Psalm 113:1-2, 4-8

This week our responsorial psalm comes from Psalm 113, which praises the Lord who is exalted above all yet stoops down to raise up the poor and needy.

This theme directly echoes Amos’ warning against exploiting the vulnerable and complements the gospel’s call to faithful stewardship.

Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 

This psalm is a classic hymn of praise. It begins with the imperative summons to praise God, which is Hallelujah in Hebrew. The summons itself (hallelu) appears in a plural verb form, suggesting a communal setting, which is paired with jah, a poetic, abbreviated form of Yahweh.

Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, a name is more than a label; it expresses the very essence, character, and authority of the person.

The divine name, Yahweh, reveals God’s eternal, self-existent nature and covenantal presence with Israel. To call upon or praise the name of the LORD is therefore to acknowledge God’s holiness, power, and faithful care.

High above all nations is the LORD; above the heavens is his glory. Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?

Here, God’s majesty is proclaimed: enthroned above the heavens, the Creator of the universe is unmatched.

The rhetorical question underscores that no one rivals God, whose magnificence makes his care for the lowly all the more remarkable.

These are the reasons for his call to praise.

He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor to seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people.

The psalm shifts to God’s action in the world. Terms like “lowly” (dal) and “poor” (ebyôn) refer to those marginalized by society. Dust symbolizes human mortality and insignificance, while the dunghill represents society’s discarded or worthless.

God’s lifting of the lowly from these places of despair demonstrates divine condescension and mercy. By seating them with princes, God reverses human expectations: those despised are honored. The very people society had discarded were the ones that God stooped to lift up.