Week of March 30

“I sing praises to your name, O Lord, praises to Your name, O Lord; for Your name is great and greatly to be praised.” Most of us will be able to recall this familiar worship song simply by reading the words. If you are like me, you began to sing the chorus as soon as you recognized the words! Here is the link to sing it right now: I Sing Praises to Your Name. The tune gives us comfort and strength.

Psalm 47, in similar fashion, provides us with an excellent reminder, in every turbulent time in our lives, that God remains sovereign over all His creation. Notwithstanding the contemporary cultural rejection of such a unified and unifying worldview, the Scriptures undoubtedly teach this truth. We may find extraordinary peace in turbulent times, based upon the fact that God is omnipotent! Let’s invite the Lord to enhance our worship by what we learn about Him in this psalm.

How I wish I were a poet! This beautiful song has a wonderful internal structure that enabled those first worshipers to express their praise to God with great precision. The hymn has five stanzas: verses 1-2, 3-4, verse 5 alone, verses 6-7, and concludes with verses 8-9. It is arranged symmetrically, with the fifth verse forming a central two-line stanza.

Outwardly express your joy. The song writer begins by calling for all humanity to clap their hands in worship to God, the king of the universe (47:1-4). This picturesque expression literally indicated that they were filled with joy. Elsewhere it means to clap one’s hands as a sign of triumph (Nahum 3:19). The clapping of hands has become commonplace in many of our evangelical worship services, but I am not always certain for whom the applause is offered. The psalmist helps me to picture the root of joy in the Lord that leads to the outward fruit of a praise-ful ovation.

Sincerely seek to honor the Lord. This call to praise is followed by a description of God taking His place on the throne and ruling over the nations (verses 5-9). All of this praise began then, and continues now, by seeking to honor the Lord, who is “the Most High” (47:2). We all know how an assault on the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, literally takes the breath out of a person’s lungs. The air up there is rare, so to speak. Imagine our ascending into the presence of the “Most High” God. His lofty otherness should take away our frail breath, inviting us to seek the breath of the Spirit in order to praise Him!
 
Fully submit to His Lordship. The psalmist refers to the various gentile peoples who dwelt in Canaan (47:3). God had chosen that land for Israel and when he writes of subduing peoples under us, he literally means “under our feet.” By this, he means that God is the one who subdued Canaan for Israel. We need to see something of the psalmist’s prophetic and eschatological perspective here as he longs for the “full establishment of God’s rule on the earth” (Kidner, 177, as quoted in EBC). I tell you, this helps me in our contemporary chaotic world, where rogue nations and chest-pounding superpowers boast of their destructive potential. It certainly calls for me not to whisper a thin word of praise when I worship, but to belt out my heart cry that God does and will ultimately reign (Philippians 2:9-11)! God subdues our enemies, chooses us as His people, and sustains us with His love. 
 
Continually voice your praise. Our witness is “Yahweh wins!” He has ascended (47:5) and His ascension is to be accompanied with shouts of joy and the sounding of trumpets. Can you guess who has joined the victory parade? His loyal subjects. The psalmist reminds us that God’s subjects continue singing their praises (47:5-6). I am also reminded that the archangel will announce the return of the Lord Jesus with a shout and the sound of the trumpet of God. We need to get our “praise on” in worship until that day comes. The world must see and hear that God’s people know He is Lord (47:7) by their praise and devotion, despite their travails (47:8). We long, until the Lord returns, for the world to submit to the Lord as we have (47:9).

A former student recently completed his doctoral degree work, and his picture was posted on social media. Full-bodied joy was evident in that photograph! There was no holding back the emotions he felt. It gets even better than this man’s expression of joy. What blessed me the most was the claps of praise that soon followed from family and friends. Snippets of history were shared, and it became obvious that God had carried him along through it all. I was certainly delighted in the man’s achievement, but my greatest joy was reserved for our God who made it possible to reach that point.

What is God doing that brings you joy today? Well, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with songs of joy! Your sovereign Lord reigns over His creation, and He shows His care for you and me each day. Praise Him.

1. Even as the psalm itself has a poetic structure, create a framework for your praise. Clap your hands and praise God that He is Lord over all at specific times during the day. When you hear of some global upset on the news, or when you read it in your news-feed, pause to praise God for subduing the nations. As you drive to work, or as you walk through a mall, and see people from around the world, pray that the nations will recognize His greatness, bow down, and submit to His Son.
 
2. The great temptation in contemporary worship is that it too often focuses on “me.” At each point in the service of worship, when you hear a reference to “me,” whisper a word of praise to the Sovereign Lord instead.

3. For Families: Here is another song, just for kids, about joyfully clapping our hands unto the Lord! It is taken from our focal passage above and kids love to sing it as they go out the door to school. Use both of these songs as background for breakfast this week to start your family's days with praise.

May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock