Psalm 47
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord Most High, 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. Selah 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.
Why is it that some things are perfectly acceptable for us to do as Christians, as long as we don’t do them in church? That could open up a pretty big can of worms, couldn’t it? We could talk about any number of things here, but let me narrow it down for you a bit. What I want you to think about today is something mentioned at the beginning of the Psalm: Clapping!
Like many of you, I was raised in a congregation that taught us it was not proper to clap in church. I remember being told that “applause” was not appropriate because it was praising people rather than God. I will admit I sometimes still feel a little twinge when there is applause in worship – and I know some of you feel more strongly than that.
But is clapping inappropriate for worship? Not according to Scripture. Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. It is altogether appropriate for us to clap for God. In retirement I have visited over 50 different congregations. In most of those, including those with traditional worship, applause is a regular occurrence. When someone sings an anthem praising God, why not show our approval and agreement with their message by applauding. We have so many reasons to cheer for our God. Let’s think about some of them in today’s Psalm.
He has conquered our enemies. He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. Originally, that meant victory over their national enemies. For us, those words from the psalmist mean victory over our enemies, the powers of darkness, death and hell, victory over every evil power that attacks us from birth to burial. We have this victory through Jesus Christ! When He breathed His last He declared “It is finished! I have won! I have defeated and overthrown Satan, sin, sorrow, death, hell and the grave. And to prove it, I will rise from my tomb on the third day.” And he did! So now the victory is ours. All appearances and evidence to the contrary, all sick, sad, suffering, lifeless, confined bodies to the contrary, the victory is ours. In Jesus Christ we have won! And that’s why God deserves a round of applause.
Second, we clap our hands because Christ has gone up with a shout. God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. He ascended from the grave, but He also went up on that Ascension Thursday to the right hand of the Father. From that position of power and authority the Ascended Lord is doing three things for you.
- He is preparing a place for you. From there he is also preparing you and your heart to enter the joy of your heavenly home. Everything that happens to you, the joys and the sorrows, the glad and the sad, is a part of the Christ-controlled, Christ-guided preparation for you to join Jesus in heaven.
- The ascended Christ prays for you. He does what some of us so seldom, so irregularly do for others and for ourselves–he prays for us and for them. He prays for your welfare and courage and commitment and blessing and faith and hope and love and faithfulness. How could the Father ever ignore or refuse such prayers, when he looks at the nail scars in the Savior’s praying hands?
- Jesus rules for you. That is the central thought and theme of the 47th Psalm. The One who has gone up is the king of the universe. What comfort and hope that gives, to know that things are not as they appear and seem with us and our world, to know and believe that cancer and war and violence and hate and sorrow and death are not in control. They do not rule. Jesus does. Our crucified, risen, ascended Lamb sits on the throne. He rules, bringing joy out of sorrow, good out of evil, victory out of defeat, life out of death. He rules, bringing us through the chaos and calamities of the present to an eternal future of peace, joy and love. And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
The Psalmist reminds us that He sits on His throne, in peace and calm and quiet and majesty. It’s all under control, folks, our world, our destinies, your life and mine. Christ rules. Christ guides. Christ governs. Christ bring us and our world at last to the divinely intended goal and fulfillment. Then the present nonsense will make sense, the mysteries will be solved, the plan will become clear, the joy will be made complete, perfect and eternal. Because of this, God deserves our applause.
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Cheryl and I will be co-hosting a trip to Greece next year with Donna Snow: “Walk in the Footsteps of Paul.”
Links to the registration and brochure can be found at the link below.
https://www.revmattil.org/footsteps-of-paul/
If you want more information, email mike@revmattil.org.
