Catholic Commentary on Psalm 113

"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap." (Psalm 113:7)

The First Hallel

Psalm 113 opens the Egyptian Hallel, the collection of psalms from 113 to 118 sung at Passover. Jesus and his disciples would have sung these psalms at the Last Supper, and the Hallel psalms are therefore among the last things Jesus sang before his Passion. Psalm 113 begins with a triple call to praise, using the Hebrew word Hallelujah for the first time in the Psalter: Praise the LORD. The name of the LORD is to be praised from the rising of the sun to its setting, from this time forth and forever.

The theological heart of the psalm is the paradox of divine transcendence and divine condescension: who is like the LORD our God, the one who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He who is so high must stoop to see even the heavens. Yet he raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and seats them with princes. This is the same reversal that Mary sings in the Magnificat, and the connection is not accidental: Luke 1 draws on the imagery of Psalm 113 and the song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2) to express what God does in the Incarnation. The one enthroned in highest heaven stoops to be born in Bethlehem. The poor are raised. The humble are exalted.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the God of Psalm 113 is too great to be threatened by our smallness and too good to ignore it. He stoops. He reaches into the ash heap. He seats the nobody with the princes. This is not a general principle; it is the description of what he has done for you in Baptism. You were in the dust. You are seated now among the children of God.

Prayer

Praise the LORD! Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forever. You stoop down from your throne to raise the poor from the dust and seat them with princes. Let your name be praised from the rising of the sun to its setting. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.