From the Rising of the Sun to Its Setting: The Name of the Lord Is to Be Praised

A Devotional Bible Study Reflecting on Psalm 113:3

“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.” — Psalm 113:3

Psalm 113:3 is a small verse with an enormous horizon. In a single sentence, the psalmist stretches worship across the whole visible world. He looks toward the place where the sun rises, follows its path across the heavens, and continues until it disappears beyond the western horizon. Everything between those two points becomes a sanctuary. Every hour becomes an opportunity for praise. Every land becomes a possible place of worship. The verse announces that the glory of God cannot be confined to a building, a nation, a culture, a particular hour, or a religious ceremony. The name of the Lord is worthy of praise everywhere and always.

Psalm 113 belongs to a collection of psalms traditionally associated with Israel’s great festivals. It begins and ends with the call, “Hallelujah,” meaning “Praise the LORD.” The psalm summons the servants of God to praise His name and then expands the scope of that praise. “Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forevermore.” Then comes verse 3: “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.” The movement is striking. Praise extends through time—“now and forevermore”—and then through space—“from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.” There is no moment beyond God’s worthiness and no location beyond His rightful praise.

The verse is not merely describing the regularity of morning and evening worship. It is proclaiming something about God Himself. God is worthy of universal praise because God possesses universal glory. Worship does not make God glorious. Worship recognizes the glory that already belongs to Him. Creation does not vote God into sovereignty. Humanity does not confer greatness upon Him through religious devotion. God is glorious whether His creatures acknowledge Him or not. Praise is the appropriate response when creatures begin to see reality truthfully.

This is why Scripture repeatedly connects worship with revelation. When people see something of who God truly is, praise naturally follows. When Isaiah sees the Lord high and exalted, he hears the seraphim declaring, “Holy, holy, holy.” When the psalmists contemplate creation, covenant faithfulness, mercy, justice, deliverance, and steadfast love, they repeatedly call the world to worship. In Revelation, heavenly worship erupts around the throne because the worthiness of God and of the Lamb has become unmistakably visible. Praise is truth spoken in the presence of glory.

Psalm 113:3 therefore challenges one of the most persistent distortions of spiritual life: the tendency to make worship primarily about human circumstances. Praise can easily become dependent upon whether life appears favorable. God is praised when prayers are answered as expected, when circumstances improve, when blessings are obvious, or when emotions are strong. Yet the psalmist gives a different foundation. The Lord is to be praised because He is the Lord.

The sun rises on joyful mornings and sorrowful mornings. It rises over celebrations and funerals, abundance and scarcity, peace and conflict. It sets after days of remarkable blessing and after days filled with disappointment. Yet from sunrise to sunset, the name of the Lord remains worthy of praise.

This does not mean Scripture asks believers to pretend suffering is pleasant. Biblical praise is never dependent upon denial. The Psalms themselves contain grief, confusion, protest, lament, and tears. The same Scriptures that command praise also teach people to cry, “How long, O LORD?” Biblical faith can lament honestly because biblical worship rests upon something deeper than circumstances. The believer does not praise God because everything that happens is good. The believer praises God because God remains good even when much that happens is painful.

There is profound spiritual stability in this distinction.

If worship depends upon circumstances, worship will rise and fall with circumstances. If worship depends upon emotion, worship will fluctuate with emotion. If worship depends upon understanding, worship will disappear whenever life becomes mysterious. But if worship rests upon the character of God, praise can remain even when understanding fails. The heart may tremble while still confessing that God is faithful. Tears may fall while the mouth still declares that God is good. Questions may remain unanswered while faith continues to bow before the One whose wisdom is greater than human sight.

The phrase “the name of the LORD” carries enormous theological significance throughout Scripture. God’s name represents His revealed identity, character, authority, and presence. To praise His name is to praise the God who has made Himself known. Israel was not called to worship an undefined spiritual force. The Lord revealed Himself as the Creator, the covenant-making God, the Deliverer, the Holy One, the righteous Judge, the compassionate Father, the defender of the weak, and the God whose steadfast love endures forever.

The surrounding verses of Psalm 113 deepen this picture. The Lord is exalted above the nations and His glory above the heavens. No one is like Him. Yet this incomparably exalted God “stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth.” He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. The God whose throne transcends creation bends toward those whom the world overlooks.

Here the psalm reveals one of Scripture’s great theological wonders: God’s transcendence does not produce distance or indifference. His greatness does not prevent His compassion. The One who is infinitely above creation willingly stoops toward it. His majesty and mercy are not competing qualities. His glory is revealed precisely in the astonishing fact that the exalted God cares for the lowly.

This truth reaches its fullest revelation in Jesus Christ.

