At the center of Psalm 113 rests a question that gives it focus.  The Psalmist asks: “Who is like the Lord, our God?” This question drives the lesson of the prayer and it draws our attention in several directions that engage our spirit.

First of all, when we ask with the psalmist “Who is like the Lord, our God,” the immediate response is clearly No one!  Our God is unique and all powerful.  Listen to the first part of this psalm again:

High above all nations is the LORD;

above the heavens is his glory.

Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high

and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?         

The Psalmist leaves little doubt regarding the majesty and unsurpassable power of our God. But then, in the final section of this short psalm, he describes the actions of this omnipotent Lord:

He raises up the lowly from the dust;

from the dunghill he lifts up the poor

to seat them with princes,

with the princes of his own people.

Gives the childless wife a home,

the joyful mother of children.

The great, all-powerful God attends to the needs of the weak and marginalized and in the most generous fashion.

Hence, our first answer to the Psalmist’s question of “Who is like the Lord, our God” is no one.  Our God is unique and incomparable and compassionate.

But the Scripture also has something else to teach.  At the very beginning of the Book of Genesis, in the First Chapter, we read:

“Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. . . God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:26-27)

Thus, when we ask, “who is like God,” we must also answer that we—all human beings—are like God because God made us in his image and likeness so that we could stand in relationship to him.  And so, a second answer to the question.

But the Psalm also suggests a third response.

As we have heard, the Lord God, in the divine goodness, attends to the needs of his suffering children by providing for them and with generosity.  Lifting them from the dirt, placing them in respectable positions, and giving them homes.

This divine care enables us to see another way in which we can be like the Lord, our God.  When we follow the Lord’s example, when we act in the way that he does, then we are like him.  We hear the call to attend to the neediest among us—to lift them up with dignity and attend to their most basic needs.

Psalm 113 widens our perspective in asking us to consider that question “Who is like God?”  We know and confess that no one and nothing is like God’s own divine self.  This response is undeniable.  But when we consider how we are all made in the image and likeness of God, we then recognize the dignity of all God’s children who are like God from their creation.  Lastly, the Lord has demonstrated to us that in imitation of his goodness, we can again be like him.  Jesus teaches this truth throughout his ministry among us.  For example, after he has washed the feet of his disciples, he tells them that they should do as he does, that they should imitate him.

“Who is like the Lord, our God?” We can answer no one, and everyone, and especially those who treat others with compassion and dignity.  Let us recognize our God among us.