Thoughts for the Day

God’s Rule over the Nations. To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.Selah

God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

In its earliest days Psalm 47 would have been a coronation hymn - an annual 'Day of the Lord' possibly in a dramatised form, when God's power would be proclaimed over His foes and His kingship over all creation. We can see something of this later when the Ark of the Covenant is first brought up the steep hill into Jerusalem by King David (2 Samuel 6.14-15). God is seen as ascending His earthly throne, living in His city with His people. We can visualise the crowds who would have collected, the blare of the trumpets, and the shouts of praise from the people.

But equally the psalm is pure prophecy, that encompasses the whole world: "peoples", "nations" and "all the earth". Paul saw that the gospel must spread to Gentiles which is why he called them 'descendants of Abraham' (Galatians 3.7-8), even though they were Gentiles and would not be bound by the Law of Moses. We should also remember Jesus' words in the days before his death. He said, 'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’

As Christians we are called to look forward (probably to the end of time) when all the princes and peoples will become one nation under one God.

↠ The question for us today is where does this leave non-Christian faiths who believe in one God, ie Muslims, Jews and Sikhs? Is our understanding of one God's love big enough to cope with this?

Almighty God,
You have taught us through Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
to look forward to a time
when all the world will worship You.
At this difficult period,
when all faiths, and those with none,
find it easier to fight one another,
increase in us the hope
that all will one day all will turn to You.
Amen.