God Makes a Woman a Happy Mother
God Makes a Woman a Happy Mother
Psalm 113 explores the sheer greatness of the glory of God. God’s glory is evidenced by the contrast of his supreme, exalted status with His stooping down low to see and care for the marginalized and lowly. His glory is high, but, nevertheless, God gets down really low.
One example of that striking contrast of God’s humility is observed in the use of the verb, “to sit” (לָשָֽׁב׃). Observe:
Who is like the LORD our God,
Who SITS high above…? Ps. 113:5
And observe the second use of the same verb “to sit”:
He SEATS the barren woman in her home,
a happy mother of children. Ps. 113:9
God’s glory is above the visible heavens, looking down on the earth below. God is the most exalted person in the universe. His “sitting” high above implies a royal throne, a seat reserved alone for royalty and majesty.
And, just as God sits on a throne high over the heavens, He also SEATS the barren woman in her own royal palace, her home, a happy mum of children. Her home is her throne. She’s a queen.
The Psalmist celebrates the wonder of God’s glorious humility: by repeating the verb “to sit,” he affirms the royal status of God as a king and the royal status of a barren woman who becomes a mum. She is a queen, seated on a throne in her home. It’s not about roles, it’s about the glory of God’s humility, and the esteem, elevated dignity, and triumph with which He endows all mums. Due to God’s merciful intervention, a marginalized, stigmatized, barren woman becomes a queen. Isn’t God wonderful!
The birth or adoption of children to barren women is a canonical, unifying theme through-out the Bible (ex., Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth). And, of course, the canonical chain of barren women who became mums is linked to the promise of Genesis 3:15: the seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent. The chain of barren women prepares us for the ultimate, supernatural birth of that seed: the birth of a first-born son to a virgin: Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).
And that mum, Mary, had many other sons, as Matthew’s Gospel makes perfectly clear: Jacob, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55; cf., John 2:12; 7:3; Luke 8:19; Mark 3:31).
Let us conclude with the same action as the Psalmist: Hallelujah (Literally in Hebrew: Praise the LORD).
Thank you for reading.