Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Psalms 3 (3)
Pray 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 47.1-9; meditate on verses 5-7.
Preparation
1. How great is the extent of God’s reign?
2. What will our King do for us?
Meditation
Many of us, when we think of the ascension of Jesus, have in mind Acts 1.9, where Jesus quietly and mysteriously was taken up into a cloud, leaving His disciples to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1.7, 8). That’s about as much of the ascension as we know.
But it’s not as much as is revealed in Scripture, beginning with Psalm 47.
Some of the clearest, sharpest, and most gobsmacking images of Jesus come from the pens of the sons of Korah. Recall the vividness of the vision of Jesus in Psalm 45, for example. Or the immensity and power of the sovereign King Who bids us to “Be still” in Psalm 46. In Psalm 47 we see Him enthroned in glory, reigning over the nations of the world. There’s no doubt about who this great King is (vv. 1, 2). Nothing can stand against His determination to leave a glorious heritage for His people (vv. 3, 4).
We’re told the King ascended with a shout and the sound of a trumpet, to raucous praise (vv. 5-7). Now He is seated on His holy throne (v. 8) and all the nations of the world serve His purposes (vv. 8, 9). This scene of the ascension of Christ is given more detail in Psalm 110 and Daniel 7.13-18. We are shown what happened once Jesus ascended via that cloud, passing through the heavenly places, through the veil, into eternal glory.
He ascended with a shout and a trumpet, and when He returns, a shout and a trumpet will let all the world know that the King is coming (1 Thess. 4.16; cf. Rev. 19). We see the ascension of Jesus with the eye of faith; but every eye will see Him as He is, in the fullness of His might, when He returns.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God has indeed, embodied in Jesus, “gone up with a shout”! (Ps. 47.5)
How absolutely thrilling! How astonishing! How powerful! How majestic!
And we serve this very King, He is our Leader, and our Savior.
Our Redeemer, Ruler, and Friend.
How incredible to even contemplate that truth.
And yet, it is ours to hold dear.
It is ours to give us the courage and the desire to serve our risen and glorious Christ Jesus.
“You have ascended on high,
You have led captivity captive…” (Ps. 68.18).
“They have seen Your procession, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary” (Ps. 68.24).
And when He returns in glory, all will see Him. Not just His children,
but everyone who has ever lived will see our Majestic King upon His glorious arrival.
“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him” (Rev. 1.7).
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4.16, 17).
“But thanks be to God,
Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast,
immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15.57, 58).
“Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4.18).
King Jesus was, is, and will be, exalted forever and ever!
“I AM the Alpha and the Omega,
The Beginning and the End,
Who is and Who was and Who is to come,
The Almighty” (Rev. 1.8).
Shouts and Trumpets galore!
Reflection
1. Do you spend much time contemplating Jesus, exalted in glory? Why is it important that we do so?
2. When Jesus ascended to the Father, what was all the shouting about?
3. How does Jesus, exalted in glory, help you through each day? Do you thank Him at the end of the day?
Lord, is it not thy glory and delight to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins, now that thou art exalted as a Prince and a Savior? Set up thy kingdom in our hearts. Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And so sweetly constrain all the powers and faculties of the souls of thy redeemed, into holy love, fear, and delight in thee, that praise with the understanding may rise from every heart, both here and for ever, to Thee, our God. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Psalm 47.5-9
Pray Psalm 47.5-9.
Pray for the continual and increasing progress of Christ’s Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. Pray that He will extend His rule of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit through you today.
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 throughout 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
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
For more teaching about the subject of this series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures”, download our free ReVision study, “We Would See Jesus”, by clicking here.
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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.
