Have you ever been invited to a dinner where there were many important people attending, important politicians, scientists, or entertainers? Or perhaps you were in attendance at a very important business meeting, where influential businessmen, educators, or politicians were in attendance. This is an honor to you. Still, you might wonder why you were invited to attend, as perhaps you are not anyone of any seeming significance. Someone thought enough of you to let you be seated with these important and notable dignitaries! In our psalm for this week we read of a similar situation, where the Lord works such honors for His beloved children. Let’s take a quick look.
Our psalm, written by an unknown author, encourages us to praise the Lord, which is something that believers should always be doing. He says that this is something we should do from morning till night, from sun-up to sun down (vs 3). We don’t need to always have a specific reason to praise God, but our psalm today gives us a few reasons, reasons that we might not always think of.
Our psalmist then describes how Yahweh is high above all nations and the whole universe, which He is the Creator of. He is exalted above all, and rightly so! So often in our world, both today and back in Biblical times, when someone holds an exalted position, they do not bother themselves with people in lowly positions. How often does the CEO of a Fortune 500 company bother himself with the maid who cleans out the office after business hours, or with the maintenance man who keeps the building running? How often does the King bother with the person who picks up the trash at the palace? Not too often, if ever! Yet our Lord is willing to humble Himself to desire to have a relationship with each of us (vs. 4-6). Not too many people in high positions, with a lot of money and fame, would ever willingly want a relationship with lowly, poor folks. However, not only does the Lord Jesus want a relationship with everyone, both high and low, He willingly sacrificed His life to save all who accept Him.
Not only does Yahweh want a personal relationship with everyone, including the humble and poor, but He raises us up out of our lowly position, out of both the literal and spiritual dust and ash heap we are in (vs. 7). And what does the Lord do? He sits us with princes! When we have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we are then adopted by the Father, and become part of His family. The Lord Jesus is then our brother. He is King of all Creation, and what are brothers of a king called? They are princes, and as part of Jesus’ family, so are we (vs. 8). Princes are admitted where other common folk are kept at a distance, thus we have access in prayer to God (Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:16). Princes are generally wealthy, certainly more so than the general population. As brothers to the Lord Jesus, we share His inheritance and wealth (Romans 8:32). Princes also often have power and influence. Believers will also one day reign with Him (Revelation 5:10).
As the psalmist closes out his psalm he brings up a group that was greatly scorned in Biblical times, scorned for no good reason, and that was women who were barren. In olden times having children was very important, and if a woman was barren that was a terrible thing. A husband could even easily divorce his wife if she wasn’t bearing him any children. Today we certainly don’t scorn someone if they cannot have children, but they did back then. Our psalmist, though, says that the Lord welcomes them (vs. 9). People who the world looks down upon are welcomed into His family.
As we close, let us praise the Lord for not being a distant, unreachable, or uncaring God, but instead one who is willing to humble Himself and reach out to us. Not only does He reach out to us, but we can praise Him for taking all those who accept His Son Jesus into His family, seating them among princes! For that we can join the psalmist in saying Praise the Lord!
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