Question
Who is like the Lord our God?
Psalm 113:1-9
Key Verse 113:5
Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high…
According to verse 1 this psalm is dedicated to the servants of the Lord. What would it be like for one to live as: 1) some else's "servant"; and 2) the servant of the Lord?
Read verses 1-3. In this passage the word 'praise' is repeated. What does it mean to praise the 'name' of the Lord? Verse 2 exhorts to praise the Lord both now and forevermore. Why forevermore?
Compare verses 4-5 and verses 6-8. What might it take for the one who is at the top (or above) to take care of the one who is at the bottom? What does the expression 'our God' indicate about the psalmist's relationship with the Lord? Who is like the Lord our God? (Cf. Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 2:12; Matthew 1:23]
Read verses 7-9 again. What does it mean to: 1) "raise the poor from the dust"; 2) "lift the needy from the ash heap"; and 3) make a [barren] woman to be a happy mother? [Cf. 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Phi 2:6-10]
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Message
WHO IS LIKE THE LORD OUR GOD?
Psalm 113:1-9
Key Verses 5-6
Merry Christmas! The title of the message for today is, “Who is like the Lord our God?” The title is in the form of a question. It prompts us to know what kind of God we have in Jesus. The Psalmist asks this question, for knowing Jesus is the key to experiencing His work in us.
So knowledge of Jesus comes first. Then His work follows.
Today is the last Sunday of the year 2011. Next year and beyond, many expect to fulfill great works. But before we expect great things, we must first come to know who God is, and how much he can do.
Look at vs. 1-3.
"Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised."
When Jesus came, he said, “These Scriptures (such as the Psalms) testify about me (Jesus himself).”
So the LORD refers to Jesus (whom Matthew calls “God with us”, or simply “Immanuel”).
The “servants of the Lord” here refer to all who serve the Lord, such as Simon Peter, the Apostle John, the Apostle Paul, or shepherds or shepherdesses among us today.
O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. You know my name is “Isaac” – Isaac Hyung Kim, to be specific. Likewise, Jesus has a name. In fact, some Bible scholar discovered in the Bible that Jesus has 700 names. Here the ‘name’ refers to the essential nature or character of a person. The name denotes the whole person of Jesus – his character, his likes and dislikes, his ability, his heart, mind, vision, his everything.
“Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.” Here is already three-fold emphasis. Yet, the author goes for more. So he says, “Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised." We live in time and space. “Now and forevermore” talks about the call to praise His name all the time, even beyond the domain of time, that is, eternity. And in eternity we are going to praise his name “all the more”. In terms of space, we are called to praise his name throughout the whole world among all servants living in all different nations speaking all different languages.
[Here the phrase ‘now and forevermore’ especially the word ‘forevermore’ tells us of something truly remarkable about the Lord and the work He is going to fulfill for his children. That is, the work Jesus came to perform among his servants is going to be far more glorious than they might expect or imagine.
And as the time of the fellowship in the Lord deepens, especially as the time moves to the timeless domain, that is, eternity, finally they will realize that the work God sent Jesus to perfect is going to be truly, truly glorious, that they will end up praising the name of the Lord ‘forevermore’.]
As I study the passage, I realize that the Lord did a great work in my life and in the lives of many in the ministry. So I could be thankful. But when I thought about the year 2012 and beyond, I was not that much excited. A while ago, I was greatly inspired as I was doing the daily bread, so I shared a daring prayer topic, like building up 12,000 soldiers’ ministry in ten years, with 120 full time paid staff members working, so we could build a truly solid foundation for God’s world mission task. But, when I started to share this prayer topic, so much noise came out from all different corners, so I kept my mouth shut. Then I thought about it, and realized that it is the work of God. I realized that where there is no noise, there is no work of God. So I said, “Wow! This is a great sign that great work of God is going to take place. So I am with the Psalmist, who said, ‘Let the name of the Lord be praised now and forevermore.’ ”
Let us read vs. 4-6.
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
Here the Psalmist says that although the Lord God is exalted high above all nations and his glory is above the heavens, he stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth. The expression 'stoops down' and the words 'look on the heavens and the earth' tell us of his loving concern for all his creations. The expression 'look on the earth' indicates that he is concerned about the daily affairs of all that are going in the heavenly realms and here on earth.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
This question raises a bunch of other questions: Why does he stoop down and look? When he stooped down and looked, what did he discover? And when he discovered what is going on with his creation, what did he do?
