TO CHEW ON: "Oh clap your hands all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!" Psalm 47:1
Clapping hands is an action we commonly associate with applause. We clap in appreciation and admiration after an artistic or athletic performance. We clap because we want more. It's a gesture of approval and support.
[The Hebrew word taqa, here translated "clap" means to make all kinds of noise: "... clatter, clang, sound blow (trumpets), clap, strike. Taqa describes pitching a tent or fastening a nail probably due to the striking of the hammer used for both tasks .... Taqa indicates energy and enthusiasm. Here all nations are commanded to clap their hands and shout triumphantly to God ... God has built into the human being an almost instinctive urge to clap and shout when victory is experienced" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 724.]
My Bible's notes tell me that Psalm 47 was quoted at the Hebrew New Year. It expressed the Hebrews' hope and prayer that God would rule over the nations in the coming year.
Christians have applied Psalm 47 to Jesus' resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:9-10). The church celebrates this event as a special day tomorrow (Ascension Day).
Compare Psalm 47:5 "The Lord has gone up with a shout, / The Lord with the sound of a trumpet..."
with
"...according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places" - Ephesians 1:19, 20.
I ask myself, does my exuberance over these things (Jesus' victory over death, His presence in heaven now, His promise of eventual victory) bring me to a place of spontaneous taqa, as in clapping banging noisemakers, blowing trumpets, stamping feet (think of the type of noise at a hockey, football or basketball game)? It could. It should. For:
"God has gone up with a shout ...
God is the King of all the earth...
God reigns over the nations
God sits on His holy throne" Psalm 47:5,7,8.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to conquer death. Thank You that He lives in heaven now. Help me to applaud Your victory in faith as I wait for the day You triumph over nations and the systems of earth as we know them. Amen.
MORE: "Crown Him with Many Crowns" sung by Robin Mark
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