{"id":22388,"date":"2024-09-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-8-september-2024"},"modified":"2024-09-08T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-8-september-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-8-september-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 8 September 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psalm 47<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

All peoples, clap your hands,<\/span>
cry to God with shouts of joy!<\/span>
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,<\/span>
great king over all the earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

He subdues peoples under us<\/span>
and nations under our feet.<\/span>
Our inheritance, our glory, is from him,<\/span>
given to Jacob out of love.<\/span><\/p>\n

God goes up with shouts of joy;<\/span>
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.<\/span>
Sing praise for God, sing praise,<\/span>
sing praise to our king, sing praise.<\/span><\/p>\n

God is king of all the earth,<\/span>
sing praise with all your skill.<\/span>
God is king over the nations;<\/span>
God reigns on his holy throne.<\/span>
The leaders of the people are assembled<\/span>
with the people of Abraham\u2019s God.<\/span>
The rulers of the earth belong to God,<\/span>
to God who reigns over all.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Psalms: An Inclusive Language Version based on the Grail translation from the Hebrew \u00a9 1963, 1986 The Grail (England) GIA Publications<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes God have favourites? If not, in the Bible, why is he so nice to the Israelites and so nasty to the Egyptians?\u201d That\u2019s the question a teenager posed to a URC ministry student thirty years ago. I clearly remember their question, though I can\u2019t recall my answer. I doubt if they found it convincing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Psalm writer doesn\u2019t seem to share that teenager\u2019s concerns, or my qualms. God is being re-acclaimed as sovereign of the people. Like Machiavelli\u2019s \u201cPrince\u201d God is a sovereign to be feared \u2013 the great king over all the earth. The Psalmist\u2019s people are to be joyful, however, because God has given them land (\u2018our inheritance\u2019) and subjugated other nations to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, even as this Psalm\u2019s self-confident songs of praise sound out, along with their musical accompaniment, other notes can be heard. God is the \u2018great king over all the earth,\u2019 not just over (our) one nation. All the leaders of the people, all the rulers of the earth (and so their nations) belong to God. Those who assemble before God are \u2018people of Abraham\u2019s God,\u2019 and Abraham\u2019s descendants are constituted by more than one nation.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you know God loves you it can be easy to forget or fail to recognise that God loves others just as much. Groups of people, such as nations and churches, are just as prone to seeing things that way.<\/span>
Perhaps unintentionally, today\u2019s Psalm warns against such tendencies. God is as much the God of other nations as your nation (whichever one yours might be). God is as much the God of those who never darken the doors of church as of those who are there every week. They (and we) are all God\u2019s favourites.<\/span> <\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

O God of all the earth you are truly awesome<\/span>
in your power and in your love for everyone.
So may we clap our hands with joy
and sing to you with thanksgiving.
Amen.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Psalm 47 All peoples, clap your hands,cry to God with shouts of joy!For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,great king over all the earth. He subdues peoples under usand nations under our feet.Our inheritance, our glory, is from him,given to Jacob out of love. God goes up with shouts of joy;the Lord goes … <\/p>\n

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