We already know what he did in the past. Last Sunday Shepherd Terry talked about God’s work in his life. He also talked about what the Immanuel God did in Levi’s life.
Now when the Lord our God stoops down and looks at what is going on what does He do? Or what he is going to do not just today but tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?
You know when we see the world and look at ourselves as well as people around us, we are not always excited. There are so many people who are broken. In fact it appears that an increasing number of people especially young ones are ‘down’. They are not just ‘down’ but ‘down’, ‘down’, and ‘down’. Once you are down then it is hard to get back up.
As many might have heard, in this year, already several dictators died. Osama Bin Laden died. Kaddafi died. And recently Jung Il Kim died. Because these dictators are gone, many expect things to go better. But will they? Osama Bin Laden died. And now Obama became the president. Are we then better off than before?
The Psalmist has his own answer. Look at vs. 7-9.
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD.
Let us stop for a moment and think about what the Psalmist says. What does he say? First of all he puts two categories of people side by side:
The poor and the needy vs. the princes (and princesses)
The barren woman vs. a happy mother of children
Let us also focus on four active verbs:
He raises
He lifts
He seats
He settles
All these are in the present tense. This is what God does, and is going to do today and tomorrow.
Let us consider then:
He raises the poor from the dust
He lifts the needy from the ash heap
He seats them with princes
He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children
Take a good look at the passage. What do you think this passage means to you right now?
When I meditated on this passage a couple of words hit me, “dust” and “ash heap.”
Notice that the poor remain buried in the dust. But he ‘raises’ the poor ‘from the dust’. [When I thought about myself, I realized that I am a truly dusty man. I am a man of dust. I always used to think about what is earthly. But I was greatly encouraged to see the “on-going” work of God, that is, he raises the poor from the dust.]
Think about the words ‘ash heap’. Does the ash heap remind you of anything? Notice also that the needy remains ‘buried in the ash heap’. More correctly the needy is found in (or has been reduced to) a heap of ash. For some reason the expression ‘ash heap’ reminds me of ‘death’ (not just physical death but spiritual death). You know a lot of people think that they are alive, but in fact they are already dead. They are so to speak ‘the living dead’. It is only a matter of time that they will be reduced to an ash heap. But do not be discouraged. The Risen Jesus can lift the needy from the ash heap.
After raising the poor from the dust and lifting up the needy from ash heap, what does he do? Yes! He seats them with princes and the princes of his people!
Wow! He ‘seats’ them with “princes” (not any princes but princes of their people!) During the wedding between Prince William and Kate, a lot of people wanted to be invited, but not all were invited. But the Bible says God is going to seat the poor and needy with the princes of his people!
The same goes with princesses. You know Kate was a commoner. But after getting married she became a princess! That is why she is smiling so much during the wedding march!
But do not be deceived. Many already say, “The sun has already set on the UK”. But it is not so with the kingdom of God. God sent Jesus to build a kingdom which has no end. And isn’t it truly amazing that God sent Jesus to lift up the poor and needy and seat them with princes in His kingdom? More amazingly than this is that according to the Apostle Paul, for those who believe in the Lord, the Lord God already seated them with Christ in the heavenly realms!
Now let us think about the barren woman vs. a happy mother. The Lord God has blessed this Downey ministry so that we have a lot of women belonging to the category of a ‘happy mother of children.’ This morning as well, I was very happy to see Carolyn, my fourth granddaughter. So which one would you prefer? A barren woman or a happy mother of children?
Practically though when I sat down and thought about how this branch of God’s work is applicable to me, I realized that a lot of work is yet to be done in my life. I say this because when you study the Bible, the expression ‘barren woman’ does not just refer to a childless woman. It is a biblical idiom for those who want to bear good fruit but cannot bear any good fruit.
By the same token, “happy mother of children” denotes a ‘fruitful’ man. This term refers to a good Christian man whose is deeply rooted in the love and power of our Lord Jesus. Jesus is the Vine, we are the Branches. So when we are rooted in Him, He helps us to bear good fruit. He settles us in each of our fellowships as a fruitful shepherd and shepherdess with many children!
