SURPRISING KINGSHIP
Opening Prayer
Lord, your people delight in singing your praises.
Read PSALM 47
Psalm 47[a]
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued nations under us,
peoples under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.[b]
5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings[c] of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
Footnotes:
a Psalm 47:1 In Hebrew texts 47:1-9 is numbered 47:2-10.
b Psalm 47:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
c Psalm 47:9 Or shields
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Ride on, ride on in majesty! / In lowly pomp, ride on to die; / bow your meek head to mortal pain, / then take, O God, your power and reign.’
Think Further
Prominent in this psalm is the theme that ‘all nations’ and ‘all the earth’ will be subject to God’s reign (vs 1,2,3,7,8,9). This will not surprise the readers of Daniel. The Israelites’ confidence that God is ‘the great King over all the earth’ (v 2) expands when they recall his gift to them of the promised land (vs 3,4). The wording of verse 5 reflects that of 2 Samuel 6:15, where the Ark of the Covenant is carried into the City of David after the Philistines are defeated; thus another encouraging victory is brought to mind. (Some scholars see verse 5 as evidence for an annual ceremony in which the Ark is brought into the temple to signify God’s enthronement in Israel.) Which of God’s acts in history are foundational to our faith? How can we recall them in ways that encourage us? Can you look back on salient experiences which strengthen your faith that God reigns?
Jesus fulfils this picture of God ascending to a throne, but in surprising ways: his Palm Sunday arrival in Jerusalem and its temple (‘a house of prayer for all nations’), his being ‘lifted up’ on the cross, his being raised from the dead, his ascension to the Father and his reign in heaven. All that remains to complete the psalm’s fulfillment is for the Lordship of Jesus to be universally acknowledged.
Note the fourfold encouragement in verse 6 to ‘sing praises’ and the instruction in verse 7 to ‘sing to him a psalm of praise’. The root of the Hebrew word ‘sing praises’ is the same as that of ‘psalm’, so that the purpose of the psalms is not to provide us with cool- headed theology but to stir us to a heartfelt praise and worship of the God who inspired them. Does your Bible study tend to result in praise? If not, why not?
Apply
Sing a worship song or hymn of praise to God, aloud (if you can) or silently.
Closing prayer
Lord, you truly are the king over all the earth. You reign over all nations as you sit on your throne. Your people recognize this and give you due recognition. You are our God.
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