Psalm 113 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 113 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.
Verse 2Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore.
Verse 3From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Verse 4The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
Verse 5Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,
Verse 6who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
Verse 7He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
Verse 8to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
Verse 9He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
I love doing children's messages in worship. One of my favorite activities is to invite the kids to bend over and peer through their legs at the congregation. The world looks funny upside down. God's ways can also seem upside down to the ways of the world. Turning the other cheek, leaving behind a flock because one sheep strayed and loving our enemies don’t make sense in the logic of how the world works. This psalm speaks of a God who cares for the least, the last and the lost, who raises the poor and lifts the needy—all upside down from the ways of the world.
There is a woman named Betty in the congregation where I serve. Every Sunday she prays for the man who murdered her niece three years ago. We all know his name now: Rudy. And when Betty is gone from worship someone else prays for Rudy—for healing, for him to know God's love and forgiveness. In a world that demands revenge her prayer is a powerful testimony to this upside down way we are called to live as God's people.
Prayer
O God, who is like you? No one. And we are grateful. Amen.