Psalm 47

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

¹ Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!
² For the Lord Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.
³ He subdues the nations before us, putting our enemies beneath our feet.
⁴ He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance, the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he loves. 

⁵ God has ascended with a mighty shout. The Lord has ascended with trumpets blaring.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!
⁷ For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm.
⁸ God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne.
⁹ The rulers of the world have gathered together with the people of the God of Abraham. For all the kings of the earth belong to God. He is highly honored everywhere.

Introduction

I don’t know that anyone is listening to me but I continually tell folks that there is great reward in reading the bible through: from Genesis to Revelation. I read in a book where W.A. Criswell preached through the bible, it took him 13 years. In my early 30’s, I decided to do the same. A lot of folks thought I was crazy and there were times when I thought they might be right. I regret that I did not keep notes and it took be 28 years to preach through the bible. I am telling you folks, nothing has helped my theology more than preaching through the bible and now I read through the bible every year and I read every English version I can get my hands on. I am reading the Revised English Bible at present and I love it. I am also reading the NT from the message and the Wisdom Literature from the TLB and I am loving that as well.

I can tell you after reading through the scripture multiple times that there are certain themes or threads that are woven throughout the bible. I find this amazing since God used over 35 different people over a span of 1,500 years and yet these THEMES run consistently through the scriptures. A couple of them jumped out at me when I read this Psalm.

Transition

Tonight I will, LORD willing, share three.

I. THE FIRST HAS REALLY BEEN ON MY MIND LATELY AND IT IS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

[1] Look at verse 2-3…He is the great King of all the earth. He subdues the nations before us, putting our enemies beneath our feet.

[2] Look also at verses 7-8…For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm. God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne.

[3] Psalm 115:3…Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

[4] Daniel 4:35…“All the people of the earth are nothing compared to Him. He has the power to do as He pleases among the angels of heaven and with those who live on earth. No one can stop Him or challenge Him, saying, ‘What do You mean by doing these things?”‘

You see this thread running throughout scripture: God is always in control from the Garden of Eden until the return of Jesus. NOW, it does not appear that God is in control. When you look at the world, you see chaos and confusion. You see a bunch of dumb sheep running helter-skelter with no sense of direction or purpose. If we look into scripture, it tells us over and over that God is in control, that He has it and that nothing can thwart His plan and purpose.

Dallas Willard wrote a classic called the DIVINE CONSPIRACY, I read it twice before I figured out what the conspiracy is…IT IS GOD’S ABILITY TO USE EVIL TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE.

The very best example of this truth is the CROSS, the crucifixion of Jesus. I blogged about his today. Pilate thought he had authority over Jesus. Annas and Caiaphas, two of the most evil men who have ever walked the planet, thought they were in control. The disciples were thrown into confusion and they thought Jesus had lost control and that they dream of the kingdom was dead. All were wrong: God was in absolute control.

Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. ²³ But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.

When you look at the world you see confusion: when you look to heaven, you see God on the throne. The question is: where are you getting your information? One of my blog readers sent me a text this morning: he said I have made a commitment to get off of FB and stop watching the news. I congratulated him. All the world will do is keep you confused, doubting, afraid, frustrated, angry if you are a true believer and if you not, the best the world can do for you is give you a false hope.

II. A SECOND THREAD THAT I SEE PRACTICALLY EVERYDAY IN MY READING IS UNIVERSAL WORSHIP OF GOD.

I am not talking about “Universalism,” which is the belief that everyone will go to heaven eventually. Some universalist believe in a type of hell or purgatory but it is only to cleanse the person of their sin and rebellion. The big problem is that it is not supported by scripture.

What is taught throughout the bible is that EVERY KNEE WILL BOW. There is coming a day, a time when all men will recognize God as God. They may not worship Him out of adoration but they will out of fear.

Habakkuk 2:14

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Not only will all mankind bow to His sovereignty, all of nature will comply.

Isaiah 55:12

You will live in joy and peace.
    The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!

Trust me, when the finite if confronted with the INFINITE. Men will bow. His presence may mute us but we will bow and we will recognize that He is God.

Revelation 5:14

Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”

Psalms 72:11

All kings will bow before him, and all nations will serve him.

These verse go hand in hand with this Psalm. Look at the last verse…

The rulers of the world have gathered together with the people of the God of Abraham. For all the kings of the earth belong to God. He is highly honored everywhere.

III. THE THIRD THREAD IS REFERRED TO AS THE SCARLET THREAD

This refers to Jesus in Scripture. He is there from Genesis to Revelation. Philip Keller’s devotion on Psalms is called the “Song of Jesus.” He is right, Jesus is in every Psalm: this is truly amazing. He is in this Psalm… Look at verse 5…

God has ascended with a mighty shout. The Lord has ascended with trumpets blaring.

A lot of people don’t like the Living Bible but I do…it reads “God ascended into heaven with a mighty shout.” What a glorious image that paints in my mind. The VICTORIOUS Christ returning to heaven after His Mission on earth was complete. What a celebration that must have been. Perhaps one of the angels captured it on video so that we can see the replay when we get there.

Luke 24:25

²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the scriptures. ²⁶ Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” ²⁷ Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Advertisement