May 25, 2026 - Numbers 7 & Psalm 113

We trace how Numbers 7 details Israel’s worship through tabernacle dedication offerings, then let Psalm 113 reshape our praise around the name and character of the Lord. We also clear up the timeline by showing Numbers 7 as a purposeful flashback that highlights God’s holiness, sovereignty, and care for the lowly.

For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compassbiblesv.org. Keep reading. Keep growing. God’s Word is a lamp to your feet, and a light to your path. 

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Reading

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Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word letting the way. I'm Josiah Smith, the pastor of Compass South Valley. Today is Monday, May 25th, 2026.

Numbers 7 Offerings Overview

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Here's a quick summary of Numbers 7. Number seven, verses 1 through 9, is the preparation and distribution by the tribal leaders of all of the specific allocations with the wagons and the oxen and all of the different things that we see outlined here in numbers 7. So the chapter begins when Moses finishes setting up the tabernacle and consecrates it along with its furnishings and altar. And then the tribal leaders then approach with offerings, six wagons, and 12 oxen, which they present before the tabernacle. So God instructs Moses to accept these gifts for use in the tent of meetings and to distribute them to the Levites according to their service needs. Now the next section, the main section, is verse 10 through verse 88. This is the 12 days of dedication offering. So the tribal leaders present offerings for the altar's dedication, with each chief bringing gifts on successive days. This 12-day ceremony really supplies the sanctuary's needs, with each tribe presenting its offering in turn. And then we have the closing section, verse 89, divine communication. The chapter concludes with a statement about God and Moses communicating within the Holy of Holies in the tent of meeting.

Psalm 113 Read Aloud

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Listen intently to God's written word, Psalm 113. Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash sheep, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord.

Numbers 7 Timeline Flashback

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Now, what's interesting about number seven, we need to kind of get our timelines in order here, because the the Old Testament is not necessarily written in chronological order. So there have been a lot of things that have happened in chronological order. Of course, in Genesis, the story ends, the book of Genesis ends with the story of Joseph and Jacob making his way to Egypt and them dwelling there. The book of Exodus opens with Israel in Egypt, and of course the story unfolds from there. The book of Leviticus kind of connects to the ending of Exodus in some ways. But numbers seven, we need to make sure that we know what's happening here. So chronologically, numbers seven is a flashback to the previous month when the tabernacle had been raised up and consecrated. So you might be confused because there's these offerings being made by the tribal leaders that is connected to the consecration of the tabernacle. So in numbers one, there's a recording of a census on the first day of the second month. Now, number seven, in uh contrast to that, moves backwards in time. So numbers one opens again on the first day of the second month month, but number seven moves backwards in time to describe altar dedication offerings that occurred a month earlier at the beginning of the first month. That's the same timing recorded in Exodus 40, verse 17. So in Exodus 40, verse 17, it says, in the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. So kind of to situate this within the broader narrative of scripture. The events occurred in the second year after the Exodus. So two years have passed in their travels that have occurred after God's divine deliverance of the nation of Israel from the Egyptians. And during the first month of the second year, the tabernacle was erected on day one. So the sacrificial legislation began, all of those things that we read about in Leviticus, and if we even read about in Numbers, the priesthood's ordination commenced on day eight. We've already read about that in uh Leviticus and concluded by day eight. And the Passover was celebrated on day fourteen. So we see that the census and camp arrangement, that's numbers one, that commenced on the first day of the second month with a delayed Passover on the 14th. So this means that the tribal leaders' dedication offerings occurred during the interval between the tabernacle's completion and its erection, that's talked about in Exodus 14, and the formal census. That's a period when the sanctuary's basic operations and priestly functions were being established. So that was a lot, but I just didn't want you to be confused if you're reading these offerings at the tabernacle's consecration and thinking that this is somehow disconnected from the original consecration and the original ordination ceremony of the priest and the original sort of erecting of the tabernacle that's talked about in the book of Exodus. So this is not chronological, this is a flashback. So Numbers opens in the first day of the second month, in here, number seven. This is the first, really, this is kind of the first month where again the the tabernacle is being consecrated. And so all of this is happening, and it's uh devotion to the Lord, all of the different uh altar items. It says in verse 10 the chiefs offered offerings for the dedication of the altar. Remember, the altar uh is in the holy place on the day it was anointed, and the chiefs offered their offering before the altar, and the Lord said to Moses, they shall offer their offerings, one chief each day for the dedication of the altar. So that was a lot, but just keep this in mind. Number seven is a flashback. It is not necessarily uh, it's not chronological in the way that you read it in order of chapter, right? So numbers one uh happens after technically numbers seven. So we need to keep that in mind. And hopefully that makes sense. That was uh that maybe clears mud, uh, but just keep that in mind again. Number seven is a flashback. Uh, it's with the the consecration of the tabernacle, which happens again at the end of Exodus, and um just making sure that that is all clear. Now, as

