The Caring God
Psalm 113:1–9
He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Psalm 113:9
Some modern, more pedantic scholars suggest that verse 9 is a weak ending to Psalm 113. They fail to see how a psalm calling for praise of the exalted God can properly end on a reference to God’s provision for “the barren woman.”
But that is exactly the point of the psalm. What is most praiseworthy about God, according to the psalmist, is that, although he is infinitely exalted above everything, even the heavens, he nevertheless stoops to raise the poor from the dust, the needy from the ash heap, and even the barren woman from the disgrace her barrenness brought her in those days.
This psalm ends by saying that the great, exalted God of the Bible is not only concerned about needy people in general but also with the individual. He cares about you. He cares for you and me personally. He cares for us specifically in two ways.
1. He saves us from our sin one by one. Not everyone has the experience in this life of being raised from the dust to a throne or from an ash heap to sit with princes, but all who are saved by Christ are lifted from the pigsty of this decadent world to sit with Jesus in his glory and rule with him. It happens one by one! In our sin you and I have been the lowest of the low, but God has raised us up through faith in Jesus Christ. Has that been your experience? Do you know Jesus not as some great Savior in general, but as your own personal Savior and Lord?
2. He rescues us when we are cast down. Downtrodden individuals are not a collective mass, though this is how society generally regards them. They are individual people who have suffered specific defeats or setbacks. They are not discouraged in some general way. God knows each of these persons individually. He knows you. If even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Luke 12:7), God clearly cares for you and knows exactly what you are suffering. Moreover, he is able to do something about it. He is able to lift you up and seat you with princes.
Has life cast you down? Turn to God who is able to lift you up and trust him to do it. Then do as the psalm finally says: Praise the Lord!
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.