Daily Dose of the Word of God - Psalm 47

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco  0:07  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God.  It’s Friday, May 15, but Sunday is coming! I’m Erin Pacheco.  Each Friday, we listen to the voice of the Psalms, which teach us to pray and point us to Jesus. Today’s passage is from Psalm 47. 

Erin Pacheco 0:25  

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.

Erin Pacheco  1:20  

This is a political psalm. A psalm of praise that calls us to remember that God – the LORD Most High — is the great king over all the earth. The nobles and kings of the nations, no matter how ungodly they may be, ultimately belong to God.   And the promise of scripture, the announcement of Jesus, is that the kingdom of God is coming and nothing can stand in its way. A day will surely come when every knee will bow, every tongue proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Psalm 47 is the classic psalm for Ascension Day. This week, many churches around the world are celebrating the Ascension of Jesus —  the fact that Jesus not only rose from the dead, but ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, where he reigns with power and authority and where he intercedes on our behalf. The fact that there is a glorified human body that has passed through death and entered eternal life in the heavenly places, paving the way for all who die in Christ to do the same. The fact that no matter what life throws our way – the hardships, the heartaches, the wars and rumors of wars all around us — we have a king on the throne now, far above every other power in heaven and earth and under the earth, and we have the promise of a kingdom coming where there is no more sorrow and sighing and sickness and tears and under whose victory death itself will finally flee away. With the church of the ages, in the face of every adversity, we boldly proclaim: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Erin Pacheco 3:26  

God in Jesus has indeed, as Psalm 47 says, ascended amid shouts of joy.   Nobody is pretending that all is joyful now. Do we feel the world is broken? Yes. Yes, we do. But all are invited, even through teary eyes or gritted teeth, to sing praises to our King. And to pray, with all our hearts: “Father, let your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.” And start with me, today, Jesus, as I kneel my broken self before you as my Lord and my King. Amen.