Psalm 113:4-9

The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
He settles the barren woman in her home
as the happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD!

You might have a picture of yourself like this. You know the kind. It’s less than flattering. It provides a great view of your backside as you are bent over. Or better yet, someone has caught you in the classic plumber position, with your head under the sink and your opposite end in full view.

I know what to do with photos like that. I toss them in the garbage. I erase them from my hard drive. If I can wrestle the mobile-phone camera from the photographer, I’ll hit the delete button faster than the shutter speed for that priceless Kodak moment.

Who wants to embarrass himself and then keep the evidence for posterity? Apparently, God does. In fact, the LORD has been doing it since time began. The proof for this assertion can be found right here in Psalm 113.

The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

Who indeed? Why would the exalted One, the enthroned One, stoop down? How undignified! Doesn’t the LORD know that kings and potentates don’t bend over or stoop down? They certainly don’t do that sort of thing in public—not where they can be seen by others. Rulers rule from the seat of authority. They sit; they don’t stoop down.

But our God stoops down. If the truth be told, it’s even worse than that.

The LORD doesn’t just stoop down; He plays in the mud. He has been playing in the mud for years now, ever since he shaped us from the dust of the earth. I would go so far as to say that this behavior—this playing in the mud—has become an obsession with him. It’s a divine obsession. He just keeps right on doing it.

I’m not sure how the LORD justifies his behavior. From a perfectly logical point of view, it simply doesn’t make sense. After all, I would hardly call the LORD’s first experience with mud sculpture a glowing success. Sure, Adam looked handsome enough, and Eve was pretty sweet, but that breath of life idea was a complete disaster.

And what thanks did God get for his efforts? Well, the dear little mud clods disobeyed him. They disobeyed their Maker at the first opportunity, or so I’ve read. What a show of gratitude! But then, I suppose that’s what you get for stooping down and playing in the mud. It goes to show what you can expect from quickened mud clods.

After that experience—that catastrophe run amuck—you would think, the LORD would know better. He should know better by now. But no, not the LORD! He keeps right on going back to the mud holes. He insists on stooping down and rescuing these little, living, breathing, dirt bags.

Let’s take David for example. Let’s call him exhibit, “A.” But rather than listen to me go on about the LORD’s absurd behavior, why not hear David’s own testimony:

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD (Psalm 40:1-3).

Well David, this is all fine and good for you to say. But remember, you’re the one that got yourself into that mess—that mud and mire—in the first place. Have you given even a moment’s thought to the LORD’s dignity? I think not. He has a whole universe to rule, and there you are interrupting him with your pathetic pleas. The LORD has to leave his contemplations, get off his kingly throne and rescue you—rescue you from a mud hole! I am sure God has better things to do than to chase after the likes of you.

And David, this new song of yours—this hymn of praise—let me give you some advice. Pull the plug on it. Why would you want to broadcast your own failings? Why would you want the world to see how dependent you are on the LORD? It’s time to grow up. Learn to stand on your own two feet.  This running to the LORD for everything has got to stop. Don’t you realize He has a whole world to run?

Worst of all David, if you go ahead with this new song, it will turn out just as you say. Many will see how the LORD has rescued you. They will put their trust in the LORD. And what will happen then? Well, I’ll tell you what will happen. Next thing you know, the LORD won’t have a moments rest. Every slime ball on the planet will be calling out to him.

And exactly how will the LORD respond? Well, if past performance is any indicator, He’ll be right out there, big time. He’ll be pulling slime balls out of mud holes all over the world. Like I said earlier, it’s an obsession—a divine obsession.

Take this psalm, Psalm 113, for an example. Have a look at this quote. Let’s call it exhibit, “B.”

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as the happy mother of children. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 113:7-9, NIV)

Why doesn’t He stay seated? Why doesn’t the LORD just stay on the throne? Why does He insist on stooping down and getting his hands dirty? You can’t possibly lift people out of dust and ashes without getting your hands dirty.

And why does the LORD keep elevating people? Doesn’t He know that they are the source of all the problems in the world? If He must interact with humanity, He should at the very least pick his contacts more carefully. Why associate yourself with the poor—the scum of the earth? Go for the cream of the crop. If the LORD is so high and mighty, why doesn’t He stick with the high and mighty? He keeps diving below his rank—well below his rank.

To be honest with you, the LORD seems to be completely out of touch with how this messed up world operates. When it comes to the LORD, it’s like we’re dealing with some kind of heavenly dumpster diver. He keeps finding treasures in the trash.

But what I find most disturbing about this passage is the statement about the barren woman. Help the woman, if you must, LORD. But turning her into the happy mother of children is a terrible mistake. I’m not sure we need more of these snivelling, whining, God-needing, God-dependent creatures. Things will only get worse with more of them around. The LORD will never have a moment’s rest—not with them bawling around for help. I can see it all now—even more stooping, more bending over mud holes. He’ll spend even more time saving the incompetent from themselves.

