when we consider “the Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. Who is like the Lord God, who is enthroned on high?” (vss. 4-5).

To recoil at this level of devotion to God is to misunderstand who He is and who we are. In a world characterized by self-centeredness, with tremendous efforts given over to finding and living out one’s identity, the believer’s identity, instead, is in Christ. He is, in very much a fact, worthy of our complete, unadulterated, and exclusive commitment. Of course we fall short, but that is, or should be, the aspiration of every true believer. Our greatest purpose in life is to know God, what He is like, and to praise Him. Anything else is unfulfilling at best and, at worst, destructive of the abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10).

Verse 6 swings us from the Lord’s transcendence (of who He is “above the heavens”) to His immanence, namely His intimate connection with us, His image-bearing creation. He “humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth” (Ps 113:6). Thus, the following three verses (7-9) focus on the praise-worthy things He does on earth (in the realm of human existence). First and foremost, before even those of the highest human socioeconomic status, God is to be praised for uplifting the poor, the needy, and the childless women. We see this heart of God in many places in the Scripture. Isaiah, for example, echoed this with a picturesque metaphor:

“Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley … (Isa. 40:4)

The Lord’s way with us is to level the playing field and raise everyone to the level of princes and joyfulness. In all this, whether God’s glory in the heavens or His gentle lifting up of the disadvantaged, He is to be praised, for He is the one who has done it. While we may be inclined to reflect God’s image by our help for the unfortunate ones around us, let us make no mistake—we cannot do anything apart from our praise of God. We cannot be genuinely altruistic if our actions are empty of God Himself occupying the center of our life and affections. Otherwise, our efforts at social justice, individually or politically, will, in the end, be more about our feeling good about ourselves than what is truly benevolent for others.

Lord, I put my self-centered desires to death and exalt You in my heart, in my life, and in my praise. I do not seek the praise of the world or even my self-praise; help me reflect Your image as I reach out to help others. Hallelujah.