The Meaning of Psalms 113:6 Explained

Psalms 113:6

KJV: Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

YLT: He is humbling Himself to look On the heavens and on the earth.

Darby: Who humbleth himself to look on the heavens and on the earth?

ASV: That humbleth himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who humbleth  [himself] to behold  [the things that are] in heaven,  and in the earth! 

What does Psalms 113:6 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 113:1-9 - The Mighty God Uplifteth The Lowly
We detect the song of Samuel's mother in the first of these psalms. She sang the Old Testament "Magnificat" and it was embalmed by the psalmist here. Thus it passed into the psalter of the Church. Note the universality of this ascription of praise. For all time, Psalms 113:2; through all the earth, Psalms 113:3; and above all heavens, Psalms 113:4. What a wonderful God is ours! Heaven cannot contain Him, but He lifts the poor and needy out of the dust. Largeness is not greatness, and the babe in the cot is more important than the palace.
In Psalms 114:1-8 Egypt represents the tyranny of sin; but we have been redeemed. Like Israel we have gone forth. We belong no more to the present world with its strange tongue. Ours is the language of Canaan, our home. This exodus of ours has made us the temple and sanctuary of God. If once the Church realized that she is God-possessed, she would become irresistible. Seas would divide, rivers would start back, mountains would cleave, and the hills would remove. "Impossible" would be blotted from our vocabulary. The power that made Sinai tremble gave earth water-springs. When the soul finds its all in God, the world ceases to affright or attract it, and the rocks yield refreshing streams. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 113

1  An exhortation to praise God for his excellence
6  For his mercy

What do the individual words in Psalms 113:6 mean?

Who humbles Himself to behold [The things that are] in the heavens and in the earth
הַֽמַּשְׁפִּילִ֥י לִרְא֑וֹת בַּשָּׁמַ֥יִם ! וּבָאָֽרֶץ

הַֽמַּשְׁפִּילִ֥י  Who  humbles  Himself 
Parse: Article, Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular construct
Root: שָׁפֵל  
Sense: to be or become low, sink, be humbled, be abased.
לִרְא֑וֹת  to  behold  [The  things  that  are] 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
בַּשָּׁמַ֥יִם  in  the  heavens 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
! וּבָאָֽרֶץ  and  in  the  earth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.