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Psalm 113 Bible study: Who stoops down to see
In Hebrew the LORD who "has his seat on high" (113:5) is the one who will "set him with princes" (113:8) and who "settles the barren woman in her home" (113:9): seat, set and settles are one verb. And "He raises up the poor out of the dust" (113:7) is Hannah's prayer, word for word in the WEB (1 Samuel 2:8).
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“He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the needy from the ash heap,”
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“Psalm 113 says the LORD stoops down to see in heaven and on the earth.”
Is that in Psalm 113, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
High above, and stooping down
"The LORD is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens" (113:4) (tap high). Then the psalm asks, "Who is like the LORD, our God, who has his seat on high, who stoops down to see in heaven and on the earth?" (113:5-6). In Hebrew the two halves of that question are built the same way. Who has his seat on high is hammagbihi lashavet, word for word who makes high to sit (tap on high, seat). Who stoops down to see is hammashpili lir'ot, word for word who makes low to see (tap stoops down). Brown-Driver-Briggs gives the first verb, in this form, as "make high, exalt", and the second, used with another verb, as "make low". Here is what almost everyone misses: in the WEB the LORD stoops down to see "in heaven" as well as "on the earth" (113:6). The verse before has set his glory "above the heavens" (113:4). In the WEB's words, even to see in heaven he stoops down.
Where it leads to Jesus
Blessed are you who are poor
Psalms 113:7leads toLuke 6:20
The psalm praises the LORD, who "raises up the poor out of the dust" (Psalm 113:7), "that he may set him with princes" (Psalm 113:8). In Luke, Jesus "lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said" (Luke 6:20), "Blessed are you who are poor, for God’s Kingdom is yours" (Luke 6:20). Jesus doesn't quote the psalm, so setting the two side by side is a reading. It rests on what both say of the poor, not only on the word: in the psalm the LORD sets them with princes, and Jesus says God’s Kingdom is theirs. Some hear the psalm's praise in Jesus' words: the poor the LORD sets with princes, and the poor to whom Jesus says God's Kingdom belongs. Others read each on its own terms: the psalm praises what the LORD does and names no kingdom, and Jesus speaks to his disciples, going straight on to those who hunger and weep (Luke 6:21), and they find no link to the psalm in his words. Neither reading says the psalm speaks of Jesus.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 113
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 113 is waiting in Favor
- He sits, and he gives others a seat
- "The LORD’s name", three verses in a row
- Hannah's words, in a psalm
- From the rising of the sun, in Psalm 50 and Malachi
- 5 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 113 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שָׁפֵלshafelsay sha-FEL
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "be or become low, be abased", and, used with another verb, "make low". Strong's: "to depress or sink (especially figuratively, to humiliate, intransitive or transitive)". "who stoops down to see in heaven and on the earth?" (113:6): who stoops down is hammashpili, word for word who makes low, followed by lir'ot, to see. It is the verb of Hannah's "He brings low, he also lifts up" (1 Samuel 2:7), and of "He puts down one, and lifts up another" (Psalm 75:7). In those verses it is set against lifts up; here it is the LORD's own stooping down to see. The Psalms have it four times in Hebrew.
For your group
Psalm 113 Bible study questions
- 1"Who is like the LORD, our God, who has his seat on high, who stoops down to see in heaven and on the earth?" (113:5-6). Which do you find easier to believe about God: that he is high above everything, or that he stoops down to see you? Why?
- 2"He raises up the poor out of the dust" (113:7). When have you seen God lift someone, perhaps you, out of a low place?
- 3"Blessed be the LORD’s name, from this time forward and forever more" (113:2). What is one thing you want to praise him for this week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 113 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home