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Psalm 113:7

He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the needy from the ash heap,

5Who is like the LORD, our God, who has his seat on high,
6who stoops down to see in heaven and on the earth?
7He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the needy from the ash heap,
8that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.
9He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!
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Notice

Dust and an ash heap make poverty concrete, while the verbs describe God reaching down to raise people whose need has brought them low.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do the dust and ash heap bring to mind about poverty that you might otherwise overlook?

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What hopes or questions arise when you read that God lifts the needy?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
James 4:10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.Both speak of the Lord raising people up, though James addresses humility and the psalm names poverty and need.
1 Samuel 2:7–8The LORD makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.Both name poverty and describe the LORD as the one who lifts people up.
Luke 1:52–53He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly.Both describe God raising those who are low; Luke also names his removal of princes from their thrones.
Psalm 107:41Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.Both describe God lifting the needy out of distress, pictured here as dust and an ash heap.
Job 5:11so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.Both describe God raising those who are low, with Job naming safety for those who mourn.
2 Samuel 7:8–9Now therefore tell my servant David this: ‘The LORD of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over …God’s lifting of the poor shares a change in standing with David’s move from tending sheep to being prince over Israel.
Ezekiel 17:24All the trees of the field will know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made …Both portray the LORD raising what is low, using people in the psalm and trees in Ezekiel.
Daniel 12:2–3Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.Both mention dust, though the psalm describes poverty and Daniel describes the dead awakening to differing destinies.
Psalm 75:6–7For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.Both concern being raised up; Psalm 75 rules out east, west, and south as the source of exaltation.
Psalm 22:29All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.Both use dust to describe a low human condition, though Psalm 22 connects it with mortality and worship.
Job 5:15–16But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.Both describe God helping the needy, with Job naming rescue from the hand of the mighty.
Psalm 136:23who remembered us in our low estate, for his loving kindness endures forever;Both praise God for attending to people brought low, through lifting the needy or remembering those in a low estate.
Where this verse fits

Job loss or money fear. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about money →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Ask someone facing money trouble what help would serve

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Encouragement

The ash heap is a place of need, and the verse gives no timetable for leaving it. Its praise rests on God’s power to lift the poor.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 113:7. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 113 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).