Oh Worship the King

You may notice that I don’t clap to music—seems I always end up on the back-beat

In our culture, clapping is usually either in response to rhythm or applause in response to something that gives us joy

This Psalm is largely about joyful worship, though there are serious implications directing us the the reason for that worship

I was reminded of this hymn: Though written as a paraphrase of Ps. 104, the hymn titled as this message has a great message

The first verse alone says so much

O worship the King all-glorious above, O gratefully sing his power and his love: our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

We worship and serve a glorious God; He alone is God

One of those thins we must keep reminding ourselves in this day of so many little g gods competing for our attention along with perverted theologies which truly promote false gods

Fair warning: a bit of a word-nerd message

This Psalm takes us in three general directions: our response to the King, the nature of the King and the actions of the King

Our Response to the King

Though written into the Hebrew culture and its worship process, is is directed to all people—not just the Jewish race; but all people of all nations and groups—Hebrew word underlying people is inclusive of all mankind

First, we clap and shout; important to note that these are both imperative verbs

This is to be done with LOUD songs of joy

We find more in v. 6, “sing praises,” also an imperative

Though the immediate context is for worship in the Temple, it does give some indication of the intensity with which ALL PEOPLE, including us today, should worship our God!

The Nature of the King

The LORD, the MOST HIGH—Yahweh Elyon

We see Elyon back in the Law, used alone, synonymous with God or LORD

He is to be feared, the underlying word carrying aspects of both reverential awe and knee-knocking fear or trembling

It is His nature that’s behind the command to clap, shout and sing…but...

Why?

He is a great king over all the earth

We must note that there is a heresy that God the LORD is one of many Gods, who emerged as the 1st among equals for lack of a better term;

There is a modern evolution of this, arguably less heretical, still wrong

This absolutely contrary to the Shemah—

Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

It also contradicts 1 Tim 2 5

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

His status in a reflection of his actions...

The Actions of the King

Here speaking on behalf of Israel

Subdued in v.3, implies forcefulness; people and nations—ethnicities and nationalities

Appears to reference the process by which Israel conquered the Promised Land—it was by God’s power, not the power or might of the armies

Chose Israel’s heritage—the Promised Land itself--

The land itself is the pride of Jacob—an all-inclusive term from Israel…one of many

Gone up with a shout

Could be reference to any of the many victories of God’s people on His behalf, at his direction OR

Could be a reference to the ascension of Jesus to the throne after His resurrection

Likely in the time of the writing it was understood as the former; looking rearward, the latter

The Status of the King

His rule is over all the earth

vv. 8-9, taken together have yet another Messianic glimpse

All the princes…read leaders of the earth gather; this appears to point us toward the 1000 year reign of Christ, when ALL will be under His control

What Do We Do with This?

Let’s face it! It seems like we’re living in a world that is out of control; where there is no King

Reminiscent of the days before the Kingdom of Israel was established

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

We’re living in chaotic times

Sin is celebrated, not condemned

Evil is called good; good, evil

Lawlessness in developing nations is something we expect, but in our own? Our cities seem to be powder kegs waiting for a match

Nobody is to be trusted: elected officials, public servants, media…even the clergy is suspect (all, sadly, for good reason)

On top of the failings of man, it seems that nature is ganging up on us; floods, fires, tornadoes...

This begs the question:

IS THERE REALLY ANY KING?

We revert to a Psalm Sean preached last year Ps 2 1-6 “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.””

We now look toward a time when all the issues will be answered

An end is coming, Christ is on the throne and will return victoriously 1 Cor 15 24-25

1 Corinthians 15:24–25 ESV

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

v. 26 tells us: The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Back to Ps. 2 11-12

Psalm 2:11–12 ESV

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Our refuge is in God, only through His Son, Jesus

Putting faith and trust in Him won’t change the outside world, won’t stop the lawlessness or the disasters, but it will change our ability to cope, to deal with anything that is coming our way

An observation during our preaching class on Monday: “a chunk of Phil. 4 makes a good counselling session all by itself: Philippians 4 4-9 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

You may not be able to control all the world around you; but you can make God the King in your life

Then we can clap our hands, shout with joy and sing praises to our God