3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. 4 The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. 5 Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high … (Psalm 113:3–5)
God is up—we perceive this physically when we look up toward the sky in prayer or call out for help. The ancients tended to build their altars on mountain tops, giving the sense of being closer to deity. Abraham ascended Mt. Moriah to offer up Isaac, this place also being associated with the Jewish temple later built in Jerusalem. Moses went up to the top of Mt. Sinai to meet God for the giving of the Law. Isaiah’s classic imagery conveys this as well: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Is 6:1 ESV, also NIV, NKJV). Yes, we are given to picture God as being “high.”
Obviously, this “high” terminology is not meant to be directional, since that would change depending on one’s geographical coordinates of observation. “High” means conceptually above the one contemplating God. He is superior to all human activity and thought, in every way:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is 55:8–9)
So we can understand in our passage today that “the Lord is high above all nations.” No country on earth can thwart His sovereign plans or intentions. He is in absolute control. Solomon inferred this when he wrote, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Pr 21:1). So the inspired NT writer James instructs us to plan our lives this way, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that” (James 4:15).
God is not only sovereign above all, but He is also “above the heavens.” No spiritual being is above Him to whom He is answerable. There is nothing greater than God. From an apologetic point of view, if there were an entity greater and higher than God, then that entity would be God. The only thing that has changed is our conception of God. As theologians have said, God is that which nothing is greater than. By definition, God, then, is greater than all else.
And finally, God is “enthroned on high.” Therefore, we praise Him, the King of all creation, who is completely and perfectly worthy of our worship.
Lord, I worship You with all of my being as my exalted and lofty King.
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