He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
Psalm 113 belongs to the Hallel, the six psalms of praise numbered 113-118 sung at Passover and other feasts. It was the song sung at the beginning of the Passover meal. This same psalm-song was sung at the last Passover supper before going to the Mount of Olives. It is a song of praise to God for deliverance.
Psalm 113 belongs to a group associated with the return from captivity in Babylon during the reign of Cyrus. That group expresses the returning exiles' mixed joy, sorrow, and anxiety over the building and dedication of the second temple and its triumphs. Within that setting the verse declares that God by His power makes the barren woman a homemaker and joyful mother of children. He thus brings the solitary and the desolate into home and family life.
That power was seen when barren Sarah bore Isaac the child of promise, when barren Hannah bore Samuel the judge and prophet, and when aged and barren Elizabeth bore John the greatest of the prophets. The family so pictured is formed not by natural ties but by the grace of Jesus. Every person in God's kingdom belongs to a family.
The verse supports the promise that families will be restored when the world is redeemed, with all united in God's great family. In that kingdom there will be no homeless ones, and family relationships will be renewed through Christ. The same work belongs to a church that is barren, for if she lets Christ come in to rule and to work, God will make her fruitful.
Psalm 113 belongs to the Hallel, the six psalms of praise numbered 113-118 sung at Passover and other feasts. It was the song sung at the beginning of the Passover meal. This same psalm-song was sung at the last Passover supper before going to the Mount of Olives. It is a song of praise to God for deliverance.
Psalm 113 belongs to a group associated with the return from captivity in Babylon during the reign of Cyrus. That group expresses the returning exiles' mixed joy, sorrow, and anxiety over the building and dedication of the second temple and its triumphs. Within that setting the verse declares that God by His power makes the barren woman a homemaker and joyful mother of children. He thus brings the solitary and the desolate into home and family life.
That power was seen when barren Sarah bore Isaac the child of promise, when barren Hannah bore Samuel the judge and prophet, and when aged and barren Elizabeth bore John the greatest of the prophets. The family so pictured is formed not by natural ties but by the grace of Jesus. Every person in God's kingdom belongs to a family.
The verse supports the promise that families will be restored when the world is redeemed, with all united in God's great family. In that kingdom there will be no homeless ones, and family relationships will be renewed through Christ. The same work belongs to a church that is barren, for if she lets Christ come in to rule and to work, God will make her fruitful.