WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.031 --> 00:00:21.175 For God is the king of all the earth. Sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations. God is seated on his holy throne. The noble nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham. For the kings of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted. 2 00:00:21.952 --> 00:00:30.693 Welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host, Zach, laying down some beats fresh out the gate. And this is my co-host, Zoe. 3 00:00:30.997 --> 00:00:55.685 What's up, people? Dropping bars. You just heard a little bit, a little taste of Psalm 47. That's what we're going to be getting into today. Why don't you flip open your Bibles and we're going to get right into it. But you guys know our mission is to reach every young person with the good news of Jesus Christ. We obviously can't do that alone. But it would really help with the algorithm and all those things. If you're watching on YouTube, hit the subscribe button. 4 00:00:55.685 --> 00:01:12.998 hit the notifications and drop a comment. We'll let you know what to comment at the end. And if you're listening on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts, why don't you drop a little rating and you can follow us on there as well. That's all just so that the good news can reach everyone. Amen. Fire. Fire. Let's get into it. Roll those credits. 5 00:01:16.694 --> 00:01:43.188 Do you want to read Psalm 47 straight through? And then we'll go back through. I feel like this is more of like a thematic Psalm. Okay. So we might not go verse by verse. What does that mean? It just means we might talk about like more broadly, what is it saying? Rather than maybe going exactly verse by verse. Okay, yeah. Because it kind of repeats some of the stuff that it says. Excuse me. But I'm excited. Let's do it. Okay. I am reading the NIV. Come on. Come on. 6 00:01:43.711 --> 00:02:12.753 Clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. 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. Not the shouting. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our King. Sing praises. 7 00:02:12.753 --> 00:02:37.475 For God is the king of all the earth. Sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations. God is seated on his holy throne. 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. Amen. Clack it. Clack it. And clap those hands too. Yo. 8 00:02:38.285 --> 00:02:58.636 This psalm is kind of lit. Like, yeah. Can I use that word still? Is that kind of phased out? I don't know. I don't know. You can bring it back if you want. Can you tell me about, you told me just before we sat down that they used to sing this at a specific time in the year. Yes. Can you tell me about that? I can, only a tiny bit because I read one commentary on it. 9 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:29.365 little bit i love but basically apparently according to chuck smith um who's the guy's commentary it was okay so that this psalm psalm 47 was read seven times round at the to mark the start of new year's the jewish new year apparently allegedly and it would like go alongside the sounding of trumpets so it's like big celebration vibes and i think that it was also supposed to nod towards like the eventual second coming of christ and that's why it was such a big like 10 00:03:29.365 --> 00:03:55.235 celebration. Crazy. I think. I'm pretty sure. Dang, that's super far. It's kind of crazy that there's like actual, almost like party psalms. Yeah. You wouldn't really think about that because I feel like almost in the church, sometimes we remove the celebration from the worship or like we'll have like a birthday party that's completely separate from worship 11 00:03:55.235 --> 00:04:22.015 like our actual time where we would say we're worshiping the lord but here it's like one in the same yes like imagine having a new year's party that's also a worship party like that's kind of sick that is kind of a cool idea it makes sense as well because it's like god is involved in all of our lives so why do we need to have like sections for okay we're gonna praise god here but we're just gonna have fun here without him it's like no and i think and i think 12 00:04:22.015 --> 00:04:39.262 It's also cool to remember that in the Old Testament, this community, the Israelites and the Jewish people, they were like so a people of celebration. Like they had festivals several times a year where everyone would gather together. Yeah. 13 00:04:39.262 --> 00:04:54.854 just to celebrate what was happening. Yeah, this is true. Like, that's so cool. I feel like in the Lord's heart, there's so much room for celebration. We're going to see that here. Should we talk about verse one to four? I feel like when you were reading it, 14 00:04:54.854 --> 00:05:24.841 I think yours says like, clap your hands, you nations. All you nations. All you nations. Yeah. Mine says all peoples. It's like so all encompassing. Yeah. And that was making me think back on a lecture that I had on the purpose of