For the third day in a row, I am greeted w/ a call to “Praise the LORD!” This is fitting for “servants of Yahweh” to praise, praise, praise Yahweh’s name – his character & attributes (1). Everything about him is worthy of praise. The psalm easily outlines into The Call to Praise (1-3) and The Reasons for Praise (4-9). The reasons for praise are likewise detailed in God’s Exalted Transcendence (4-6) and God’s Gracious Imminence (Nearness) (7-9). Yahweh’s name (character) is to be praised at all times (2) and in every place (3). God’s exalted transcendence is seen “above all nations” and “above the heavens” (4). I often think of God dwelling IN heaven, but this praise song reminds me of Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8:27, where he acknowledged that “heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain” God. He is ABOVE the heavens. No wonder this song writer asks, “Who is like the LORD our God”? (5) (See also Isaiah 40:9-31.) This high and lofty one cannot be compared to any earthly or heavenly being. God is “enthroned so high, he needs to stoop to see the sky and earth” (6, Jerusalem Bible). YET – and I love this – this same lofty LORD intervenes in the affairs of “the poor and needy” to elevate them to a place of privilege in his realm (7-8). This was the experience of Mephibosheth, son of King Saul, whom King David elevated to sit at his table like one of his sons (2 Samuel 9:11). Such turn of events and intervention was also Hannah’s experience, whose words are quoted here from 1 Samuel 2:8 (7). Hannah indeed became a “joyous mother of children” (9), along with Sarah, and Rebekah and Rachel of old. I’m sure that the most joyous of all mothers was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who magnified the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior because he “regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.” (See her “magnificat” in Luke 1:46-55.) The Mighty One did great things for Mary and for the world in giving her the high privilege of being the mother of the One whose name is above every name (Philippian 2:9). So today, I join heed the constant, clarion call to “praise the LORD.” May I never cease to praise his glorious name.
Leave a Reply