Psalm 50 Silent No More

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How often do we wish God would speak to us directly as if we could just hear his voice over the phone? It is a common human response in times of trouble and doubt to wish that God would make his will for our lives clear. I would contend that he has done just that in the scriptures, in the Son, and by the Spirit. However, having God speak truth into our lives is not always well received. What if the truth reveals wrong thinking, speaking, or living on our part? How open are we to correction?

Psalm 50 has some very well-known verses (e.g., God’s ownership of hills full of cattle) in it, but it is really about a seemingly silent God finally telling it like it is. It is a psalm that requires the reader to sit down and buckle up for a dose of revelation about the nature of God and the appropriate response of humanity.

Today, I encourage the reader to see this psalm in light of God speaking to creation in general and to his people in particular.

The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
    God shines forth.

Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
    before him is a devouring fire,
    around him a mighty tempest. (v.1-3)

This “devouring fire and wind imagery is used for the appearance of God’s glory many times in the OT starting with Moses in the presence of God on Sinai (Exodus 24:16-18),

The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Visions of fire and sounds of wind were not only poetic descriptions of theophany (a physical manifestation of the presence of God in a storm) but markers of God moving in a new way on behalf of his people. In the New Testament, at the birth of the church, the presence of the Holy Spirit was indicated by tongues of fire and the sound of a mighty wind (Acts 2:2-3).

While idols are mute and cannot hear or answer the prayers of those who worship them (e.g., Jer. 10:5; Rev. 9:20), the Lord hears, listens, and acts to bring deliverance. In Psalm 50 we don’t have their question and can only imply what it might have been based on the Lord’s response.

“All Rise” Calling Creation to Witness His Righteous Judgment

He calls to the heavens above and to the earth,

          that he may judge his people:

                            “Gather to me my faithful ones,

                               who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

                The heavens declare his righteousness,

 for God himself is judge! (v. 4-6)

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Judgment can be scary if we know we are guilty. I am so thankful that God is the one who sacrificed himself for us. He is the one who makes us faithful. He is the one who calls and gathers us to himself. It is time for us to stop wearing our worn-out "I can fix it" lab coats of self-sufficiency and cling to the Lord who does all things well! While God is a judge when he has to be, he is not primarily a judge, for before the fall there was nothing to judge. When God judges, it is a function of his overflowing love. We should note who is being judged here to fully understand the situation. Here, the judgment involves those who are described as “his people” and “my faithful ones.”

God’s perfect beauty shines forth (v.2). He does not keep silent (v.3). He set up the courtroom scene, as we just read when he called all of creation as witnesses and then he testified against his people (v.7). As he spoke the truth in love, he didn’t reject his people in condemnation. Rather it was more of a convicting refresher course in theology and godly living. The people fundamentally misunderstood God and their role in his kingdom. Their view of the Lord had come to be shaped more by pagan culture than by God’s word. As a result, the Lord spoke frankly, like a loving Father. In the end, what they should have been doing was easier, and more heart-based, than what they had been doing. Though written to Israelites some 3,000 years ago, there is wisdom in this passage for us as well. Here are four simple lessons we can take from this psalm.

• We need to have a right understanding of God and his motives.
• We need to be careful what we do with his words. It will impact our heart’s desires and everything that flows from them.
• We should be careful what we do with our words.
• We should take his lesson to heart and be thankful.

Okay, these lessons are more like topical folders filled with many other lessons.

 

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“I’m Not Hungry”— Clearing out the Cattle (v.9-15)

How have our false ideas about God and his motivation shaped our lives and spiritual practices? Have we elevated our sense of self-importance to think that God needs what we can provide or that by what we provide we can curry his favor? The shocking truth is that he doesn’t need us but knows that we need him. The people thought that animal sacrifices were the answer to everything, and certainly to getting what they wanted from God. Here, the Lord makes it clear that he doesn’t want or need more animal sacrifices.

  "If I were hungry,

      I would not tell you,

             for the world and its fullness are mine.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

                     and perform your vows to the Most High,

           and call upon me in the day of trouble;

     I will deliver you,

and you shall glorify me." (v.12-15)

Sacrifice-loading doesn’t make God happy. It’s like he was saying, “You can’t buy me off with barbecued bulls and goats. It’s time to clear out the cattle.” The truth is, he is not so interested in our stuff...it’s all his anyway. That might be comforting to think he is not “in it for the money” but are we comforted to learn that what we thought was ours is really his?

