Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm 47 (NIV) \\ \\

*Psalm 47 *

For the director of music.

Of the Sons of Korah.

A psalm.

1 Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

2 How awesome is the Lord Most High,

the great King over all the earth!

3 He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

4 He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

/Selah/

5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

7 For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalma of praise.

8 God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

9 The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kingsb of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted.

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Psalm 47

Clubs~/interests~/people’s passions – grandchildren!

Workaholics – lady on Wed who had become a single Mum at 18, is now 51 and had been working passionately in the area of medical research for 30 years! – still excited about it!

True Unity of humankind

Again : the well-crafted words of humankind which are the word of God for his people to speak to him.

How we are to think of life

What really excites us and leads us to urge others to get excited as well?

Many voices in the air clamouring for people’s attention

GAFCON

After all, just being a bishop does not make someone right!

One God, one King, one people

NB : Here is a view of the universal rule of God which many of our people will regard as the end of fun

NOTHING could be further from the truth!

NB _ what do we have to say to the world:

Desperate powerful to preserve their power

Wealthy to grow their wealth

 

How do you explain . . .

.

*Psalm 47.

One God, one king, one people*

The Lord’s victory over the earth (46:8, 9) is not intended to end in international despondency but joy.

Psalm 47 calls for universal acclaim of such a God (1).

This summons is explained (2 begins with ‘For’) by the Lord’s worldwide status as /King./

/ /

The evidence for this is what he has done for Israel in power (3)

 

 

and love (4).

Consequently the truth of the exalted God can be reiterated (5).

Once more for the dummies!

The same sequence is now repeated: invitation to praise (6, /cf.

/1),

 

explanation, the universal King (7–8, /cf.

/2),

 

the favoured people (9, /cf.

/3–4)

 

 

and the exalted God (9, /cf.

/5).

But, second time round, the emphasis is different: Israel is exalted over /the nations /by providence (3) and election (4); in v 9 /the nations/, represented by their /nobles/, are incorporated /as the people of the God of Abraham/, the Abrahamic promise is fulfilled and all nations find blessedness (Gn.

12:1–3).

If /God has ascended/, ‘gone up’.

/i.e.

/having ‘come down’ to gain the victory, suggests a background to the psalm, we may think of the exodus (Ex.

3:8) or maybe the divine victory over David’s foes (18:9) or (best of all) the Sennacherib incident (Is.

31:4).

But in any event in this psalm the OT looks gloriously forward to the greater ‘coming down’ of God in Christ to gather into one the scattered children of God (Jn.

11:52: /cf.

/Is.

19:23–25; 60:1–3; 66:20), and to a greater ascension to universal kingship, actual (Eph.

1:20–23) and ultimate (Phil.

2:9–11).

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1.

INTRODUCTION:

Psalms: word of God to people which are the words of people his people are to speak to God

Almost all the Psalms are able to stand on their own.

They teach us how to react to the different circumstances of life.

Now that Jesus has come they are even more important as we know that he is the one of whom they speak above all others.

Whether it be the deep lament over pain and suffering of 42-43;

The agony caused by awful things happening to God’s people of Ps 44

The relief and joy that comes from thinking about the true Ruler  of the Universe  in Ps 45;

OR

The deep confidence in the reassurance that God is our refuge and strength;

Each one can stand on its own.

And yet, God has placed them in a particular order, and you can see in the pattern of these 4 a progression.

And it continues with Psalm 47.

46:11

Psalm 46:11 (NIV) \\ \\

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

/Selah/

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What do you do with that?

What is to be the reaction of the people of God to the fact that their God is the one true God and the one true ruler of all things?

OK

 

He is the undoubted universal ruler.

He is with his people.

Therefore we will not fear – whatever happens!

That’s a pretty bold statement

Therefore we will not fear – International, national, community, personal and family, natural, demonic

Everything else may tumble and fall, Psalm 46:11 (NIV) \\ \\

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

/Selah/

[4]

END of story?

We now come to a theme in Psalm 47 that many believers find hard to handle.

There are certain things in life that we want to tell everyone about.

They are so important to us, so exciting, so life-changing, so wonderful, that we can’t keep quiet.

And we can bore people to tears – but that doesn’t stop us.