On July 4, my family and I did something we
had never done before. We went to an orchestra
performance. It was outdoors and, being
Independence Day, was all patriotic music with the added benefit of
fireworks. Time after time as each song
ended the crowd showed their appreciation for the beauty of the music and
talent of the musicians with applause.
Psalm 47 begins with the words, “Clap your
hands, all peoples! Shout to God with
loud songs of joy!” It is a call to all
the people of the world to praise God and worship Him.
Notice that “all peoples” are called to worship
God. The appeal to acclaim God extends even
to the people He subdued, those who have been hostile to Him, and those who do
not even know Him.
This is no generic God that is to be praised,
though. It is the God of Israel, the God
of Abraham, and for us today, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is good news for those of us who are not
genetic descendants of Abraham, but are the ones St. Paul talks about in Romans
11:17ff – those wild olive branches grafted to the ancient olive tree – in other
word, the New Israel. God has made the
way for everyone to live with Him in eternal peace, and that is through faith
in His only-begotten Son, Jesus, the crucified and risen One.
Seeing how great a salvation we have received
moves us as a majestic melody to come to our feet and bring our hands together
in awed ovation.
We should not overlook, however, the many
other amazing ways God has shown His fatherly love and compassion to us. It is not as if He won forgiveness for us in
Christ and declared, “Now you are on your own to sort out the rest of your
life!” As Luther says in his explanation
to the Apostles’ Creed, “He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink,
house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that
I need to support this body and life.”
This psalm also speaks to the paternal
protection the LORD provides. Verse 5 says, “God goes
up in a war cry, the LORD in the sound of a shofar.” (My
translation) This is the language of a
hero, a warrior, going out to battle.
God fights on behalf of His people.
This is not only spiritual warfare, but physical protection that He
provides for us. We do right to praise
Him for this, too!
Part of how God provides that protection for
us is through government. God reigns
from His throne over all the world, yet the “princes of the peoples” belong to
God and serve as “shields of the earth.”
(The NIV translates this as “the kings of the earth” to explain the
figurative language of “shields,” which is more faithful to the Hebrew.) This too is cause for us to exalt in the LORD our God. What a blessing a just government is! What a gift it is when those who lead, rule,
or guide a nation do so competently and righteously!
God is good and is worthy of all praise,
honor and glory. This psalm reminds us
in the midst of all the things going on in our lives, in the world, and even in
the realm of politics, to give thanks and praise to God for all that He has
done and
continues to do for us.
Father in Heaven, thank You for blessing me in so many ways; chiefly for
making me one of Your people through faith in Jesus! I have not always appreciated how vast your
blessings are. Make me aware of all Your
good gifts that I might praise You and show others all You have done for me for
Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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