The God who stoops down is revealed supremely in the Son who humbled Himself. The eternal Word became flesh. The One through whom all things were made entered the world He created. Christ did not cling to the privileges of divine glory but took the form of a servant. He entered human weakness, touched lepers, welcomed children, ate with sinners, washed His disciples’ feet, bore rejection, carried the cross, and entered death itself.

Psalm 113 celebrates the God who raises the poor from the dust. The gospel reveals the Son who descended into the dust of human mortality and rose victorious over death. Through Christ, those spiritually impoverished by sin are lifted into the riches of grace. Those alienated from God are brought near. Those enslaved are set free. Those condemned find justification. Those dead in sin receive life.

Therefore Christian praise is profoundly Christ-centered. The name of the Lord is praised because the character of God has been revealed with extraordinary clarity in Jesus. At the cross, holiness and mercy meet. Justice is not ignored, and grace is not withheld. Sin is exposed in its seriousness, yet sinners are offered reconciliation. At the resurrection, death itself is shown to be unable to defeat the life of God.

This gives Psalm 113:3 an even wider horizon. The verse anticipates a world filled with the praise of God. Israel’s worship was never intended to terminate upon Israel. God’s covenant with Abraham contained a promise concerning all nations. Israel was chosen so that through Israel blessing would reach the world. The prophets repeatedly envisioned nations coming to know and worship the Lord.

Malachi later echoes the language of Psalm 113 when God declares that from the rising to the setting of the sun His name will be great among the nations. The biblical story continually moves outward. God’s purpose is not merely to create isolated pockets of worship but to gather a people from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

The gospel fulfills this missionary trajectory. Jesus sends His disciples to make disciples of all nations. The Holy Spirit empowers the church to bear witness from Jerusalem outward to the ends of the earth. Revelation gives the final picture: an innumerable multitude from every people and language standing before God and the Lamb in worship.

Psalm 113:3 therefore contains a missionary heartbeat. If the name of the Lord is worthy to be praised from sunrise to sunset, then the knowledge of that name is meant to travel from sunrise to sunset. Worship and mission belong together. The church announces Christ because Christ is worthy of worship. Evangelism is not fundamentally the expansion of a religious institution. It is participation in God’s purpose to make His goodness known throughout His creation.

There is also something beautifully communal about the imagery. At any given moment, somewhere on earth the sun is rising, somewhere it stands overhead, and somewhere it is setting. Viewed globally, praise never needs to cease. When one community of believers finishes its evening worship, another part of the body of Christ is waking to a new morning. Languages change. Cultures change. Musical forms change. Buildings change. Yet the name being praised remains the same.

The global church therefore becomes a living expression of Psalm 113:3. Christ is worshiped in cathedrals and homes, villages and cities, prisons and hospitals, sanctuaries and secret gatherings. He is praised through ancient hymns and newly written songs, through spoken prayer and silent adoration, through Scripture read aloud in thousands of languages. No single culture owns Christian worship because no single culture owns Christ.

This should cultivate humility. Christians can easily confuse familiar expressions of worship with worship itself. Yet Psalm 113:3 stretches the imagination beyond local habits. The God whose glory fills heaven and earth is being worshiped by people whose customs may look very different from one another. What unites the church is not cultural uniformity but allegiance to Jesus Christ.

The verse also transforms ordinary daily life. “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets” can be understood geographically, but its imagery naturally carries a daily rhythm. Morning and evening become boundaries surrounding an entire life of worship.

Praise therefore cannot be restricted to designated religious moments. Worship is larger than singing. Singing is a precious expression of worship, but biblical worship encompasses the offering of the whole person to God. Work can become worship when performed faithfully before God. Generosity can become praise when it reflects His generosity. Forgiveness can praise the God who forgives. Truthfulness can praise the God of truth. Compassion can praise the Father of mercies. Patience can praise the God who is patient. Hospitality can praise the God who welcomes strangers.

A life shaped by God’s character becomes praise made visible.

This has practical consequences for the beginning of each day. The rising sun can become a reminder that life itself is received rather than possessed. No one commands the morning into existence. No one guarantees another day. Each sunrise quietly announces creaturely dependence. The appropriate response is gratitude.

Beginning the day with praise reorients the heart before competing voices begin demanding attention. Before news, responsibilities, anxieties, ambitions, disappointments, and digital noise define reality, worship declares something more fundamental: God is God. His mercy is real. His kingdom stands. Christ is risen. Grace is sufficient. The Spirit is present. The promises of God remain trustworthy.

Praise does not remove responsibilities. It puts them in their proper place.

The same principle applies to sunset. Evening invites examination, gratitude, confession, and surrender. Some tasks remain unfinished. Some problems remain unresolved. Some prayers appear unanswered. Yet the setting sun reminds humanity of its limits. The world continues without human control. Sleep itself requires surrender. Night becomes a daily confession that God sustains creation while human beings rest.

To praise God at the end of the day is to return unfinished life to His hands.

There is liberation in this practice. Much anxiety grows from the illusion that everything depends upon human control. Praise dismantles that illusion. Worship does not produce passivity; rather, it establishes proper responsibility. Human beings are called to faithfulness, but they are not called to sovereignty. God alone carries the weight of being God.

Psalm 113:3 also confronts compartmentalized faith. It is possible to praise God verbally while living as though He were irrelevant to ordinary decisions. Sunday worship can coexist with weekday self-rule. Religious language can remain disconnected from finances, relationships, ambitions, speech, entertainment, sexuality, work, and treatment of others.

But if the Lord is to be praised from sunrise to sunset, no portion of life lies outside His rightful claim.

The question becomes not simply, “Was God praised today?” but, “Did this life become praise?”

Did speech reflect His truth?

Did relationships reflect His grace?

Did decisions reflect trust in His wisdom?

Did treatment of vulnerable people reflect His compassion?

Did work reflect integrity?

Did possessions become instruments of generosity rather than masters of the heart?

Did suffering become an occasion for faithful endurance rather than abandonment of God?

This is where worship becomes discipleship. Praise moves from the lips into the shape of life.

There will certainly be moments when praise feels difficult. Spiritual dryness is real. Weariness can dull the emotions. Grief can make words difficult. Disappointment can produce silence. Psalm 113:3 does not demand emotional performance. It invites faithful orientation.

Sometimes praise is exuberant.

Sometimes praise is quiet.

Sometimes praise sings.

Sometimes praise whispers.

Sometimes praise can only say, “Lord, You are still God.”

Such praise may be among the deepest forms of worship because it refuses to make circumstances the measure of God’s worthiness.

The cross stands forever as proof that darkness does not mean God has lost control. On the day Jesus was crucified, appearances suggested defeat. The Messiah was rejected, His disciples scattered, His body was placed in a tomb, and hope seemed extinguished. Yet God was accomplishing redemption precisely where human eyes saw catastrophe.

The resurrection teaches believers never to judge the faithfulness of God merely by the appearance of Friday.

Sunday belongs to the gospel.

Therefore praise carries an eschatological dimension. Every act of worship looks toward the day when what is now confessed by faith will be universally revealed. Scripture promises a future in which every knee will bow and every tongue acknowledge the lordship of Christ. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Psalm 113:3 points toward that horizon.

From the rising of the sun to its setting.

East and west.

Morning and evening.

Beginning and ending.

Every nation.

Every generation.

Every ordinary day.

Every season of life.

The name of the Lord is to be praised.

The invitation of this verse is therefore much greater than a command to say more words of praise. It is an invitation to inhabit reality correctly. God is worthy. Creation belongs to Him. History moves beneath His sovereign hand. Christ reigns. Grace is active. The Spirit is at work. The kingdom is advancing toward its promised fulfillment.

A life formed by this truth begins to see reminders of worship everywhere. Sunrise becomes a call to gratitude. Work becomes an opportunity for faithfulness. Encounters with others become opportunities for love. Difficulty becomes an arena for trust. Blessing becomes an occasion for thanksgiving. Sunset becomes an invitation to surrender.

The whole day becomes sacred ground.

And beyond the individual day stands the whole world. Beyond one congregation stands the global church. Beyond the present generation stand generations yet unborn. Beyond the struggles of the present age stands the promised kingdom in which the glory of God will be openly known.

Psalm 113:3 teaches the heart to live within that vast horizon. Human lives are brief, but God’s praise is endless. Kingdoms rise and disappear, but His name remains. Cultures change, generations pass, and civilizations become history, but the Lord does not change. The sun that rose over ancient Israel rises over the world today, and if history continues, it will rise over generations not yet born.

Each generation receives the same sacred calling: praise the Lord.

The deepest practical response to Psalm 113:3 is therefore a life of continual reorientation toward God. Begin with Him. Walk with Him. Work before Him. Trust Him in uncertainty. Honor Him in relationships. Receive His gifts gratefully. Obey Him when obedience is costly. Return to Him when sin disrupts fellowship. Speak of His goodness. Serve those He loves. End the day by placing everything back into His hands.

Then begin again when the sun rises.

This rhythm is not monotonous because the glory of God is inexhaustible. There is always more of His goodness to discover, more of His grace to receive, more of His wisdom to trust, more of His love to reflect, and more of His kingdom to seek.

The sun rises.

God is worthy.

The sun crosses the heavens.

God is worthy.

The sun sets.

God is worthy.

Night falls.

God remains worthy.

And when another morning comes, the ancient summons sounds again across creation: “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.”

The faithful response is not merely a song but an entire life offered back to the One from whom life came. Every morning can begin beneath His mercy. Every ordinary hour can be lived beneath His lordship. Every evening can end in His keeping. And across every nation, every generation, and ultimately all creation, the praise belongs to Him.

Praise the Lord.