Clap You Hands
(Psalm 47)
1. When a brand new believer, in 1974, my friend loaned his LP Album by Messianic Jewish group "Lamb." When I married Marylu in 1980, I married into Lamb albums.
2. One of the songs was titled, "Clap Your Hands, All Ye People," and was a paraphrase of Psalm 47. Preparing this sermon meant the song has been playing in my head all week.
3. But this Psalm is not only appreciated by Christians and Messianic Jews, it is also an important Psalm in Jewish Religious life, particularly last week’s celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, known to us as The Feast of Trumpets. Rabbi Shmuel writes,
"More than anything else the shofar’s notes mark the solemnity of Rosh Ha-Shanah. In many communities just prior to the sounding of the shofar the words of Psalm 47 are chanted seven straight times. The number seven corresponds to the number of times that the name God (elohim) appears in this psalm. According to some, the number seven also corresponds to the seven levels of heaven that the blasts of the shofar are expected to pierce." RabbiShmuel.com
Jesus returns to the clouds when the trumpet sounds, and thus begins his purging of the earth in preparation for His reign… It is the time spoken of in Psalm 2, when the Son asks the Father for the nations; Jesus patience in asking for the nations is what is holding back the Tribulation and the Antichrist, IMO.
[I had a chart here, with these cubes....
Present Time (from Pentecost on).... Tribulation (7 yrs.)....Millennium (1,000 year reign of Christ on Earth)]
This Psalm is looking back from the Beginning of the Millennium with Christ seated on the throne...
Main Idea: God’s children are to sometimes worship Him with great enthusiasm and outward joy, to clap their hands to the Lord. And sometimes that worship is about Who God is; sometimes it is about what He has done or is doing. But sometimes it is about what He will do (as in the case here).
We are to clap our hands to the Lord in joy for several reasons.
I. Because We Believe God is AWESOME (1-2, 6-9)
We celebrate as Christians as though these events were already in place, because we are that sure of their inevitability… we understand this verse to be celebrating the reign of God on earth when Jesus returns, during the Millennium, with God the Son Himself seated on the throne. We can connect this Psalm to Psalm 2.
A. We are to CLAP in exuberance (1a)
Some Christians are excited about TV shows or movies, sports or politics, decorating or dining, but not the Lord. Some are even excited about their churches, but not the Lord.
A Baptist minister was continually bragging to his other minister friends about the greatness of his church. No matter what they said, he always found a way to claim that the Baptists were better. Eventually his friends got tired of this, and decided to play a prank on the Baptist. One day, they dropped a tablet in his coffee - and soon the Baptist preacher nodded off to sleep. Then they took him down to the cemetery, and laid him in a borrowed coffin, next to a freshly dug grave. They hid behind the bushes to see what would happen. Half an hour later, the Baptist began to wake up. Yawning and looking around him, he began to notice the coffin, the tombstones, and the open grave. Then he shouted: "Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The day of resurrection has come and the Baptists are the first ones out!" [source: Nathan Johnson, Sermon Central]
• Clapping is a way to worship God…& is here commanded, so how can it be bad?
B. We are to SHOUT with joy (1b)
The ancient Jews associate Deuteronomy 32:43 with this text in Psalm 47 because of the common word "haminu," meaning to joyously shout:
"Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people."
• Note the idea of atonement ,connects to Revelation where the Lamb is worthy
• Atonement means covering of sin by the payment of a penalty
• God including gentiles w/ His people Israel is as ancient as Deuteronomy itself…
• We do not always worship God in solemn ways, but we express ourselves to God in a variety of ways…When we sing songs that tell us to shout to the Lord, how about us getting loud for the word "shout."
C. We are to be impressed with our AWESOME God (2)
1. He is YAHWEH
2. He is El Elyon, God MOST HIGH
3. He will reign over all the EARTH
D. We are to SING praise (6-9)
1. The repeated command for EMPHASIS (6-7)
The word "Maskil" v 7 can mean "skillful" or "with understanding."
The LXX reads, "For God is king of all the earth: sing praises with understanding."
Paul’s Midrash about singing with the mind
I Corinthians 14:13-17
For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.
2. All will RECOGNIZE His Authority (8-9)
• We are now the minority, but one day all nations will get on board…
E. Application: We are to celebrate the JOY of the Lord in song
Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
II. Because Our Awesome God Will Establish His Kingdom On EARTH (3-5)
A. He will SUBDUE Israel’s enemies (3)
• If you look at Israel’s enemies now, they are powerful. Iran, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Arab world in general.
• This prophecy will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to reign.
B. He will HONOR His ancient promises (4)
• God made a promise to Abraham that was reiterated to his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel: descendents, land, and blessing.
• Just as the rainbow is a reminder that God will not destroy the entire world by a flood, so the stars, sun, moon and ocean waves remind us that God will fulfill his promises to the genetic descendents of Israel, according to Jeremiah 31:35-37.
C. He will ASCEND to the throne (5)
• Matthew 23:38-39 "Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ’Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’"
D. Application: Everyone is ACCOUNTABLE to God and Should FEAR Him.
• Refusing to believe does not exempt one from answering to God, it is denial.
• Refusing to submit to Jesus Christ defiance, a defiance which will be crushed.
• Every one of us will give account – the lost AND the saved
III. Because God Has Been DOUBLY Gracious to Us (New Testament Midrash)
A. Inclusion of the GENTILES as His People (Ephesians 3:6)
• What is and is not the "mystery."
Ephesians 3:6, "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus."
• Nationally/ethnically, a difference between believing Jews and Gentiles, just as between male and female exists … not second rate because not Jewish.
The church is the kingdom preview (like Mount of Transfiguration).
B. God’s Love for Israel is STEADFAST (Romans 11:28-29)
"As far as the gospel is concerned, they [the Jews] are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable."
C. We, His People, Will REIGN with Christ (Revelation 5:10)
"You have made them [believers] to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
D. Application: We are beneficiaries of God’s DOUBLE grace
1. SALVATION
2. EQUAL status before God with believing Jews
CONCLUSION
In 1984 the newspapers told of the plight of a child in Mexico City. The 4-year-old boy had been orphaned and severely burned in a gas explosion that took the lives of 500 people. Millions saw the story and probably quickly forgot about it. But one woman in New York City was deeply moved and couldn’t get the little boy off her mind.
This woman’s concern led to efforts to find the boy, followed by 2 years of medical assistance, gifts, visits, and finally adoption proceedings. He had someone who loved him, someone who cared so much that she gave herself to him.
That adopted child is you and I.
