June 5, 2011 Ascension of the Lord
Psalm 46, Acts 1:11, Ephesians 15-23, Luke 24: 44-53
Meditation Psalm 47
We are a people who enjoy giving accolades. In fact, we give praise to many different things all the time. We praise the weather, sports teams, American idols, writers, countries, leaders. In fact, we are apt to praise most anything whether it's praiseworthy or not.
Just this week I have praised the men and women who have given their lives for freedom. I have praised air-conditioning. I have praised spicy hamburgers, little kids' wisdom, and the new app I recently downloaded for my iPod. What have you praised?
Psalm 47 which we heard in our 1st reading this morning is an example of a psalm of praise. Like a number of other Psalms, this Psalm was one that was likely used in ancient Israel during the annual celebrations of God's kingship. In ancient Israel there was an emphasis placed on the kingship of God.
Psalm 47 praises God as the great King of all the earth. The psalmist extols the mighty deeds of God, as God subdues people and nations. The people rejoice because God has chosen them to love and protect. The psalmist encourages the people to gather, to sing praises, and to exalt God.
Psalm 47 is dedicated to the sons of Korah. These men were a division of Levites and were known as Temple singers. Not very much is known about these men, but there is one story I wanted to share with you this morning. It comes from 2 Chronicles 20: 1-22. If you would like to turn to that Scripture now I'm going to read to you about the battle of Tekoa.
As you turn to your Scripture I want to give you a little background about king Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat lived 873 years before Jesus, and was the 4th King of Judah. Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa and followed in his father's footsteps as a good and righteous king of Judah. Now hear the word the Lord.
READ SCRIPTURE
Isn't this a great story? The one thing I want to mention in the story is how the people led by king Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord in the time of their trouble. When Jehoshaphat got word of the great hoard of warriors coming against Judah, the Bible says he became afraid. But though he was afraid he was not paralyzed. He turned to the Lord in prayer; he and all the people came together in prayer as well. In his prayer, King Jehoshaphat reminded God of all that God had done. And as he was praying the people were reminded of those things as well.
A while into Jehoshaphat's reign, the Bible tells us that the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah and he prophesied that Judah would win the battle against this hoard even without fighting. Now this was not a small army coming against Judah; this was indeed a great hoard of people. When the battle was over Judah went upon the battleground to collect the spoil from the battle, and it took them 3 days to carry away all that they could carry and still more was left. That's how many people had come against them.
The division of Levites which led Judah into the battle, with arms at their side, were these Levites called sons of Korah. Verse 22,"And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the warriors." What happened was...they killed one another, and Judah did not have to lift a sword!
The interesting thing is that Jehoshaphat, and all of Judah, warriors, priests, women, slaves, children stood before the Lord in praise and prayer even before they knew what God would do. They praised the Lord in faith...and the Lord had yet to rescue them.
Psalm 47 is a great song of praise to God as are many of the Psalms. Would you say today that we the congregation of Pisgah United Methodist Church are a congregation who praises and worships God?
God has indeed done mighty things, wondrous things on our behalf. Maybe it is because we the is in a fallen world, and see how often the things we praise are truly unworthy of praise, that we may transfer onto God feelings of distrust. We might ask ourselves, does God require our praise. If God does require and needs our praise, what does that mean? Is God narcissistic? Absolutely not.
The fact is God needs nothing from us. God is our Creator; not the other way round. God created us out of love...for no other reason than so that God could love us. God loves us with an unconditional love. Whether we offer God praise for all the things God has done for us or not, God still loves us. Jesus, acting on behalf on God's love died to save us for God.
God is worthy of praise because of who God is. Our praise, all true praise of God comes from grateful hearts. Praising God is something we do because we know all that God has done for us even though compared to God, we are very insignificant. David wrote of God in Psalm 8:3-5, when I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you should visit him. Have you ever wondered like King David did, why God considers you? I certainly have.
What has God done for you? Can you praise God with a grateful heart? Has God given you any blessing in your life? What battles has God won for you? Who are the Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites...the hoards that have come against you?
Maybe you are here today and you have experienced God battling for you. If you're like me, you had many enemies to battle over the years. I have had hurts, wounds, hurts, illnesses, and big problems to face. Lots of times I have been like King Jehoshaphat, afraid, worried about what was going to happen. But just like what happened at Tekoa, God has subdued my enemies, and saved me.
Maybe you're here today and you have had your prayers answered in ways that have blessed your life. I know I can witness to the fact that God answers my prayers every day. I have seen the work of God all around me. I see God's work in my own life, and how the Holy Spirit has worked within the to change me over time. I have seen God working in the lives of others too, making positive changes, healing, increasing faith, and providing comforting peace in times of distress and trouble.
Jesus told the disciples in Luke that God knows us so well that
· the hairs of our head are numbered (7:38)
· that God knows our hearts (16:15).
· The Psalms tell us that God knows the ways the righteous (1:6)
· the thoughts of all people (94:11).
· And best of all the Lord knows how to rescue godly from all trials (2 Peter 2:9a).
Again I ask you: what good thing has God done in your life? Have you had blessing? Have you been healed? Have you been loved? Have you been saved? Today, you may want to write a Psalm of your own to be written upon your own heart, a song to sing to the Lord your God. Amen.
©2011 Judy H. Eurey
