Psalm 47 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 47 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.
Verse 2For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.
Verse 3He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
Verse 4He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
Verse 5God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Verse 6Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
Verse 7For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.
Verse 8God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
Verse 9The 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.
Devotion
Today we're at Yokota AB, Japan. Our Chapel "Liturgical Service" has a longstanding relationship with a Japanese Lutheran congregation not far from base. One Sunday a year we join in worship in the faith home of faithful Christians who live in a different kind of "chaotic land." What a fellowship, what a joy divine! Including the Japanese-style potluck following the service, with delicacies like...pizza layered with...corn kernels!
But that is not the "best" memory of that unique opportunity to worship together under one son. This is—the hymns we sing that day are familiar ones; what is unfamiliar and unexpected is the beautiful harmony that rises up in praise as those hymns are sung in unison—in both Japanese and English. And these rising praises deliver one more reminder that our Lord, the most high, is awesome! "All you peoples, shout to God with loud songs of joy!"
Prayer
Almighty king, give me a voice this day to better sing your praise through my words and my actions. Amen.