Sunday Sermonette: The paradox of religion

Psalm 113 is pretty weird if you think about it for one second. It's the usual praise for the Big Guy in the Sky, but then it gets specific: he makes poor people sit with princes, and he makes infertile women pregnant. Err, why were they infertile in the first place? And what if they never do get pregnant? This is like the people who thank God for saving their lives when a tornado kills their neighbors. Psalm 114 is one of innumerable nods to the Exodus story, but as do some others, it seems to include an earthquake, which isn't in the canonical version. 115 mocks the impotence of idols, but again Yahweh is the God specific to the Israelites. Also, notably, it gives Aaron equal status with Jacob/Israel. Israel is the ancestor of all of the Israelites, by definition. Aaron is the ancestor of the hereditary priesthood. By presenting them equally, the priests emphasize their own importance.

113 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord
    praise the name of the Lord!

² Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time forth and for evermore!
³ From the rising of the sun to its setting
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!
⁴ The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
⁶ who looks far down
    upon the heavens and the earth?
⁷ He raises the poor from the dust,
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
⁸ to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
⁹ He gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

 

114 When Israel went forth from Egypt,
    the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
² Judah became his sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.

³ The sea looked and fled,
    Jordan turned back.
⁴ The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

⁵ What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
    O Jordan, that you turn back?
⁶ O mountains, that you skip like rams?
    O hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸ who turns the rock into a pool of water,
    the flint into a spring of water.

 

115 Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to thy name give glory,
    for the sake of thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness!
² Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”

³ Our God is in the heavens;
    he does whatever he pleases.
⁴ Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of men’s hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak;
    eyes, but do not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear;
    noses, but do not smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel;
    feet, but do not walk;
    and they do not make a sound in their throat.
⁸ Those who make them are like them;
    so are all who trust in them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
¹⁰ O house of Aaron, put your trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.

¹² The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
    he will bless the house of Israel;
    he will bless the house of Aaron;
¹³ he will bless those who fear the Lord,
    both small and great.

¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase,
    you and your children!
¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth!

¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
    but the earth he has given to the sons of men.
¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord,
    nor do any that go down into silence.
¹⁸ But we will bless the Lord
    from this time forth and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!