God not only stated the problem but the solution. His people should be thankful, keep their promises, and depend on him (not their own bright ideas), and he will deliver them. We learn that, amazingly, we will glorify him by being thankful and keeping our promises.

When everything is already God's, he is not dependent upon us—a humbling thought. The sacrifices he is looking for are decidedly less messy and more relational. We are simply to offer thanks for his abundant goodness towards us, and as a result, we are to do what we say we will do, trusting him to deliver us.

Again, in this psalm, God makes it clear that He doesn't need nor want animal sacrifices...it's not like he is hungry or something, and besides everything is already his! What the Lord desires is that we are thankful for what he provides. Gratitude puts us in a position to be delivered in our time of need, and to bring glory to God.

God's faithfulness is not questioned, nor is our salvation by grace. However, thankfulness /gratitude is shown to be the appropriate way for us to draw near to God.

Throwing Out Love Letters & Casting Off Restraint

The Lord says we have no right to expect the benefits of covenant promises when we are not willing to live under the covenant (v.16). What was the most important part of the OT Covenant Law? It was the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9).

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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The heart of the law was about loving God with one’s total being and that involved hearing and keeping (i.e., remembering and obeying) his words. But in Psalm 50 God says some should not try to invoke covenant promises for they had cast off restraint,

“For you hate discipline,
     and you cast my words behind you.” (v.17)

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This is the opposite of his words being on/in their hearts. It reminds me of the Parable of the Sower where some of the seed falls on the hardened ground of the path and the devil comes like birds and snatches it away. 

In verse 17, we see their active dismissal of precious words spoken by their loving Lord. Such a dismissal quickly led to a tragic failure of discernment and values (v.18). Similarly, what right do we have to complain about God’s “situational silence” when we have cast his written and timeless words “behind our backs”?

We’ve Been Charged—Throwing Our Words at Others

Not only had some among God’s people cast his words behind their backs, but they had also thrown their deceptive and slanderous words at each other. It is as though they had thrown the many lessons about our words/tongue from Proverbs 12 away.

“You give your mouth free rein for evil,

         and your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother;

you slander your own mother's son.

These things you have done,

                    and I have been silent;

you thought that I was one like yourself.

            But now I rebuke you and

     lay the charge before you." (v.19-21)

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This psalm, better known for its "cattle on a thousand hills" section also contains this rebuke. A wrong view of God leads to harmful thinking and twisted desires that overflow in our words and deeds. What comes out of our mouth? Do we support evil ideas and deceitful plans? How do we speak about others? How do we treat our families? The psalmist makes it clear that just because God doesn't immediately zap us with a lightning bolt doesn't mean he is okay with our behavior. Rather, he is patient with us, waiting for us to repent and return to him, but if we demand justice, he will bring it and who can then deliver us? I for one don't want to give God any more grounds to judge my speech (Mt. 12:36). How about you? Whatever uncleanness is in our hearts comes out through our mouths to the harm of others! God had been patiently silent, but now was making his thoughts clear. Later, in the New Testament, John instructed the church that they couldn’t say they loved God when they hated other people (1 John 4:20).

Take Care!

           The psalm wraps up quickly with a review of what is necessary to remember and allow to shape how we live our lives.

"Mark this, then, you who forget God,

lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" (v.22-23)

In this psalm God lets us know that he doesn't need us to barbecue for him and that anything we give to him is already his, he also tells his faithful people to upgrade their worship by offering “the sacrifice of thanksgiving" and do what they have promised. Then, after warning the wicked not to fool themselves into thinking that God thinks and acts as they do, we get this verse that sternly warns the wicked to repent and develop a heart of gratitude for God's grace. Why? Because the Lord wants to show us all His salvation! When we are thankful to God, we are learning to see what he is showing us and trusting that it flows from his steadfast and eternal love for us.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Thankful hearts will always lead us home, into the twin blessings of both humility and joy. And when we are grateful, to the LORD, we will be open to hearing what he says next. And whatever it is, he says it because he takes great care of us!

 

 

Psalm 49 Playing A Little Music While Pondering Big Questions

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Psalm 49 is considered a Wisdom Psalm. It focuses on wisdom and understanding, and it sounds very much like a mashup of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

When commenting on this song, about 80%of the time my emphasis has been on the second stanza (v.5-9) and verse 15’s victoriously confident statement, “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.”

