Psalms 113:7

My Notes

What Does Psalms 113:7 Mean?

This verse echoes Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:8) almost word for word — and the repetition across centuries reinforces God's unchanging pattern. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust" — the poor (dal — thin, weak, depleted) are in the dust (aphar — ground, dirt, the lowest possible location). God reaches into the dust and lifts. The verb "raiseth" (meqimi) means to cause to stand, to establish, to bring to a standing position. The poor person wasn't standing. God stood them up.

"And lifteth the needy out of the dunghill" — the needy (evyon — destitute, in want) are on the dunghill (ashpot — ash heap, garbage dump, the refuse pile outside the city). If the dust is low, the dunghill is lower — the place where discarded things accumulate. And God lifts (yarim) from there. The lifting is elevation — not just off the ground but to a new height entirely.

The next verse (v. 8) completes the trajectory: "That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people." The destination isn't stability. It's royalty. From the dust to the princes' table. From the ash heap to the throne room. The distance is maximized by design — because the greater the distance between where you were and where God placed you, the louder the testimony.

The psalm is a Hallel psalm — sung during the great festivals. The nation of Israel sang about a God who lifts the destitute to sit with princes. The song wasn't theoretical. It was autobiographical. Israel was the nation God pulled from the ash heap of Egyptian slavery and seated among the princes of the earth.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Are you on the dust or the dunghill right now? What would it mean to believe God's preferred direction for you is upward — not just to stability, but to honor?
• 2.Hannah and the psalmist sing the same song centuries apart. What does the repetition tell you about the consistency of God's character?
• 3.God goes to the garbage dump to find the person He'll seat with princes. How does that challenge the assumption that God favors the already-successful?
• 4.The poor person's contribution was being in the dust when God arrived. How does that change the pressure you feel to earn your own rescue?

Devotional

From the garbage dump to the princes' table. That's not a motivational poster. It's what God actually does.

The psalmist describes God's signature move: reaching into the lowest place and lifting to the highest. The dust. The dunghill. The places where nothing valuable is expected to be found. And God reaches in — not to clean the place up, but to pull someone out of it. The poor person who was lying in the dirt is standing. The needy person who was sitting on the ash heap is seated among princes.

"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust." The poor didn't climb out. God raised them. The verb is causative — God caused them to stand. The poor person's contribution to the rising was being in the dust when God arrived. That's it. The lifting was entirely God's initiative, God's power, God's decision.

"Lifteth the needy out of the dunghill." The dunghill is worse than the dust. It's the garbage pile — the place where the city's refuse accumulates. And God goes there. He doesn't send a representative to the ashpot. He goes Himself and lifts. The people the world threw away are the people God picks up.

Hannah sang this (1 Samuel 2:8). Mary echoed it (Luke 1:52). The pattern is consistent across millennia: God puts down the mighty and lifts up the lowly. The dunghill and the throne are both within His jurisdiction. And His preferred direction of movement is upward — from the lowest place to the highest, from the most discarded to the most honored.

If you're on the dunghill — financially, relationally, emotionally, spiritually — this psalm says you're in God's preferred workspace. He doesn't specialize in maintaining the comfortable. He specializes in lifting the destitute. And the trajectory He has in mind for you isn't back to normal. It's princes.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture