February 16

Psalm 47
Five times we are commanded to sing praises to our God. One of those times, we are commanded to sing praises with understanding. Well how else would one sing praises? It happens every Sunday. People enter into the sanctuary to sing praises. The songs are familiar. The mind shifts into neutral and lets the mood of the music take over. The routine is familiar. As the praises are sung, the words flow out effortlessly. The words enter through the eyes from the screen or hymnal, pass through the brain and are transformed into hopefully somewhat melodious sounds without really grasping the mind or the spirit. It is an age-old problem. It happens to us all more often than we would like to admit. One result of the problem is that the time of praise becomes lifeless without any transforming power.
Another extreme of the problem is to recognize that the understanding is being by-passed and react with great emotion and by the flesh try to stir up the understanding through the music. Its result is just as lifeless. Usually it leaves the participant drained emotionally rather than
transformed spiritually because of his encounter with the God of glory. What is needed is an experience of what Jesus called worshipping in Spirit and in Truth. We need His Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding and empower our praises. Such worship brings us into the presence of the Father and transforms our lives.
We are commanded to shout unto God with a voice of triumph. Now if I am going to sing praise with a voice of triumph, what is it that I have triumphed over, and how did that triumph happen? In verse 5 the Psalmist says, “God has gone up with a shout!” Now what is that supposed to mean, and why is He shouting? Commentators usually say that the historical context here is referring to when David brought up the ark to Jerusalem with much shouting and singing and dancing. The ark has always been a symbol of the very presence of God obtained through the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our Lord. When we shout to the Lord, it is shouting with the understanding of these things in mind. It is not mindless excitation of the flesh. It is Spirit empowered will and emotion because we understand what great things He has accomplished to secure our redemption! It will be finally obtained upon His second coming. It no accident that Paul says, “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 will rise first.” His redemption is complete but it will not be fully realized until He returns. Yes, He shouts, and so ought we also shout!
As we sing praise, we should remember our inheritance (v.4). I thank God for the inheritance my wife received from her father, but when we die, we will not have it anymore. It will pass on to our children (if I don’t spend it first). Should I not be even more thankful for the inheritance that I receive from God? Peter says that inheritance is, “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” So when I sing praise with understanding it is with a shout because of what He has done to deliver me (where I came from), but it is also a shout because of where He is taking me (where I am going). It is also a shout because of what I have now. Paul says that the Holy Spirit is, “The guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” I have the Spirit of God living in me, enabling me to live like Jesus lived, hastening the day of His coming! Now there is shouting ground!
Another reason to sing praises with understanding is because He is King of the earth. He is King in his providence over the earth. In His providence He has cursed the earth because of our sin. He is none-the-less in control! Yes, in the curse He permits the tornado, hurricane, blizzard, cancer, disease and maladies out of our control, but He is King! He is in control of the nations. Al Qaeda did not take Him by surprise, and He did permit 911 as he permits every other malady that we hate. He brought the curse to teach us the evilness of sin and our need for redemption. The evils of war and human deprivation are man’s invention, but He permitted it to cause us to turn to Him. He is not only king in providence now, but He will one day rule as King upon the earth bringing an end to man’s evil inventions.
When I consider all the above, I am left in wonder of His glory. I am aghast that I must be commanded to praise Him for His glory leaves me in awe! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John