However inevitable it may be that I again consider those verses, my emphasis in reading the psalm this time was on the first stanza (v.1-4) and specifically verse 4.

Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

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The psalmist declares the nature of the psalm from the beginning and then in v. 4 paints a picture of his pondering or thinking through or considering a weighty matter while noodling around on his lyre (guitars were much harder to come by back then). This process of thinking, meditating, and creatively working out the big questions in the heart can be very profound.

Too often, our lives are filled with so many distractions that we never seem to find time to quietly think through the goodness of God and the ridiculous pride of humanity. Other times it is not distractions but a residual distrust that keeps us from honestly considering the evidence regarding the big questions. That distrust produces fear and fear is then masked with anger. In the end, we find it easier to yell at someone else than it is to consider the truth of God’s heart amid the difficulties of a broken world.

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Now back to v. 4. What riddle does he work out in this psalm? He wrestled with the big questions… seeking wise perspectives on power and wealth, fear and hope, and even on human mortality and redemption. As he pondered and played, it seems that he worked through all of his concerns and realized that he didn’t need to live in fear (v. 5, 15).

It should be noted that while the third stanza (v.10-12) speaks of the finality of the grave, the sons of Korah had no clear grasp on the idea of the resurrection. Many truths in the Bible were progressively revealed as God’s plan unfolded down through the centuries. Yet, even in this psalm, there is the confident expectation that as v. 15 states,

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. 

But what was the riddle?

Is this post starting to sound like a click-bait article that keeps stringing you along as long as possible before giving you the answer to your simple question? Maybe. But what I was hoping was that you would read the psalm and find the answer for yourself before I confirmed your answer.

The answer to the riddle the psalmist works out in this passage is first stated in v.12,

Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.

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The psalmist solved the riddle as he saw behind the deceptive curtain of human pride and self-importance. Proud, self-important, powerful people still die and rot in the grave. Humans are not God; we are not even capable of saving ourselves from our sins (v.7-8). Our wealth, and the social trappings that go with it, cannot redeem us… yet we waste so much time trying. And in the end, we die like everything else. And everything we may have accumulated goes back into the box. I remember a popular psychologist telling the story of thoroughly beating his family at the board game Monopoly and how in the face of his excess celebration they left him to clean it up all by himself. It was then that he realized that it all goes back in the box—all the hotels, houses, property deeds, and the money too. This is true of real life as well. Such understanding, which the Bible calls wisdom, is what we still need today.

Apparently, the people this was written to needed to hear it again as well, for verse 20 repeats, “Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish” with the addition of “without understanding.”

Are we merely selfish animals that live without understanding and die without purpose, meaning, or any lasting legacy? Or are we invited to join God in his mission to heal the broken universe? It starts with the understanding that only God can ransom our souls! The price he paid was costly, even the precious blood of Jesus! What mere bauble that this world offers could be worth enough to turn me away from trusting Jesus? So, we cannot save ourselves, and neither can we continue to live forever without dying. The good news is that God has ransomed me at the cross!

While the psalmist may not have understood how the Lord would do it, he knew that his soul would be redeemed from the grave. And thus there was no reason for fear and anxiety to direct his life.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14-15) 

As a result of the psalmist’s inspired pondering and playing, I am reminded that I no longer need to fear in times of trouble or when the wrong people grow rich and famous. Neither of those situations can determine my value for that is secure in the finished work of Christ Jesus! 

Psalm 48 "You’re Home Now!"

Great is the Lord! (v. 1-2)

Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
    in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

Jerusalem Walls Photo: Joshua Mitchell 2011

Beautiful in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
    the city of the Great King.

God is in her citadels;
    he has shown himself to be her fortress. (NIV)

Great is the Lord! Psalm 48 begins and ends with its focus on the Lord. Every time we gather as the people of God, our focus...beginning, end, and middle needs to be on the nature and character of Jesus Christ! Not only is he great, but he also faithfully guides us and protects us in his steadfast love! And, “He will guide us forever”(v.14).

What the Zaphon Are You Talking About?

The Sons of Korah, as gatekeepers in the temple, often used temple/Jerusalem/Zion imagery in the nearly a dozen psalms attributed to them (see Psalm 84:5-10 “I’d Rather be a Gatekeeper!) but what is this “heights of Zaphon” thing we find here? In v. 2 there is a translation issue that needs clarification. Is the word “Zaphon” a proper noun in that it is the name of a place or is it to be understood as simply meaning “north”? Surprisingly the normally solid ESV opts for “north” and has “Mount Zion in the far north” which makes no sense geographically since Zion is not in the far north, not even the northern part of Jerusalem. The Expositors’ Bible Commentary’s technical footnotes on Psalm 48 explain it like this.

The name "Zaphon" elsewhere may be translated straightforwardly as "north." But in this context, it is best to retain it as a proper name. Zaphon was to the Canaanites what Mount Olympus was to the Greeks. The Canaanites (Phoenicians) believed that the chief God of the pantheon, El, dwelt on Mount Zaphon. The psalmist is borrowing the imagery and not the theology. Zion is the holy mountain of God. (EBC, Vo;. 5, 363)

Here... Heaven and Earth Meet

Photo: Greg K.Dueker

In the ancient Near Eastern world, there was a luminous idea of a place where a man could meet with God (Mt. Zaphon). It became more than a mythical hope at the authentic Mt. Zion (Jerusalem), as was pointed out by the late Peter Craigie, “The psalmist affirms in effect, that the aspirations of all people for a place on earth where God’s presence could be experienced were fulfilled in Mt. Zion, the true Zaphon.”[1] Yet, centuries later at the transfiguration of Jesus, God made it clear that the meeting place between God and man was no longer a place, but a person to whom we should listen — Jesus Christ! Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand this as seen in this dialogue between Thomas and Jesus.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”[2]

The desire of the entire world for that place where they could meet with God was fulfilled at Mt. Zion, (a symbol of the true Church today). What Jesus did on the cross was for all people. He is the fulfillment of the deepest longing of their souls.

Photo: Greg K.Dueker

The Hebrew idiom "It is beautiful in its loftiness" appears only once in the Bible (an hapax legomenon) … The theological significance of this has been well expressed by A.A. Anderson: "It is here that, in a sense, heaven and earth meet".  (EBC, Vol. 5, 363)

In the Messiah, Jesus the Son of God, heaven came down to earth and assumed all of our sins and sorrow so that we might come back to the Father—both now and forever! In Christ, we are home in a way that is more real and relational than we could ever have imagined.

They Came, They Saw, and They Freaked (v.4-5)

"For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together.

                  As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;

                        they were in panic; they took to flight."

When the kings of enemy nations came, what was the "it" at which they were looking? It seems it was Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord in its midst. The work of God in and through his people is still a fearful sight to wicked rulers wherever/whenever they dwell. Commentators such as Craigie note that while “the world’s kings (v. 4) came to Jerusalem and saw one astounding thing (v.5); the pilgrim worshipers also came to Jerusalem and saw another thing (v. 8), though in a literal sense it was the same sight that met their eyes.” (Craigie, Psalms, 353)

Pondering His Steadfast Love (v.9-10)

“We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.” 

Do we pause to consider the greatness of God’s love, his steadfast love, available to us because of his sacrifice on our behalf? If not, let's start today! His redemptive plan reaches the ends of the earth. His praise should flow from us as we consider all of who he is: loving, righteous, strong, eternal...

It is always good to think about his steadfast love and since his righteous, loving character reaches the ends of the earth his praise reaches there too. I have the feeling this passage is suggesting the future salvation of the nations. For God's mysterious love is not just for one people (it's too light a thing—Isaiah 49:6) but for all peoples of the world!

As we think about his steadfast love it should fill and overflow from our hearts. How is the overflow of this praise/worship/love visible to the people we encounter on the road, in stores, in the neighborhood, and in our homes?

The Lord’s steadfast love (Heb. hesed) is always a good thing to think about and we should praise him from wherever we are…not just in the places considered holy!

In my spiritual formation classes, I ask my students to take a micro-retreat of just an hour without technology and get outside and walk around and look for ways that they can see God at work around them. This is what the Sons of Korah were asking the people of God to do. They were not merely to sing God’s praises and think about his steadfast love in the Temple (v.9-10) but they were told to walk around the city and see the strength of the walls and towers as a sign of God’s active work of protection for his people (v. 12-14).

How do we engage our whole being in worship and contemplation of God? How might we allow the things that God has made or provided to us to turn our eyes and hearts back to the Lord?

