I. Whole Psalm.
A. The psalm contains three parts:
1. An exhortation to God’s servants to praise him.
a. It is interesting that we are the servants of the Lord, and no
longer servants of this world.
b. Salvation opens a new world to us, a world of eternal value and
inexhaustible blessings.
c. Exodus 2:23-25 – The Israelites cried because of their bondage
in the land of Egypt and God heard their cry.
d. This is a world the people of this world do not know or
understand.
e. If we, as servants of God, do not praise God, who will?
f. Luke 19:40 – Christ said the stones would cry out the praises of
God if the inhabitants of Jerusalem did not.
2. Instructions as to how and where to praise him, Verse 2, 3.
3. The reasons to persuade us to it.
B. By his infinite power, Verse 4, 5.
C. His providence, as displayed in heaven and earth, verse 6.
II. Verse 1. The repetitions show,
A. The importance of praise.
B. Our many obligations to render it.
C. Our backwardness in the duty.
D. The heartiness and frequency with which it should be rendered.
E. The need of calling upon others to join with us.
III. Verse 1.
A. To whom praise is due: "the Lord."
B. From whom it is due: "ye servants of the Lord."
C. For what is it due: his "name."
1. For all names descriptive of what he is in himself.
2. For all names descriptive of what he is to his servants.
IV. Verse 1, 9. Praise ye the Lord.
A. Begin and end life with it, and do the same with holy service, patient
suffering, and everything else.
B. Fill up the interval with praise. Run over the intervening verses.
V. Verse 6
A. Humbled means to sink down, or to become down, or to be abased.
B. Behold means to see, to behold, or to consider.
C. The things in heaven and in earth.
1. It would seem God would not have to come down to observe the things
in heaven and earth, because he is God and would already know all about
those things.
2. The fact that God humbles himself to observe heaven and earth shows
a part of his marvelous grace, love, and mercy toward us.
VI. Verse 7
A. The poor are not those that do not have any money, but those that are
needy.
B. The dust is the earth.
1. God has made a difference in us, who belong to him.
2. Without God, we are exactly like every other person on this earth,
but with God we are exactly like every other person in heaven.
C. The needy are those that have a feeling of want, those that have no
other place to turn.
D. The dunghill is the ash heap or the refuse pile.
VII. Verse 8 – God’s reason.
A. For the sole benefit of the recipient.
1. God will not be benefited, or added to by his actions toward his
people.
2. God’s intends to set the one taken from the dust and the dunghill
among princes and the princes of his people.
3. God enjoys seeing his people enjoy themselves.
VIII. Verse 9.
A. The barren woman is a woman with no children.
B. The joyful mother of children is exactly that.
C. The principle God is teaching in this Psalm is that he cares enough to
take care of the private matters of the heart – the things nobody knows
about but you and God.