January 25, 2026, Sunday School Lesson

God’s Dwelling on High

Lesson Text: Psalm 113:1-9

Related Scriptures: Psalms 57:1-11; 103:19-22; 108:1-13; 1 Samuel 1:26-2:10; Luke 1:46-55

TIME: unknown

PLACE: unknown

Golden Text “The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens” (Psalm 113:4)

INTRODUCTION

Psalm 113 begins a collection of psalms nicknamed the Egyptian Hallel, running from Psalm 113 through 118. (Hallel is the Hebrew verb for “praise.”) At some point, probably before the life of Christ, Jewish people began to sing these during their three annual worship festivals. Psalm 113 would have helped these worshippers think about the great reversals of the past and look forward to the great reversals promised in the future.

Psalm 113 provides a great example of a psalm of praise. Praise psalms often follow the same pattern. They begin and end with a call to praise, and the middle contains the reasons for praise.

Psalm 113 sticks to this pattern, opening with an extended call to praise (vss. 1-3), proceeding with two reasons for praise (vss. 4-9a), and ending with a short call to praise (vs. 9b). Rather than talking to God about His greatness, the psalm speaks about God in descriptive praise.

LESSON OUTLINE

1. OPENING CALL TO PRAISE – Ps. 113:1-3

2. REASONS FOR PRAISE – Ps. 113:4-9a

3. CONCLUDING CALL TO PRAISE - Ps. 113:9b

QUESTIONS

1. According to Psalm 113:1, what is the relationship between praising God and serving Him?

2. What does the biblical concept of one’s name include?

3. Above what two entities does the psalmist present God? What implications does the suggested exilic dating of the psalm have on this claim?

4. Despite appearances, why did the Babylonian Exile occur?

5. Unlike human kings, how does God use His exalted status? What does this further demonstrate?

6. How did Elisabeth describe her barrenness in Luke 1:25? How does this further demonstrate?

7. How did God graciously reverse Hannah’s shame?

8. Beyond Hannah’s concrete example, who else could the psalmist be personifying in his discussion of the barren woman?

9. What implications does Psalm 113 have for non-Israelite nations? How does the larger Old Testament storyline demonstrate this?

10. What is it called when a passage begins and ends the same way? What effect does this literary device have?

ANSWERS

1. By tying praise and service together, Psalm 113 conveys that one cannot adequately serve the Lord without praising Him, and one cannot adequately praise the Lord without serving Him.

2. The biblical concept of name includes a person’ reputation (cf. Songs of Solomon 1:3) and his or her character (cf. 1 Sam 25:25).

3. To communicate the Lord’s exalted status, the psalmist portrayed Him as being above two entities: the nations and the heavens. If, as many propose, this psalm originated after the Babylonian Exile, the Lord’s exaltation above the nation is a bold and powerful assertion.

4. Even the exile itself, which looked like evidence of the supremacy of the nations, only happened because of the Lord’s plan for His people (cf. 2 Kings 17:7-8)

5. The surprise twist in Psalm 113 is that the Lord uses His exalted status to exalt the humble. That makes the Lord even more glorious and impressive, further demonstrating how high He is above the ways of the world.

6. In Luke 1:25, Elisabeth described the result of her barrenness as “reproach,” which comes from a Greek word that also means “disgrace” or “shame.” Here is a delightful irony in Psalm 113 the Lord possesses the name above all names, and He uses this status to help those with no name among humans.

7. God graciously reversed Hannah’s shame by giving her a son, and she both fulfilled her vows and prayed an enduring prayer of thanksgiving (2:1-10). She saw God act for her good and silence her arrogant opponent (vs. 3). Like Psalm 113, she asserted that God is unparalleled.

8. It is also possible that the psalm is personifying the collective people God as a poor and barren woman waiting on God to make them fruitful again, just as Isaiah did elsewhere with the metaphor of barrenness (Isa. 54:1).

9. Ultimately, the Old Testament storyline demonstrates God’s resolve to bless the nations through Abraham’s family and nation (Gen. 12:1-3).

10. When a Bible passage begins and ends the same way, Bible scholars call this bracketing or an inclusion. The opening and closing function as slices of bread on a sandwich. They look the same and tie the sandwich together into a cohesive entrée with a united taste.