The Meaning of Psalms 113:5 Explained

Psalms 113:5

KJV: Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,

YLT: Who is as Jehovah our God, He is exalting Himself to sit?

Darby: Who is like unto Jehovah our God, who hath placed his dwelling on high;

ASV: Who is like unto Jehovah our God, That hath his seat on high,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who [is] like unto the LORD  our God,  who dwelleth  on high, 

What does Psalms 113:5 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 113:5 mean?

Who [is] like Yahweh our God on high who dwells
מִ֭י כַּיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ הַֽמַּגְבִּיהִ֥י לָשָֽׁבֶת

מִ֭י  Who  [is] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
כַּיהוָ֣ה  like  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-k, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ  our  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
הַֽמַּגְבִּיהִ֥י  on  high 
Parse: Article, Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular construct
Root: גָּבַהּ  
Sense: to be high, be exalted.
לָשָֽׁבֶת  who  dwells 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.