Daily Reader for Day 293: Psalms 113 - 118


by Dave Moore

For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for Himself.  – 1 Samuel 12:22

This passage reflects the profound and unique understanding that permeates the faith of those who follow the LORD of Hosts: it is the LORD’s good name, not the king’s, not Israel’s, that is at stake.  We’ve seen this affirmed throughout the law, writings, and prophets, and today the Psalms will reaffirm it to the congregation of Israel and proclaim it to all who hear. 

The first two Psalms today emphasize the LORD’s cosmic majesty and sovereignty over the earth.  The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens! …Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob.  Notice the emphasis: yes, the Psalmist is talking about the God of Jacob; but He’s not the God invented by Jacob or discovered by Jacob.  He’s the preeminent God who has chosen Jacob.  So, in Psalm 115, the author declares authentically to his time and place: Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!  

In Psalms 116 and 117 the focus shifts to celebration.  Listen to the crescendo as the personal becomes the local, to the global, and the eternal: I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem…Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. 

In our closing Psalm, follow the pendulum from third person calls to worship to first person declarations.  You’ll have to pay close attention to follow who is being talked about, especially when it comes to affirming that: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.   

Our verses for this week are Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 113 through 118.  Now let’s read it!

Psalms 113 - 118

113:1   Praise the LORD!
  Praise, O servants of the LORD,
    praise the name of the LORD!
  Blessed be the name of the LORD
    from this time forth and forevermore!
  From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the LORD is to be praised!
  The LORD is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!
  Who is like the LORD our God,
    who is seated on high,
  who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
  He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
  to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
  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,
  Judah became his sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.
  The sea looked and fled;
    Jordan turned back.
  The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs.
  What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
    O Jordan, that you turn back?
  O mountains, that you skip like rams?
    O hills, like lambs?
  Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
  who turns the rock into a pool of water,
    the flint into a spring of water.

115:1   Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
  Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
  Our God is in the heavens;
    he does all that he pleases.
  Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
  They have mouths, but do not speak;
    eyes, but do not see.
  They have ears, but do not hear;
    noses, but do not smell.
  They have hands, but do not feel;
    feet, but do not walk;
    and they do not make a sound in their throat.
  Those who make them become like them;
    so do all who trust in them.
  O Israel, trust in the LORD!
    He is their help and their shield.
  O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
    He is their help and their shield.
  You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
    He is their help and their shield.
  The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;
    he will bless the house of Israel;
    he will bless the house of Aaron;
  he will bless those who fear the LORD,
    both the small and the great.
  May the LORD give you increase,
    you and your children!
  May you be blessed by the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth!
  The heavens are the LORD's heavens,
    but the earth he has given to the children of man.
  The dead do not praise the LORD,
    nor do any who go down into silence.
  But we will bless the LORD
    from this time forth and forevermore.
  Praise the LORD!

116:1   I love the LORD, because he has heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
  Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
  The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
  Then I called on the name of the LORD:
    “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
  Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
  The LORD preserves the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
  Return, O my soul, to your rest;
    for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
  For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
  I will walk before the LORD
    in the land of the living.
  I believed, even when I spoke:
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
  I said in my alarm,
    “All mankind are liars.”
  What shall I render to the LORD
    for all his benefits to me?
  I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name of the LORD,
  I will pay my vows to the LORD
    in the presence of all his people.
  Precious in the sight of the LORD
    is the death of his saints.
  O LORD, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
    You have loosed my bonds.
  I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the LORD.
  I will pay my vows to the LORD
    in the presence of all his people,
  in the courts of the house of the LORD,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
  Praise the LORD!

117:1   Praise the LORD, all nations!
    Extol him, all peoples!
  For great is his steadfast love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
  Praise the LORD!

118:1   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
  Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
  Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
  Let those who fear the LORD say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
  Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
    the LORD answered me and set me free.
  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
  The LORD is on my side as my helper;
    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
  It is better to take refuge in the LORD
    than to trust in man.
  It is better to take refuge in the LORD
    than to trust in princes.
  All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
  They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
  They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
  I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
    but the LORD helped me.
  The LORD is my strength and my song;
    he has become my salvation.
  Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
  “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
    the right hand of the LORD exalts,
    the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
  I shall not die, but I shall live,
    and recount the deeds of the LORD.
  The LORD has disciplined me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.
  Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the LORD.
  This is the gate of the LORD;
    the righteous shall enter through it.
  I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
  The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
  This is the LORD's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
  This is the day that the LORD has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.
  Save us, we pray, O LORD!
    O LORD, we pray, give us success!
  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
    We bless you from the house of the LORD.
  The LORD is God,
    and he has made his light to shine upon us.
  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
    up to the horns of the altar!
  You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
    you are my God; I will extol you.
  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

(ESV)


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