TR Hartley

Are you familiar with the term “pocket sermon”? A pocket sermon is a message or a teaching that a minister (or anyone who wants to share about the Kingdom!) has ready to go at any time. You’re always ready to “pull it out of your pocket”, as it were.

I have about a dozen pocket sermons, and one of my favorites is on Psalm 113, which is also my favorite Psalm. (There aren’t really any bad choices for favorite Psalm.) I’d like to share this pocket sermon with you.

So, let’s look at Psalm 113.

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, you His servants;
    praise the name of the Lord.
² Let the name of the Lord be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
³ From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.

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?

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 his people.
⁹ He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.

So, let me make three introductory remarks about this Psalm.

First, Psalm 113 is one of the psalms of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalm 113-118), which ancient Hebrews would recite or sing as part of their observation of the Passover.

Second, it was still a common practice to sing these songs to observe Passover in Jesus’ day. Which is to say, it is likely that Jesus and the Apostles sang this Psalm during the Last Supper.

Third, there are several ways this Psalm could be divided up into sections. For example, David Guzik has an excellent exploration of this Psalm which you can find here.

However, I like to break this Psalm into two primary sections:
1. The Greatness of God (1-5)
2. The Goodness of God (6-9)

The first 5 verses of Psalm 113 emphasize that God is great. He is transcendent, high and holy. He is utterly other, utterly unique, utterly above all else and all others.

His name is worthy to be praised, for forever (verses 2-3).

The God of the Bible is so holy, so majestic, so perfect and awe-inspiring, that the last four verses of the text, verses 6-9, come off as surprising.

God, the high and holy and transcendent God, cares about people! The Psalmist even provides a symbolic visualization in verse 6: He “stoops down” from His lofty position to better see the people He cares about.

And what does He do when He sees people in need? He cares about them, and helps them.

The God of the Bible is both great and good.

Application

People often see God as more great than good, or more good than great.

If you see God as more great than good, you’ll have a false view of God: A God who is so utterly above and beyond the human experience that His mercy, love, and compassion can’t make sense. A person in this camp might believe that God is good in an objective sense, but not in a personal sense: “God is good, but He doesn’t notice or care about or forgive me. How could He?”

If you see God as more good than great, you’ll also have a false view of God. You’ll run into the temptation to see God as an extension of humanity: He likes us because He is like us. Often people who fall into this category have a hard time understanding holiness, or can minimize the significance of sin.

But the God of the Bible is both great (holy, transcendent, powerful) and good (full of mercy, kindness, and compassion.) A balanced and biblical view of God is going to hold both of these attributes simultaneously, while any view of God that doesn’t hold both of these attributes simultaneously is going to misunderstand His character.

And, significantly, correctly seeing God is not a “one-and-done” thought. This is a topic to which we all need to keep coming back.

Reflection

How about you? Where are the moments or categories in your life where you can easily see God as great, but not so good? Where are the moments and categories where you can easily understand His goodness, but His greatness isn’t in view?

Ask the Lord to show you where you misunderstand His character, and then to lead you into truth.