Psalms 113:7

7 He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,

Psalms 113:7 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 113:7

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust
Persons of mean extraction and in low life are sometimes raised by him to great honour and dignity, as Saul, David, and others; and is true of many who are spiritually poor and needy, as all men are, but all are not sensible of it; some are, and these are called poor "in spirit", and are pronounced "blessed", for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven": they are raised out of a low and mean estate, out of the dust of sin, and self-abhorrence for it, in which they lie when convicted of it.

And lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
which denotes a mean condition; so one born in a mean place, and brought up in a mean manner, is sometimes represented as taken out of a dunghill F20: and also it is expressive of a filthy one; men by sin are not only brought into a low estate, but into a loathsome one, and are justly abominable in the sight of God, and yet he lifts them out of it: the phrases of "raising up" and "lifting out" suppose them to be fallen, as men are in Adam, fallen from a state of honour and glory, in which he was created, into a state of sin and misery, and out of which they cannot deliver themselves; it is Christ's work, and his only, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to help or lift up his servant Israel, ( Isaiah 49:6 ) ( Luke 1:54 ) ( 1 Samuel 2:8 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F20 "Ex sterquilinio effosse", Plauti Casina, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 26.

Psalms 113:7 In-Context

5 Who can compare with God, our God, so majestically enthroned,
6 Surveying his magnificent heavens and earth?
7 He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,
8 Seats them among the honored guests, a place of honor among the brightest and best.
9 He gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.