Why God’s Name Deserves Praise

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we transition to to Psalm 113, I want you to notice the repeated refrain of the name of the Lord. So, verse one, praise the Lord, praise O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Verse 2, blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Verse 3, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. Now, why are we talking about the name of the Lord? Why is the name of the Lord something that is to be praised? Well, the name of God, really names in the Bible specifically, uh, are more than what we would typically assign to a name. So, naming today, we name our children. Naming today, oftentimes there is some level of significance. Sometimes it's not always connected to something uh of great value. Maybe we just like the name and maybe we think it's a pretty name. I've heard that before. And there's nothing wrong with that, but names in the Bible carried much more weight and significance. Think of the name Abram or Abraham, for example. The the name Abraham means father of many nations, and that's of course connected to the Abrahamic covenant. And so there is names in the Bible, many names in the Bible that represent something significant. And of course, the name of the Lord, what is his name? Well, his name is Yahweh. He he tells us his name, he tells Moses his name specifically in Exodus chapter three, and he says that his name is I am. God's name is I am. He says, I am who I am. And that became the word Yahweh, the name Yahweh, that was representative of God's covenant relationship with Israel. So the name of the Lord, if you think of other uh instances in scripture where the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and they are saved. So we have this name of the Lord that represents his character. This is who he is, that represents his character, his power, and even the name that he displays and gives to Moses, he says, I am who I am. This is a God, he is self-existent, he is dependent on no one and nothing. He is uncreated, he is unoriginate in that sense. He is from nothing, he's from no one, he relies on nothing, he relies on no one. This is what the book of Acts talks about. God is not a man, he does not dwell in temples made by man, he is uh self-existent, he is the one who is again from no one. So the name of the Lord is worthy to be praised. It says, Praise the Lord, praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Now I love the the question. If if you look in at least your ESV Bible, if you're reading that version, it says, Who is like the Lord our God? Again, all this is bound up in his name. That's the repeated refrain in verses one through three. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. And so the question that's being asked in this psalm is, Who is like the Lord? Who is like this covenant-keeping, self-existent God that is good and faithful? Verse five, who is like the Lord our God? Who is seated on high? Of course, that's a rhetorical question, with the answer being, well, no one. No one is like the Lord, no one shares any quality, the name of the Lord. There is no other name that is greater than the Lord's. So it goes on, who is seated on high? Who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? Now, we connected this passage in our men's event when we were looking at Isaiah 6 to the holiness of God, specifically the holiness of God as he's uh displayed in his throne room, this vision that Isaiah has of God sitting on a throne high and lifted up. And so this is a a sort of display, it's a demonstration of the glory of God, the authority of God, uh, that he is enthroned, that he sits, he's not anxious, he's not bustling to and fro, he sits, he rules, he has all authority, he is completely sovereign. And so the question here is well, who is like our God? Of course, no one. Who is seated on high? No one other than God. Uh, even the way that Isaiah 6 starts, it says, King uh in the year that King Uzziah died. So Uzziah was a king, he was a king over Israel, but even in that text, Uzziah is dead, and yet the king sits and he reigns and he rules. And so we said at the men's event that God is where he has always been, he sits and rules from his throne. And that's what the psalmist here is reflecting on. Who is like this God? Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? I love that language. That God is so high, he is so lifted up that he has to look far down on the heavens and the earth. He's the one that raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash sheep to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children, praise the Lord. What a beautiful psalm. And it all starts again with the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe. And so the name of the Lord is worthy to be praised. And the question that is at the heart of this psalm is who is like the Lord? And of course, no one is like the Lord. So in

God’s Holiness And Our Worship

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our study of Leviticus, we saw with that one word summary of Leviticus that God is holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The word holy again mean be uh being set apart. And there's different words that kind of talk about the same thing. Consecrated is another way to talk about set apart. Now you consecrate something, not just to set it apart, but to really dedicate it to. So we have consecrated items that are in the tabernacle, that's the dwelling place of the Lord. We have consecrated people, the tribe of Levi, and specifically the line of Aaron, and that are priests that are consecrated in their work and devoted to the Lord. And God is holy, holy, holy. We have holy people, we have holy places, we have holy things. God's word is said to be holy. God is holy and he makes things holy. And because he is holy, uh, he is high and lifted up, or he's high and lifted up because he is holy, holy, holy, holy. And even we talked about at the men's event that's to say that God is holy really is to just say that God is God. So what a great question here. Who is like our God? Who is holy, holy, holy? Who is high and lifted up? Whose train of the robe of God's robe uh fills the temple like God's uh train does? Well, no one, of course. That's the rhetorical question and answer. It's God and God alone. It's Yahweh, it's the great I am, it's the one who needs no one, who's from no one. God is self-existent, he's unoriginate, and we are to praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. That's what I want for our church. I want our church uh to be a church that praises the name of the Lord uh from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its setting. We want to praise the name of the Lord. We recognize who God is. We are in awe that he is holy, holy, holy, that he is high and lifted up, that he looks far down on the heavens and the earth, and we recognize that this is a God. This is a God that is so worthy of our worship, worthy of our praise and his name that represents his character, that represents really who he is, that is worthy to be praised.

Closing And Next Steps

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Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast. For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible SV.org. Keep reading, keep growing. God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.