Psalm 113:2 Praise God

Psalm 113:2 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

Psalm 113 is one of eight psalms that both begin and end with a hallelujah (the others are 106, 135 and the final five psalms, 146 to 150). Clearly the theme then is praising the Lord. The intention of the psalmist here is to stir up the Lord's servants to a widespread and continual praise to the Lord. This is why he speaks of the Lord as being exalted over all the nations with his glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, he asks in verses 5 and 6, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? In the rest of the psalm he focuses on God's ability to transform situations, raising the poor from the dust and seating them with princes or settling the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. There is every reason to praise the Lord. The implication of verse 2 is that this praise ought to be both worldwide and continual. The rising of the sun and its setting have a reference both to time adn to space. They not only denote, chronologically, the day's beginning and end but also, geographically, earth's east and west. To some extent we see what the psalmist describing happening already but there can be more. Already people from Kiribati to Samoa have heard the gospel and already people praise God specially on the LORD's day and throughout the week but there are many places from where no praise goes up. Personally, we do not give the whole day to praise, even the Lord's Day. Nevertheless, the Lord's name is to be praised at all times, in all places and we must, by his grace, do what we can to that end.