He will Guide Us Forever (v.11-14) 

     Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

 Walk about Zion, go around her,

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    number her towers,
 consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
     that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

What a wonderful reminder of God’s goodness toward his people. May we seek this promised guidance, together as the people of God, both now and always! 

He is our true home and in him, we are home now!

Here are a few other Bible verses for further reading:

• Matthew 11:27-29
• Luke 14:23
• John 14:1-3 
• Isaiah 19:23-25
• Hebrews 12:1-2
• 1 Peter 2:4-5
• Revelation 22:17
• Hebrews 2:14-18

---

[1] Peter Craigie, Psalms Vol. 1 WBC, (Waco: TX, Word, 1983) 353.

[2] John 14:5-7 

Psalm 47 Celebrate by Singing Praises!

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I love the exuberance of this psalm! The whole psalm is like a spiritual endzone celebration
after a BCS bowl game win or after a walk-off home run in the World Series. 

Previously I have shared devotional thoughts on both the first strophe (v.1-4) and the third strophe (v.8-9). But until now I have not specifically targeted the second strophe (v.5-7), the very heart of this psalm. In this post, I will correct this omission as I briefly summarize my thoughts on each section(strophe) of this psalm and tie them all together devotionally with a contemporary application.

Psalm 47 is classified as an “enthronement psalm” celebrating the coronation of a righteous king and the beginning of his just reign. Such psalms look beyond the historical enthronement of any particular Israelite king to that of the coming Messiah, who will be the King of kings. We are quite good at celebrating inaugurations and opening ceremonies, touchdowns, goals, and home runs. If only we were so invested in the work of the Spirit!

I) The Shout of Victory (v.1-4)

"Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves."

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As I write this at the New Year, crowds of people are clapping and cheering for their favorite football teams in bowl games or playoff games. Basketball fans are clapping and cheering for their teams too. However, more importantly, there is so much to shout and applaud God for! Not the least of which is the things we have seen Him do in our lives. I am also amazed that "He chose our heritage for us." He placed us on this planet and in our families on purpose. But when was the last time we clapped and shouted to God with loud songs of joy? It doesn't take us very long to forget what awesome things he has done for us...but the more we rehearse what he has done the more we will remember his goodness and lovingkindness and be filled with abiding joy! The joy of the Lord cannot be taken away by another team’s touchdown or a referee’s missed pass interference call. This is a bigger-picture joy and celebration of the victory of the Lord God and his vindication of his people.

II) Responding in Chorus to the Assent of the King (v.5-7)

God ascends among shouts of joy,
the Lord, among the sound of trumpets.
Sing praise to God,        sing praise;
 sing praise to our King,  sing praise!
Sing a song of wisdom,
                  for God is King of all the earth.

Photo by Joshua Eckstein
on Unsplash

In verse 5 we see the king ascending to be enthroned with great shouts of joy. As a Christian, it is hard to read this without thinking of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of passion week. While the victory that set us free was unexpectedly won on the cross through the willing death of the Messiah rather than by a military or political victory, he rose from the dead on the third day, and on the 40^th day, he ascended into heaven! Oh, how we should celebrate his ascension! Christians throughout history have used Psalm 47 to celebrate Ascension Day in the church calendar. Yet this is more about living in light of his past victory and current enthronement than about celebrating one day in the year.

In verses 6-7 the psalmist uses a single Hebrew word (zāmar) five times which is translated as “sing praise!” The early Greek translation (LXX) of this verse uses the word psallo to interpret zāmar, this is no surprise since it also means to sing praises. However, the root of this word refers to the process of making music on a stringed instrument. How might such music be made? By plucking, strumming, twanging, bowing, etc. I would suggest that this call to sing praise is more than mere singing, but certainly not less.

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So let me ask, how can we live our entire life in a way that what we do resounds with divine praise and celebration? What if all that we do strums the joyful chords of gratitude for a loving redemption, the healing notes of peace, mercy, and righteousness that flow from our being forgiven, the sustaining notes of faith and hope in the person of the Great King? Indeed, this speaks to the way we sing in our worship services and gatherings, but it also calls to us in our work situations, inviting and even urging us to work and live as an instrument of praise.

Perhaps, if you are like me, this will require some tuning and some practice!

III) The Reign of the King and

God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on His holy throne.
      The nobles of the peoples have assembled
                     with the people of the God of Abraham.
For the leaders [lit., shields] of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted. (CSV)

Nations where readers of this Psalms blog live... 

I am so glad that God is not subject to the whims of any individual nations, or even to groups of nations such as the UN; rather, he is sovereign over all nations and peoples. I look forward to the still-future day when we see v. 9 come to pass in all fullness, the day when the nobles of the peoples will gather as the people of the God of Abraham (i.e., by faith)! Certainly, this would make the world a better place!

Another aspect of this passage is that it reveals that God wants to include all nations in his kingdom. Will we come and encourage others to come with us?

Photo by Larisa Birta on Unsplash

This psalm urges us to respond to the victory of our God and King by living out a life that accurately declares who our God is and by our work we participate in his symphony of goodness.

In my last post, we saw the nations raging against God (46:6), but here we see them coming in peace as the people of the God of Abraham! Don't you long for the day when world leaders come to God by faith recognizing that he alone is our great king and defender? I do.

Several things jump out to me here: 1) God reigns over all the nations, not just one of them. 2) The rulers of multiple peoples will be gathered together under the banner of the Abrahamic covenant. 3) The defenses of the earth are ultimately in God's hands—not Captain America's for Yahweh is sovereign over the earth. 4) He is highly exalted whether we admit it or not.

This psalm focuses not on the nation per se, but on celebrating and living lives of worship before the victorious king. As a result, allow me to speak briefly about the troubling issue of nationalism. 

The following is not a politically partisan statement but a biblical call to align ourselves and our faith communities with the larger purposes of the Kingdom of God rather than worldly empires.

The Smallness of Nationalism, even Christian Nationalism

While I love my country and appreciate the great diversity of countries around the world, as people of God we have higher citizenship and greater loyalty than could ever be tied to an earthly nation. Though I am not an expert in this area of socio-political theory, I think there are a few things simple enough for me to point out.

While the common history, language, and cultural heritage of a nation can be a community strength and helps maintain unity and peace for its people, it is ultimately too weak, too small, and too temporary, to become the primary focus for followers of Christ. Here are several ways that nationalism is less than God’s best for us.

• 

  Photo by Filip Andrejevic on Unsplash

  It assumes entitlement and exceptionalism and seeks its own good over the good of
  others.
• It claims a primary loyalty from its people that should be given only to Christ.
• It assumes a right of ownership over land, language, wealth, and power of which we can only be stewards.
• It belittles the sovereignty of God by taking credit for both the building up and the pulling down of nations. This is pervasive in all political factions.
• It dims our views of the imago Dei in others for it magnifies differences between the members of the select in-group and all others (out-groups).
• It gives its adherents an ample excuse for not loving their enemies.

Having said these things, it may surprise you that while I am in favor of immigration reform I am not in favor of open borders, election tampering on any level, or a weak national defense. However, these national distinctives should be used in a way that benefits citizens and sojourners alike and humbly works for the good of all. Heaven, the Kingdom of God, no matter what your view is/will be made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation (e.g., Isa 66:18; Rev. 5:9-10; 7:9-10)—not just one, or a politically select few.

While contending for righteousness in society, the American church has often not thought as broadly as it should as “world Christians” and has narrowed its focus to making the most change for its "me and mine."

So much more could be said, so many more questions could be asked and attempted to answer, and so many objections could be entertained. Yet, this post is overlong already.

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

I will suggest the following "rapid test" to indicate whether our hearts have been exposed to and infected by earthly nationalism, which is highly contagious. If we took a nasal swab that somehow captured trace DNA of our recent speaking, sniffing, snorting, and even breathing out forcefully, what would such a test reveal? 

For which of the following 3-Rs would we test positive?

• Passion for demanding and/or defending our own rights?
• Fomenting rebellion against some perceived political power, moral standard, or people?
• Consistently rejoicing in the reign of the King who will not show partiality but will make all things right?

Such a 3-R test is not comfortable, but it is needed if we are to heed the call to “sing praises” to our God and King Jesus Christ. One day, Psalm 47 will be fulfilled and its strains incorporated into the heavenly song! As it is written,

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, 

                and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and amazing are your deeds,
    O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
    O King of the nations!
 Who will not fear, O Lord,
    and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
    All nations will come
    and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Rev. 15:3-4)