In the year 2011 I was not fruitful. Largely, I became a bad influence to so many. So I chose my new year’s key verse from 1Co 2:2, “I resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
In conclusion, in the key verse the Psalmist asks, “Who is like the Lord our God?” Here we thought about the fact that knowing Christ better is the key to bearing good fruit. It is the key to be changed from a fruitless man to be a man full of good fruit, just like a happy mother with children. May the Lord bless all of you during the remainder of this year, so you too could make a New Year’s resolution to come to know better, so through Him, the New Year to come would be truly fruitful.
One word: A happy mother
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Biblenote
Who is like the Lord our God?
Psalm 113:1-9
Key Verse 113:5
This exhorts us to put trust in the Lord who is not aloof to the poor and needy such as a barren woman. The hidden message is that since the opposite is true of the Lord, one should never give up trusting in the Lord, but proceed to the presence of the Lord by prayer and petitions, with songs of praises. [Note: psalms 113-118 called Hallel are recited verbatim during the three Festivals - Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Some bible scholars believe that Jesus must have sung from Psalm 113-118 as he proceeded from the last supper to the Mt. of Olives.]
According to verse 1 this psalm is dedicated to the servants of the Lord. What would it be like for one to live as: 1) some else's "servant"; and 2) the servant of the Lord?
** He ought to deny (or fully empty) himself (his will, desires, purpose, etc.) and adopt the will, desires, and purpose of his master as his. He literally lives and dies for the will of his master.
** The supreme (or perfect) example is found in the life of our Lord Jesus who in turn taught his disciples about the servantship as in Luke 17:10 or Mark 10:45. Read also Phi 2:7-10.
Read verses 1-3. In this passage the word 'praise' is repeated. What does it mean to praise the 'name' of the Lord? Verse 2 exhorts to praise the Lord both now and forevermore. Why forevermore?
** Name stands for the identity, esp. the essential nature and characteristics of the person. This requires a servant to know who the Lord is, for without knowing the Lord a servant cannot serve Him in the way he should.
** This is not for the reasons that are true of the Lord but true of his servants, for by definition the Lord God is the same yesterday, today and forever, so he is to be praised fully all the time, yet one is called to praise him both now and forevermore, because as a servant comes to know the Lord better it will turn out to be the case that he will praise the Lord all the more.
Compare verses 4-5 and verses 6-8. What might it take for the one who is at the top (or above) to take care of the one who is at the bottom? What does the expression 'our God' indicate about the psalmist's relationship with the Lord? Who is like the Lord our God? (Cf. Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 2:12; Matthew 1:23]
** The expression 'stoops down' indicates that on the part of the Lord 'self-denial' (so to speak} is needed.
Note: The KJV reads "humbles himself" for "stoops down" in NIV. Humble - "shaphel" in Hebrew means "to be or become low, sink, or be abased, or to make low, or set in a lower place". This example reminds us of how Jesus came to a manger, and thereafter got himself humiliated by so many, being mocked on a tree when people were hurling insults at him. Luke 18:32
** His relationship with his God is personal as well as community-based.
** Answers can be: a) no other gods are like our God; or b) our God is different than all other so called gods in that he alone did this (humbling). Indeed no one (no gods) ever did what Jesus the son of God did and is going.
Read verses 7-9 again. What does it mean to: 1) "raise the poor from the dust"; 2) "lift the needy from the ash heap"; and 3) make a [barren] woman to be a happy mother? [Cf. 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Phi 2:6-10]
** While this psalm might have borrowed the ideas from what Hannah said in 1 Samuel 2, it is very likely that this psalm refers to the work of redemption to be fulfilled by the Savior to come, for the expressions such as dust or ashes the words like poor or needy all are based on such biblical facts as the Fall of men, which triggered the Lord God choosing to show mercy, to save men from falling to the bottomless pit to eternal salvation. In Genesis 3 then on falling, man came to be poor and needy, remaining condemned to turn to dust, having become totally fruitless. But God chose to redeem the believers back to the fullness of life. These works of God from among the believing are seen in many Bible passages such as Num. 19 (6-7 for example, where the red heifer turning to ashes which when mixed with ashes of hyssop, scarlet wool (Mt. 27:28), and cedar wood, become the only remedy for the universal impurity, bring men back to the purity of God. Indeed Jesus himself became a servant of all, making himself nothing [like dust or ashes]. He completely offered himself as in the case of a burnt offering. A barren woman turning to a happy mother can be seen as an otherwise unfruitful man being saved rooted in the Lord, bearing good fruit, to be given a place among the righteous.
** Write one thing we can learn about the blessedness of the life serving the Lord.