Psalm 47

Psalm 47 is truly a "Sovereignty Psalm." One of the coolest things in the Bible is that we get the macro and microscopic views of how God works out His will. Psalm 47 gives us a more comprehensive (macro) view of how God is ruling over the earth. It tells us that God is the "great king over all the earth," and that He is reigning over the nations. This is an important perspective for us to keep in mind. God is King over the entire earth! This is an incredible statment to think about. No longer being in a "monarchial" society, we miss how awesome this really is. In ancient days the word of the king was absolute. There was no deciscion making commity as we Americans are so fond of. There was just the king. If he thought that someone should be sentenced to death that's what happened. If he wanted to honor someone by giving them land and possessions - he did. Most ruling monarchs were authoritatively unchecked. There whims were their servants commands. It was the king's world and everyone else was just living in it. It's a pretty scarry thought when depraved humans have that kind of power and authority over the lives of others. This makes me think of The Emporer's New Groove when Kuzko tells Pajah, a peasant, that he is going to tear his family's house down so that he can put up Kuzkotopia - basically his own private bachelor's pad - and he says, "I'm so happy!" Well of course he's happy, he's getting his own way. But while this is a scary notion for us to think about with regard to humans, it's alltogether different to think of a good God with this kind of authority. And it's not just authority over one particular people group but of the entire earth. These are the types of thoughts the psalmist has and they bring forth an abundance of praise. He is praising God for who He is; the sovereign ruler of everything. And he can do this because God has revealed Himself to be loving and good and able to protect those who take refuge in Him. God subdues the people (v.3), and reigns over the nations (v.8), and shields those who love Him. "He sits on his holy throne." This is still true today. God is still overseeing and working in the lives of individuals and in the course of history. It's hard for us to see the forrest through the trees, but we may rest assured that His divine will is being carried out according to His divine plan and praise Him in the midst. Someone recently informed me that I was late with this Psalm, but in my Bible Psalm 47 comes before Psalm 50...weird. Hope everyone is doing well, Ray.