Read Psalm 113 at Bible Gateway.
The LORD is high above all nations,
His glory above the heavens.
Who is like the LORD our God,
Who dwells on high,
Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in the heavens and in the earth? Psa 113:4-6
How great is our God! He is so great, that in order to look upon the heavens and the earth, He must humble Himself!
Though the LORD is high,
Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar. Psa 138:6
The implication is that the lowly, the same word in Hebrew translated “humbles Himself” in Psa 113, He knows intimately, not from afar. Even though the LORD is high, He is not proud, for the proud are not like Him!
For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him also who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa 57:15
The LORD is so high, that He must humble Himself to behold the heavens and the earth. And yet, though He dwells in a high and holy place – the highest and holiest place, I assume – He also dwells with him who has a humble spirit! He does not despise the lowly as man does, but He is at home among the lowly hearts!
The Hebrew word for humble, is Strong’s H8213, shaphel, shin + pey + lamed. The ancient pictographs tell the story of someone coming to someone else who is in authority (lamed, the shepherd’s staff) in order to speak to them (pey, the open mouth) to plead their case, to redress wrongs, or to simply ask them extend undeserved mercy, as Abraham went before the LORD to plead the case for the righteous of Sodom. When someone comes before authority to make such a request, they bow themselves down to acknowledge the greater in authority, power, and status. The shin, the two front teeth, meaning two or again, is acting as a multiplier, multiplying the lowliness of the one who is bowing himself down, thus shin + pey + lamed means the lowest of those who are bowed down: the humble.
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