In this group of sanctuary hymns, Psalm 113 undoubtedly deserves a unique place. The call to praise is distinctive both for its sublimity of conception and the beauty of the language:
Praise ye Yahwe;
Praise, ye servants of Yahwe,
Praise the name of Yahwe.
Blessed be the name of Yahwe
Now and evermore;
From the rising of the sun to its going down
Yahwe’s name is to be praised.
—Verses 1-3.
However the rarest beauty and chiefest charm of this hymn is in the unexpected contrast between the Yahwe exalted high above all nations and Yahwe stooping from on high to the poorest and weakest of the earth. There is here a beautiful illustration of the characteristic Hebrew tendency to make truth concrete, in the case of the childless wife whom Yahwe remembers, and saves from being divorced, causing her to remain at home the joyful mother of children: