Ascension Day is on Thursday of this week, the day when the Lord Jesus left earth and returned to heaven. Our Scripture for later this week will go more into that event. However, since that event commemorates more than just His return to heaven, but also His exaltation as Lord, and His enthronement at the right hand of God the Father, let’s look at another Scripture that speaks of God as King, reigning over the world.
Psalm 47 is one of several psalms written by the Sons of Korah. Korah was a man from the tribe of Levi who led a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16:1-40). God judged Korah and those in rebellion with him by opening the earth, which swallowed them alive. However, his children and descendants weren’t harmed. Later they worked in the Temple, particularly with worship music, and also writing several of the psalms.
Our psalm speaks of the universal kingship of Yahweh, how He is the sovereign King over all the earth, and how one day all nations will submit to His rule. This will happen when Jesus returns and sets up His Millennium reign. This psalm is both present - God reigns now, and prophetic - Jesus will reign visibly and universally in the future.
The Sons of Korah begin their psalm by calling out to everyone to clap and shout their praises to God (vs. 1). These are to be expressions of victory for the Lord. This is a call to everyone, not just Israel. God’s kingship is not tribal or regional. He is God of everyone, everywhere, and there is a day coming when all nations will acknowledge Jesus as Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).
The reason to shout and praise Yahweh is that He is awesome, inspiring wonder and worship (vs. 2). He is also totally worthy of reverence. God is not just Israel’s King, He is King over all the earth. Most of the pagan gods worshiped in that time and place were regional deities. They were the gods of this or that mountain, plain, or river. They might have power over some specific weather event. However, Yahweh’s dominion, power, and rule is absolute and universal.
The Sons of Korah look into the future with a prophetic promise (vs. 3). This verse looks forward to the Millennial Kingdom, when Jesus rules, and His people are restored to a place of prominence (Isaiah 2:1-4; Zechariah 14:9, 16-17). It is God Himself, not any human effort, that will bring the nations of the world into submission to Him. We do not win people to the Lord by force, but the Holy Spirit’s intervention does.
Continuing on, we see that God gives His children their inheritance (vs. 4). It is not self-earned. His choices are rooted in grace, not in our own merit. We can rest in the knowledge that God’s love for us is faithful, and all of His choices for us are perfect.
Now we come to the verses that relate to the Ascension (vs. 5). This is royal coronation language, picturing God ascending to His throne after victory. Prophetically it points to Jesus’ ascension spoken of in Acts 1:9-11, and then later to His return with the sound of the trumpet (I Thessalonians 4:16), and His enthronement in the Millennium. Jesus is the victorious, exalted King. Continuing, we are told five times to sing praises to God (vs. 6-7). We are to be joyful to the Lord. Our praise should be with understanding, intelligence, not just random babble, and it should be directed to God, not to ourselves, any preacher, or to any singer or musician.
As the Sons of Korah bring this psalm to a close, we see that God reigns over the nations of the world (vs. 8-9). His rule is holy, not random or by chance. Even now, though many nations are in rebellion against Him, He is still sovereign. His reign is not threatened by human rebellion. And in the future, Jesus will rule visibly and perfectly. All earthly rulers and their people will gather to worship Jesus. Their “shields”, which symbolize their authority, power, and military strength, will be given to God, as they ultimately belong to Him.
Approximately forty days after Easter, Jesus ascended and returned to heaven, where He is seated on His heavenly throne. This psalm was one that anticipated His literal, earthly kingdom, where He will rule from Jerusalem. God is not some tribal deity, but rules all nations, all peoples, and the whole universe. Some may wonder where God is in all the mess that is happening throughout the world, and may wonder if He has somehow lost control, or has stepped back and is not involved in anything anymore. We can trust God’s plan for the future. History may seem like it is spiraling out of control, but it’s not. It is moving towards the visible reign of Jesus Christ.
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