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Praise the Lord Who Humbles Himself 

How often do you praise the Lord?

Psalm 113

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • December 4, In the year of our Lord, 2016

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Larry Amberg – Songs that praise the Lord

Prelude: 

  1. Even as giving thanks benefits the giver, 
    1. not the receiver, such as in giving God thanks,
    2. so praise, praising God,
      1. benefits us the givers,
      2. not Him the receiver.
  2. Therefore, do what Psalm 113 says and be on a spiritual high. 

Persuasion: 

  1. Psalm 113.1 | To Start All Things: Praise the Lord

    1 Praise the LORD!
    Praise, O servants of the LORD,
    Praise the name of the LORD!

    1. How does it affect you when the world uses the Lord’s name in vain?
    2. Beautiful and healthy it is to praise of the Lord, as it is written,
      1. Psalm 33.1

        1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
        For praise from the upright is beautiful.
        (Psa 33.1)
      2. Psalm 92.1

        1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
        And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High…
        (Psa 92.1)
      3. Psalm 135.3

        3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
        Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
        (Psa 135.3)
      4. Psalm 147.1

        1 Praise the LORD!
        For it is good to sing praises to our God;
        For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.
        (Psa 147.1)
    3. We serve the Lord of Heaven and Earth, therefore,
      1. we do not seek praise from our Master,
      2. we praise Him, because
        1. servants exist for the master.
        2. He does not exist for us,
          1. we exist for Him,
          2. as Psalm 100 declares,

            3 Know that the LORD, He is God;
            It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
            We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
            (Psa 100.3)
    4. We praise the name of the Lord, because
      1. His name captivates us.
      2. We had a brother in Klamath Falls,
        1. who died a few years after I moved here.
        2. Physically and emotionally he could not say the name of the Lord,
          1. Jesus in particular,
          2. without choking up and crying!
  2. Psalm 113.2–3 | Praise the Lord at All Times and in All Places

    2 Blessed be the name of the LORD
    From this time forth and forevermore!
    3 From the rising of the sun to its going down
    The LORD’S name is to be praised.

    1. The sound of His name enchants us. Therefore:
      1. Sing it.
      2. Say it in prayer.
    2. Praise and bless the name of the Lord always and everywhere,
      1. from now to the end of your life, and
      2. from sunrise to sunset.
        1. Why should we restrict the time and place?
        2. Does He restrict the time and place that He blesses us?
          1. Even when we rest and sleep,
          2. He works on blessing us.
            1. Brother Marshall Keeble’s traveling friend said
            2. that brother Keeble got up frequently to use the restroom.
              1. Before he returned to his bed,
              2. he knelt beside the bed and prayed.
    3. Make the decision now
      1. for today and
      2. for the rest of your life
        1. to praise the name of the Lord daily and
        2. to bless His name wherever you are.
  3. Psalm 113.4–9ab | The Lord Exalts Us, Let Us Exalt Him

    4 The LORD is high above all nations,
    His glory above the heavens.
    5 Who is like the LORD our God,
    Who dwells on high,
    6 Who humbles Himself to behold
    The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
    7 He raises the poor out of the dust,
    And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
    8 That He may seat him with princes—
    With the princes of His people.
    9 He grants the barren woman a home,
    Like a joyful mother of children.

    1. See how high He is.
      1. He is high above all nations.
        1. No nation yet has arisen that tops the Lord, and
        2. I can guarantee you that none shall arise,

          12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
          Measured heaven with a span
          And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
          Weighed the mountains in scales
          And the hills in a balance?

          15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
          And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
          Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
          16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
          Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
          17 All nations before Him are as nothing,
          And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
          (Isa 40.12, 15–17)

      2. This is why the Bible refers to Him as the Most High.
        1. No one and no thing tops Him!
        2. He created all things.
        3. How then could anything be above Him?
    2. The Lord is high above all nations, including
      1. Israel at her peak.
      2. America at her peak.
        1. Do I need to tell you the mighty things that America has done?
        2. Yet, we are just a drop in a bucket.
          1. We came along too late to be greater than Him, and
          2. I do not believe that He is 20 trillion dollars in debt!
    3. In verses 5 and 6, the psalmist asked us a question.
      1. Who is like the Lord who,
        1. though so high,
        2. humbles Himself?
          1. Is there another god who being so high humbles himself for man?
          2. A famous person?
          3. A celebrity?
          4. An athlete?
          5. A veteran?
      2. First, we know of no one else so high, and
        1. while some great people have humbled themselves for others,
        2. the degree of humility does not match what our Lord does,
          1. especially when He came to Earth and subjected Himself to
          2. the birth process,
          3. life on Earth, and finally
          4. death,
            1. namely the death on the cross.
            2. Paul pictured the exalted status and then humiliation of Jesus,

              6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Phi 2.6–8).
    4. To what level does He humble Himself in Psalm 113?
      1. He beholds the things in the heavens.
      2. He beholds the things in the Earth.
    5. Contrast the Lord’s super highness with how far He stoops to help us.
      1. Think of us and worms.
        1. How much higher are we than worms?
        2. Now picture yourself lowering yourself to the level of a worm.
          1. And with Jesus, He became like us,
          2. which would be like us becoming a worm to help the worms!
      2. The picture I get from Psalm 113
        1. is not that He merely reaches down to get us and lifts us up, but
        2. that He comes down to our level and
          1. with us lifts us to where He wants us.
          2. How much more comforting that He is with us the whole way.
      3. Yet, what do I know?
        1. I sound as though I have visited the Lord in heaven, but
          1. I am just reasoning from what Scripture says of Him, and
          2. I am just reasoning from what I see and know of creation.
        2. It will not surprise me,
          1. if when we see and meet Him in heaven,
          2. that we will think I did a poor job on this sermon!
    6. What or who does He behold and then helps?
      1. The poor, the needy,
        1. whom He has lifted up more times than we can count.
        2. As David said in Psalm 34,

          6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
          And saved him out of all his troubles.
          (Psa 34.6)
      2. The barren woman receives blessings from the Lord.
        1. Often we see Him opening the womb of barren women, such as
        2. Sarah and Elizabeth, and other women in the Bible.
    7. He humbles Himself that He may exalt us.
      1. Why does He want to do these things?
      2. Why does He want to exalt us?
        1. Why would the Most High God even think of us for one moment?
        2. When was the last time you thought about a worm?
  4. Psalm 113.9c | To End All Things: Praise the Lord

    Praise the LORD!

    1. The Psalm ends as it began,
    2. urging us to praise the Lord.
      1. And the psalmist only gave us a couple of reasons for doing so,
      2. whereas we can count our many blessings and never come to an end.

Exhortation: 

  1. Note verse 5 again,

    5 Who is like the LORD our God,
    Who dwells on high…
    (Psa 113.5)

    1. Where does the Lord dwell?
    2. However, Isaiah 57 speaks of another place where He dwells,

      15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
      Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
      “I dwell in the high and holy place,
      With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
      To revive the spirit of the humble,
      And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
      (Isa 57.15)
  2. By reading and meditating upon Psalm 113, 
    1. this passage from Isaiah does not surprise us, for
    2. it speaks of the Lord’s highness, but
      1. it also speaks of His humility
      2. that He would dwell with us.
        1. He dwells with us
        2. when we have a contrite and humble spirit, for
          1. He has humility when dwells with us, and
          2. He does it to revive us.