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The unique Lord and the unique event (Psalm 113:1-114:8)
John Low, 14 September 2014
Part of the Hallel Psalms series, Sunday Evening service
We begin our short series looking at the Hallel Psalms with Psalms 113 and 114. Hallel simply means praise in Hebrew – a collection of joyous songs traditionally used at celebratory Jewish festivals.
Psalms 113 & 114 are well paired. The first states a truth and responds in three ways to the question, “What is distinctive about the God of Israel?” Psalm 114 then gives a great example of that truth.
Psalm 113 & Psalm 114
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « The Word | A confused minister | A desperate woman » |
Psalms 113–114 (Listen)
113:1 Praise the LORD!
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD!
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore!
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,
and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the LORD!
114:1 When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
(ESV)