Ascended and Enthroned (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 47.1-4
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves.
Selah

Sing Psalm 47.1-4
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
O clap your hands, you peoples all, with joy to God your songs intone!
Shout out to Him, and on Him call, He is the mighty, sovereign One!

High is the Lord, O, fear His Name! He rules, a King o’er all the earth.
Nations and peoples He has tamed, the heritage of His holy worth.

Read Psalm 47; meditate on Psalm 47.1-4

Preparation
1. How do we know this psalm is about Christ, exalted in glory?

2. How does this psalm instruct us to respond to the ascension and enthronement of the Lord?

Meditation
In Psalm 47 we are led to look up to our God and King, exalted in glory and surrounded with praise. (vv. 1-4) The psalmists also direct us to look back to the promises of God, made to Abraham and fulfilled by our exalted King (v. 9). The psalm points us forward to our inheritance (v. 4), which is God Himself, seeing Jesus as He is in glory, and being made like Him (1 Jn. 3.1-3). And, as we look up, back, and ahead, following the Word of God, we see how we must live in the present, praising the Lord (v. 6) and seeking to advance His Kingdom (v. 3).

This is the Christian’s vantage point on life and time.

As believers, we are not trapped in our sinful past. We are not slaves to some fantasy future of our own construction. Nor is our vision of life confined to a merely “this world” frame of reference.

We set our minds on Christ, exalted in glory (Col. 3.1-3), remembering as we do the precious and very great promises God has made and fulfilled in Jesus (2 Pet. 1.4; 2 Cor. 1.20). At the same time, we look ahead to the coming of Jesus and the new heavens and new earth, the “city to come” where righteousness dwells and sin is no more (Heb. 11.1, 13-16; Rev. 21, 22). With those powerful foci guiding us, we walk by faith and redeem the time of our lives so that we do everything for the glory of God and work to make all the nations disciples (2 Cor. 5.7; Eph. 5.15-17; 1 Cor. 10.31; Matt. 28.18-20).

Each day can be something to shout about when we live from this vantage point.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
The Christian’s vantage point is of God, our King, exalted in glory and victorious over every foe.

God has a vantage point too: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15.3). “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4.13).

Here is where the fear and love of God walk together in our lives.

We fear Him because He is awesome and powerful and the ruler over all things; and He has the power to choose where we spend eternity (Matt. 10.28).

We love Him because He first loved us. (1 Jn. 4.19; Jn. 3.16).

And because these things are true, we want to praise Him with understanding (Ps. 47.7).

The psalmist Asaph wrote about people who mistakenly thought they belonged to God and were praising Him properly, but in reality, lacked a clear understanding of Who God is:
“They do not know, nor do they understand;
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are unstable” (Ps. 82.5).

If we truly understand God’s vantage point, then we will more fervently search out our vantage point with reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12.28, 29).

What was true in the Old Testament is still true today. Joshua told those in his care: “But take careful heed to do the commandment and the laws which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you,

to love the LORD your God,
to walk in all His ways,
to keep His commandments,
to hold fast to Him, and
to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Josh. 22.5).

“For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth” (Ps. 47.2).

Reflection
1. What do we mean by the Christian’s “vantage point”? Why is it important that we learn to live from this vantage point?

2. How would you explain God’s vantage point on time and life? Why do we need to be mindful of this?

3. How do the fear of God and love for God work together in living from our Christian vantage point?

Our joy and our victory over all our enemies, which Christ has purchased and brings to all believers in every nation, are the matter of Christ’s praise and declare that he is God, who, having in his humanity suffered, and wrestled against sin, Satan, death, hell and the curse of the law, did, by the power of his divinity, prevail before he brought joy to the Gentiles. . . . His triumph presupposes his victory, and his victory presupposes his battle before he overcame, and the commanding of the Gentiles “to clap their hands and shout,” and to shout “with the voice of triumph,” presuppose their interest in the victory, for while they are bidden to shout to God the triumphant, who, in this entire psalm, is the Redeemer, Christ. David Dickson (1583-1663), Commentary on the Psalms. 3

Closing Prayer: Psalm 47.5-9
Take some time in silent contemplation to envision Jesus, exalted in glory, and all the glory and rejoicing surrounding Him in His heavenly court. Rejoice, give thanks, and praise the Lord that He has conveyed you into His Kingdom for His glory.

Sing Psalm 47.5-9
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with sound of trumpet bold!
Sing praise to Him, let praise ring out! Let praise through all the world be told!

God is the King of all the earth, sing praise to Him with glorious psalms!
He rules the nations by His worth, and on His throne receives their alms.

Princes of peoples gather all to Abraham and to our God.
Exalt the Lord, and on Him call – the earth is His, so praise our God!

T. M. and Susie Moore

You can listen to a summary of last week’s study by going to our website, www.ailbe.org, and clicking the Scriptorium tab for Sunday.

Free Christmas Gifts
For more insight to the ascension and reign of Jesus, order a free copy of our book, What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? (click here) Order several copies and give them as gifts for Christmas. For another look at Jesus, reigning in glory, order a free copy (or several) of our book, The Kingship of Jesus (click here).

If you find Scriptorium helpful in your walk with the Lord, please seek the Lord, asking Him whether you should contribute to the support of this daily ministry with your financial gifts. As the Lord leads, you can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.