We’re coming towards the end of the summer holidays. Hopefully you’ve been able to have some kind of a holiday, to get away somewhere even for a wee while. And if you have been away, you might have gone along to a local church. Now, when you go to a different church, you notice all the things that are different - whether they stand or sit to sing or pray; and how they get on during the singing of the psalms or hymns or spiritual songs - whether everyone has hands in pockets, or holding books or hands in the air, or a combination of them all.
And, if you’re used to coming along to a Church of Ireland church, you know how we do things. Already we’ve stood, sat, and knelt; we’ve sung, and prayed, and listened. Now, this morning, the service is on a sheet, but all the standing up and sitting down bits are written down in the Book of Common Prayer - it tells us what to do and when to do it. (Anglican Aerobics, as my Presbyterian friends call it!).
In our Psalm this morning, Psalm 47, we find even more directions for worship. But these may not be ones that we are as used to doing, at least, not in worship. They might take us by surprise, or at least, out of our comfort zone. Look at verse 1: ‘Clap your hands, all you nations.’
We might be used to a round of applause coming at the end of a song, or in a theatre, or when the plane has landed safely, but here, the applause is coming at the start, at the outset. And the call to worship, to clap your hands, goes out from the temple. And it’s not just to the people of Israel gathered at the temple, it’s a call to ‘all you nations.’
It’s a bit like the mobile phone network - EE. Does anyone know what it stands for? Everything Everywhere. Psalm 47 calls on Everyone Everywhere to clap your hands, to worship God.
Now, when you hear the command to clap your hands, maybe you think it’s wanting a nice, polite round of applause. But no, it’s more a long, loud, sustained clapping - especially when it’s combined with the next line: ‘Shout to God with cries of joy.’ This is the roar of a crowd at a sporting event. It’s going to be loud! Don’t hold back!
Now that might be beyond what we’re used to here in church. But that’s the first call to worship in the Psalm. Loud, passionate, energetic worship. We might be more used to the second call to worship, found in verse 6: ‘Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.’ {Sometimes modern songwriters get a bit of stick for being repetitive, but the sons of Korah were at it a long time ago!]
The call to worship goes out from Jerusalem to all peoples. The directions are clear. It’s going to involved clapping, shouting, and singing. Lots of singing. But why? Well, we see the reason in each of the verses after the call to worship. So, after the call to clap and shout in verse 1, we get this reason in verse 2: ‘How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!’
And after the call to do lots of singing in verse 6, we get this reason in verse 7: ‘For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.’
The same truth is brought out each time. God is the (great) King over/of all the earth. God is the King, not just in Jerusalem, not just in Israel, not just somewhere else, but everywhere, even Richhill. Wherever you went on holiday, whether you were climbing mountains or lying on a sun lounger - God is King even there. Wherever your work will take you tomorrow - God is King there.
And if God rules over all the earth, then every person should worship their true King. That’s why the call to worship goes out to all nations, to everyone everywhere. Just knowing that God is King should be reason enough, but the Psalm continues to show us even more reasons why we should worship, clap, shout and sing.
In verses 3-5, we see that God was king in the past. This is what God has already done: ‘He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.’
As the sons of Korah lead worship in the temple, they look back to their history, to see what God has already done. They remember that God gave them the victory as he subdued the nations who lived in the land. God gave them the promised land by defeating the nations who lived there. Nations who made the people of Israel look like grasshoppers next to them. They couldn’t have done it by themselves, but God gave them the victory, because God is the king.
And do you see how verse 6 says that God has ascended? If God has gone up, it must have meant that he had come down - come down to help his people. Does that remind you of anything?
Isn’t it pointing us to the Lord Jesus, who came down from heaven, became one of us, and fought to free us from our enemies? Jesus lived the perfect life. He died on the cross to take away our sins, to give us freedom, to give us an inheritance of eternal life with him. He rose again from the dead, and then ascended into heaven. And why did he do it all? Because he loved us, and loves us still.
It’s because God has done all this in the past, that now the call to worship goes out to all peoples to sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. God is the king of all the earth, and we see all the trappings of royalty in verse 8. ‘God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.’
And here’s the present tense evidence of God’s kingly reign. Here’s the reason for everyone to praise him. Look at verse 9: ‘The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.’
Here we get a glimpse of what God is doing, and continues to do more and more since Jesus the King reigns. Whenever school starts back this week (or next), there will be assembly. That’s when the classes or year groups or whole school joins together in the assembly hall. And that’s what God is doing - bringing people together, from every nation.
It’s like the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games when, if you watch long enough, you see people coming into the stadium behind their flag - all gathering together for sporting competition. But it’s just a glimpse of people from every nation coming together as the people of the King.
You see, this ingathering of the nations has been God’s plan from the very beginning. God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12, called him to walk with him, and promised him descendants, land and blessing. In the Psalm writer’s day, they had seen some signs of this happening, as people like Rahab of Jericho and Ruth of Moab had heard the call to worship the one true God, and had become God’s people.
But now, in our day, God is doing this more and more, as people from every nation hear God’s word, hear the call to worship, and surrender to him. And it’s our prayer today that Carter will grow up to know and love the Lord Jesus.
Kings and presidents and prime ministers may seem to be impressive, and important and powerful, but they all belong to God. They’re under his control and his reign. We are called to worship the real ruler - God, who is greatly exalted. So as you hear the call to worship going out - have you heard it and heeded it? Are you worshipping God, the King of all the earth? Not just on a Sunday as you clap and shout and sing, but in every moment of your life? If you aren’t already, in heart and voice, then join the chorus, and give your praise to the one who is worthy.
but if you have heard, and you are worshipping, then it’s up to us to also join with the sons of Korah - not just in worshipping, but also in calling others to worship. So how can you get involved in sharing the call to worship? Perhaps you could bring your friend along to the Cafe Church evenings when we’ll be looking at the big questions - how can I believe that God exists? how can I believe that God is good? How can I believe that Jesus is the only way to God? Or bring your friend along to the Men’s Breakfast - a good feed, plenty of craic, and a short talk. Or partner with someone to go along to one of the new Growth Groups running this autumn.
Could we organise a mission trip to take the call to worship somewhere else? Or call our neighbours and friends and family to worship? Or, as the world comes to us, invite our new neighbours and colleagues and friends to come along with us to church?
The call is going out - let’s join in with our worship, and call others to join with us - as we clap, and shout, and sing for God our King. Amen.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 26th August 2018.
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