Psalm 47
The most noise that I ever
remember experiencing came at a concert years ago in San Antonio. One of my
favorite bands played in a small theater there, and as I recall my ears were
still ringing well into the next afternoon. It occurs to me that though it was written
long before sophisticated sound equipment was invented, Psalm 47, one of our
evening psalms for today, might also have been intended to make our ears ring
well into the next day. It is certainly a noisy psalm.
“Clap your hands, all you people; shout to God with loud songs of joy… God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises… (S)ing praises with a psalm” (Psalm 47:1, 5-6). Clapping, shouting, trumpets blowing, and above all, songs of praise: these are the actions with which this psalm reverberates because these are the sorts of thngs that people do when, with joy, they recognize the glorious presence of God in their lives.
When God shows up we become changed people, and when we have known God to be at work in our lives we are never the same again; truth and justice and righteousness spring forth, and the hungry are fed, and the sick are healed, and the lonely are visited, and the hopeless are given hope, and those who dwell in deep darkness have a great light break across their horizons. Maybe this is why the psalmist is so loud in Psalm 47, because great things are going on, and because the people of God need to get up and experience the animating effect of the Holy Spirit. Then we too may experience the joy that comes from knowing God is with us.
Prayer: Almighty God, fill our hearts with the joy of knowing you, and our lives with shouts of praise to your glorious name. Amen.
“Clap your hands, all you people; shout to God with loud songs of joy… God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises… (S)ing praises with a psalm” (Psalm 47:1, 5-6). Clapping, shouting, trumpets blowing, and above all, songs of praise: these are the actions with which this psalm reverberates because these are the sorts of thngs that people do when, with joy, they recognize the glorious presence of God in their lives.
When God shows up we become changed people, and when we have known God to be at work in our lives we are never the same again; truth and justice and righteousness spring forth, and the hungry are fed, and the sick are healed, and the lonely are visited, and the hopeless are given hope, and those who dwell in deep darkness have a great light break across their horizons. Maybe this is why the psalmist is so loud in Psalm 47, because great things are going on, and because the people of God need to get up and experience the animating effect of the Holy Spirit. Then we too may experience the joy that comes from knowing God is with us.
Prayer: Almighty God, fill our hearts with the joy of knowing you, and our lives with shouts of praise to your glorious name. Amen.
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