God's people, which is not just for them. 15 00:05:24.841 --> 00:05:41.193 All people will be blessed. Not even just his descendants, not even just his children, his children's children, and people that interact with them, but all people will be blessed. And I think that's kind of interesting because here it says, not clap your hands, 16 00:05:41.193 --> 00:06:09.290 you Israelites or not clap your hands you Christians it's like clap your hands all people I think that's what we look forward to is a time when all people will know the Lord and we will join together in praise of him yeah and celebration yeah I love that it's like a a unifying thing not a dividing thing right and I think that really reveals God's heart which is for to know all people to love all people 17 00:06:11.483 --> 00:06:30.164 To know people, to love all people, and for them to love him in return. Because that's what he wants, his relationship with us. So it's like, it's pretty cool. Literally. I also love how it says, like, I just love the description of worship here. Shout to God. Yeah. With loud songs. Yeah. 18 00:06:32.510 --> 00:06:42.989 Yeah. It's like, don't be quiet. Don't be quiet. Or you can be quiet. There's different types of worship, of course. That's actually a good thing to touch on. Is it? Let's touch on it. 19 00:06:43.343 --> 00:07:07.525 Well, I think there's a tendency to fall into one way of worship or one sort of expression or font of like your relationship with the Lord and to just stick in that. Like it's very easy to do that. And then it's very easy to think people who are celebrating the Lord in different ways are crazy. Like I've 100% fallen into that. 20 00:07:07.525 --> 00:07:28.096 Yeah, me too. Like even when I first came to the UK and came to the church where I'm at, I was like, whoa, everyone's so expressive. And I really wasn't used to that. Yeah. And so I think I had to learn like because I was used to the quiet, orderly forms of worship. 21 00:07:28.096 --> 00:07:56.176 It was a stretch for me to learn about, like maybe the type of worship that's talked about in here. But you make a good point that that's also not the only type of worship. Yeah. Well, yeah, I don't think that there's a better or a worse way to worship. I think there are just different ways to worship. And I think, you know, it's all about our heart posture and our intention behind the worship. And that's the most important thing. And like that verse in Ecclesiastes, yeah. 22 00:07:56.176 --> 00:08:17.995 three which is basically says there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens that goes on to list all these different things um let me see a time to mourn and a time to dance time to weep and a time to laugh and i think you know with worship here in this psalm explicitly it's like this is clearly a time for joy and that is great and that's 23 00:08:17.995 --> 00:08:42.110 Right. Let's clap our hands and shout to God. But there are also times when we might not feel like clapping our hands and shouting to God. And, you know, we just want to maybe sit and reflect in the corner or stand in silence or weep before God in worship. And that is also okay. Yeah. But I love that there are different expressions of worship and there's not one that's better than the other. Yeah. 24 00:08:42.852 --> 00:08:59.542 Anyways. Yeah, fire. I was just looking at verse 2 and it says, For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared. He's a great king over all the earth. We don't praise him for no reason. 25 00:08:59.795 --> 00:09:20.332 Yeah, that's good. We praise him because he's king over the whole earth. He's so much bigger and more majestic than we could ever really comprehend. Yeah. And so we're kind of just, when we give him our all in worship in this joyful time that this psalm is talking about, like... 26 00:09:20.332 --> 00:09:50.167 Whatever that might look like, maybe it's dancing, maybe it's raising your hands, maybe it's kneeling. I don't know what that joyful response is for you personally. But we're trying to give back to the Lord who has already given us so much. That's the posture and that's what informs our worship. We're not doing it kind of like just because. We're doing it because he's worthy. He's worth it. And he deserves it. 27 00:09:50.167 --> 00:10:17.740 And it's cool, like they also, I mean, just even looking on to verse 3 and 4, they list the specific reasons why he's to be praised. Yeah. Which is kind of fascinating. Like it says, he subdued people under us and nations under our feet. He chose, mine says, he chose our heritage, but I think yours says like- Our inheritance. Our inheritance. It's kind of a cool concept to- 28 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:45.837 as we worship the Lord or maybe before we worship him, to remember what he's actually done, to remind ourselves why he has or how he has been faithful specifically to us is a super cool concept. And I think sometimes this can be difficult to translate into our frame of mind because it's talking about the Lord subduing other nations that were coming up against the Israelites. Yeah. 29 00:10:45.837 --> 00:11:00.839 And actually, I hope my mom doesn't mind me saying this, but she was recently asking me like how I understand the Psalms when they talk about the Lord like crushing his enemies 30 00:11:00.839 --> 00:11:16.313 When we obviously like in my life, like I don't actually fight against people. No one's directly fighting against me personally. And I know there's persecuted people around the world that maybe this would connect more to in the literal sense. 31 00:11:16.313 --> 00:11:43.448 But I almost take this to mean like actually the New Testament says we don't fight against... Ephesians 6, 12. What is it? We fight against principalities and the rulers. Wait, let me just get it up. You can just get it up. I don't want to like misquote. Do you know what I mean? My point is while you find that, that we still do have an enemy and it's a spiritual enemy. And we can celebrate because the Lord has overcome darkness and evil. 32 00:11:43.448 --> 00:12:01.302 And he continues to do so. So while some of us might not have actual physical danger that the Lord has maybe freed us from, for sure he has freed us from spiritual bondage. Wow, that's so good. And from our own sin. Yeah, that is so good. Okay, read the verse, read the verse. 33 00:12:01.302 --> 00:12:29.602 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And then it goes on to say, put on the full armor of God. Dang. Okay, here's a more personal question for you before we keep going. When you're going to worship the Lord, what kind of things do you call to mind to remind yourself of his faithfulness to you personally? Hmm. 34 00:12:30.884 --> 00:12:52.062 Like, is there anything where you're like, dang, I remember when the Lord specifically did this. And that just makes me want to praise him so much. Do you know what? It actually really varies. Like sometimes it will be that. And I'll be like, oh God, I remember when you spoke to me for the first time and you showed me that you saw me. When I didn't, when I felt really unseen. Yeah. 35 00:12:53.463 --> 00:13:14.253 Or other times it will be like just remembering what God has done for me, like what Jesus has done on the cross for me. It also is really dependent on what song that we're singing, like when it's corporate worship. That's so fair. Like corporate worship, which is like where we all worship together at church. So like if I'm singing a song, say, oh, the cross. It's like, oh, the cross, what you've done, it was more than enough. 36 00:13:14.253 --> 00:13:42.637 And then I'll be thinking of what Jesus did for me on the cross. And then like, it really evokes that. Whereas like a different song that's maybe like raining by Jeremy Riddle. It's like, um, lift up your hearts, fall on your knees. Oh, hell the reigning King of Kings. And then I think about how God reigns over everything and that he's the King of Kings and that he deserves. So like, I, but it's like really different. It's really different. But sometimes it will draw from my own personal experience and other times it will be like, 37 00:13:42.637 --> 00:14:00.237 through the worship and through the songs I'm seeing, I'm reminded of what Jesus has done for me in the Bible and obviously in real life. And then other times God just, I feel like God just speaks to me and like gives me little visions and things. And then I'll be like, well, God, thank you for that. So... 38 00:14:00.237 --> 00:14:28.132 I love that. Variety. Can you talk to me about verse five to seven? It's all somewhat similar. Yeah, verses five to seven. I mean, this whole section is basically, to me, it sounds like a bit of like a command of like, this is how we're going to respond right now to God. Because he's worthy of it, like what you've just been saying there. But also he's victorious. And like, for example, in verse five, 39 00:14:28.132 --> 00:14:46.002 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. And then goes on, sing to God, sing praises, sing praises. And it's like, this is our response right now. But the sounding of trumpets here kind of reminds me, basically trumpets back in the day in this time, 40 00:14:46.002 --> 00:15:14.302 had multiple different uses, but one of them is like a symbol of victory. It's like, we've got to celebrate because we're victorious. Wow. Sound the trumpets. And it even reminds me of like how it says when Jesus is going to return, there'll be the sounding of trumpets, probably for more reasons than just one, but definitely as a signal of his victory. And so that kind of just reminds me of that as I'm reading verse five. And also what I think is really cool is 41 00:15:14.302 --> 00:15:43.242 You know, earlier we mentioned this is a psalm to enter into the new year. Yeah. Like what an awesome way to enter into the new year. Like remembering what God has done for you, remembering that you are a people that's victorious under your God, who is mighty and powerful and awesome and worthy to be praised. And I just feel like it's kind of like, guys, as we go into this new year, let us not forget that we are children of the most high God. And let's continue to praise him throughout the year. 42 00:15:43.242 --> 00:16:05.669 Like tone setting moment. It's a tone setting moment. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah. God reigns 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. Mine feels a bit like cryptic. 43 00:16:06.479 --> 00:16:29.783 Yeah. It's a little bit different than yours. It is. But something I love is I learned a while ago that people used to think that gods were very territorial. Yes. And so like that's some of the reasons why you read some really like interesting things like people were so shocked that Jesus walked into Samaria. 44 00:16:29.783 --> 00:16:58.471 because they were like, well, God is territorial and perhaps he doesn't reign in that area. But then you also have like some of the prophets would go and visit people outside of the cities of the Lord. Or you even have like, there's this one bizarre story. It's like someone brings a jar of dirt with them so they can pray on it. Like they pour it out and stand on it and pray to God because it's dirt from the land where they thought the Lord was. 45 00:16:58.471 --> 00:17:25.808 resided. Anyways, all that to be said, God's not territorial. He's not. He'd be ruling the whole dang thing. The whole thing. The earth, he got that. The sun, he got that. The universe, he got that. It's all his. He rules over the whole thing. It's actually his. He'd be sitting on his holy throne over everything. Wow. Tell me about, what does yours say? Does yours say the prince's? 46 00:17:25.927 --> 00:17:32.407 Mine says the nobles of the nations. Oh, shoot. Which I don't really know what that means, to be honest. Yeah. 47 00:17:32.558 --> 00:17:58.107 Well, like, I'll be real. I wasn't, I couldn't really find a super clear explanation. I was also trying to answer this question of who are the princes. The only thing I kind of read was like princes is the primary definition of that original Hebrew word was like you're saying like nobles, which is like people who are like willing to give of themselves. 48 00:17:58.107 --> 00:18:13.430 Like people who are like of noble character, which I think is interesting because even the highest of people in the land gather as God's people. 49 00:18:13.868 --> 00:18:41.763 which I think is kind of interesting. It's like this posture of, you kind of can sometimes think like the highest of the high people, they like claim to be their own God. They claim to be their own savior. And they can kind of be like flexing that they're like, like we see all these debates right now. Who's the greatest of all time? Who's him? Who's the best athlete? Who's the best this or that? Even those people, 50 00:18:41.763 --> 00:19:10.096 are actually under the Lord, which is kind of crazy. Yeah. Actually, God is the greatest of all time. God's him. Yeah. God is that guy. Yeah. For lack of a better way of saying it. Even the princes, even the highest of people. I love that. I love that so much. Hey, I think this is a really cool point to end on. Yes. It says, for the shields of the earth belong to God. He is highly exalted. I think this kind of points back to 51 00:19:10.822 --> 00:19:40.201 The best reason why we should be praising the Lord, that's what this whole psalm is really about, is giving our sung praise, giving our everything to God in worship. What better reason than that he shields the earth? And I was reading about shields. I found this quote, a shield is a merciful weapon. There is not one more so. It bears the blows and receives the injuries which were intended for another. 52 00:19:40.825 --> 00:20:10.188 Mm, wow. And God literally shielded us from the effects of our own sin and our own evil and darkness and false intentions and our own missing the mark. He bore all of that consequence on the cross. Yeah. And so in a way, he is the shield of the whole earth. And what more could you want for a reason to praise him? Mm-hmm. 53 00:20:11.167 --> 00:20:30.100 There's no greater love than this, a man that will lay down his life for his friend. Friends, plural. That's great. I think that's a great place to end off when we praise the Lord because he loves us. Yeah. And he shuns that love on the cross through Jesus. Yeah. I've had this song stuck in my head all day. 54 00:20:30.252 --> 00:20:55.058 Hallelujah, hallelujah. We can get all the praise, Yahweh. Hallelujah. Hey, yo, if you can find an opportunity in any sort of way this week, go and just praise the Lord. Just give him some glory. Yeah. And have fun with it. Celebrate what he's done. Bring those things to the forefront of your mind and give him worship. He is so worthy of it. So worthy. 55 00:20:55.463 --> 00:21:10.567 And we're going to end the podcast off there. Yeah, what should they comment? Oh, praise hands emoji. Surely. Surely. So fired, guys. Thank you so much for joining us. I hope this has spoken life to you. And we will see you next time. Bye for now.