This obsession with creatures of dust, and extracting them from mud holes, has gone totally out of control. It has completely taken over the mind of the LORD. That’s what obsessions do. How else can you explain what happened next?

He decided to have a Son by one of these daughters of earth. You might even say the LORD decided to become one of them. I know it’s incredible, absolutely incredible. I call it a case of divine insanity.

And the poor woman He had this child by, what a mess He left her in! First of all, you think that the LORD, who “is exalted over all the nations, who sits enthroned on high” would choose a partner of noble birth, but not the LORD. No, He chooses some poor humble servant girl, at the bottom rung of society. Granted Mary comes from royal stock, but this lineage of David that you read about, meant absolutely nothing in practical terms. It didn’t put food on the table, or clothes on her back, or boost her social status.

Yes, you heard right. Mary is from the thousand-year-old line of David—the same David that the LORD pulled out of the mud and the mire, way back then. Not exactly a proud legacy, in my opinion.

So, the LORD “who sits enthroned on high” got Mary pregnant, and then He left her. He left her high and dry—stranded. He didn’t even hang around to explain himself. He let Mary do the talking. He let her explain this whole mess to Joseph, her fiancé.

“Who is like the LORD our God?” Who indeed?

Then to top off this public relations fiasco, this descent from the heavenly realm, we have the actual birth of the Son of God. What a botched, low budget affair that was! Unbelievable! Born in a stable. The Son of God placed in a manger—a feeding trough for slobbering cows! Incredible.

When the LORD stoops down, He really stoops down!

The lack of coordination in this whole event simply defies description. Was any thought put into this at all? Why this last-minute rush? Why have the baby born in Bethlehem? Why not Jerusalem, the holy city, the capital?

And then there’s that disaster with the angels. As far as I’m concerned, they showed up in the wrong place entirely. Why announce the Savior’s birth to a few, poor, lowlife shepherds? They have no influence—no means to spread the news beyond a small circle. I can only assume the lead angel somehow got his coordinates mixed up and landed in the wrong location.

The heavenly choir was a nice touch. Here at last was some pomp and ceremony—some razzle dazzle and celestial fireworks, befitting the birth of a heaven-sent king. But it was all wasted on those shepherds. Like I said, it happened in the wrong place. The LORD would have had far more bang for his buck, if the angels had put on their show over Jerusalem.

Then, there are the Magi. Nice try wise guys. Too bad you arrived almost two years after the fact, and your blundering ineptitude almost got the Son of God killed.

No, this whole experiment in cross-cultural communication—heaven to earth communication—did not start well. Is it any wonder that things went quickly downhill from there?

As for the Son of God, well he’s just like his Father—the very image of Him! He has the same character too. He’s always hanging around with the bottom end of society, with the harlots, the tax collectors, the sinners. He does a lot of stooping down too, and He plays in the mud. He spit on the ground and made some mud once. He used it to heal a man born blind (John 9:1-12). And then, there’s that time he pardoned the adulteress. On that occasion, He stooped down and did a lot of writing in the dirt (John 8:1-11).

Does any of this sound familiar? Well, they are familiar all right. As I said, the Son is just like the Father, and the Father is just like the Son. (See Colossians 1:15.) As for this divine obsession with creatures of dust—this divine insanity—what did it lead to? It led straight to the cross—the Son’s death on the cross.

As I said, you can’t possibly lift people out of dust and ashes without getting your hands dirty. Well Jesus, God’s Son, couldn’t lift people out of dust and ashes without getting his hands bloody. He got his hands pierced. I guess that’s what the LORD gets for stooping down and playing in the dirt.

How do you explain all this? There are some things we will never fully understand. I am sure that this is one of those things. We cannot fathom this—not in a million years.

They say love is an obsession—a case of temporary insanity. That is the only explanation that I can think of for this outcome. He has a bad case of love; the LORD has a terminal case of love. And in His case, it never has stopped; He has never gotten over it. He fell in love with us from the first time He saw us—from the moment He formed us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16).

Still, I keep wondering why anyone would stoop so low? Why would the One, who sits enthroned on high, stoop so low for me?

Bringing Life to the Psalms

1. Jesus’ earthly family members were not numbered among the rich and famous of the land. Read James 5:1-6. Our LORD’s brother has some strong words for the rich and powerful. In the struggles of life, who do you identify yourself with, the wealthy or the poor?
2. Do you stoop down? Plan an activity that aims to help the poor or the disadvantaged. What are you doing to help the orphan or the widow, whether next door or on the other side of the globe?
3. Read the account of Jesus healing the man born blind in John 9:1-12. Note the similarities with the creation of Adam as recorded in Genesis 2:4-7.
4. Simply take some time to thank the LORD for his incomparable love. Verbalize your thanks to him.

Today’s post is Chapter 19 from the book Psalms Alive! Connecting Heaven & Earth by David Kitz. To find out more or purchase click here.