1 Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued nations under us,
peoples under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.
5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing to him a psalm of praise.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
The book of Psalms is the prayer book of the Bible. A collection of 150 songs drawn from the experience of life. Through good times and bad, trouble and turmoil or celebration and contentment, the Psalms give voice to the cries of our hearts. Forget any idea that these are sweet or cute songs, these are not prayers for ‘nice people’ but personal, authentic and often brutally honest. These songs are prayers which enable us to bring everything in our lives before a God who loves us. Through this series our hope is that as a church we will develop a deeper life of prayer and allow our hearts to sing “Songs in the Key of Life”.
When we read a psalm it’s helpful to ask questions…
Am I living in light of this? What difference does this make? If I believed this or lived like this, how would it change my life? How does this affect me and my life with others?
What did this mean to the original listeners? What did the author want to convey? How should I interpret this?
What does this say about God and his character? What does this say human nature, character and behaviour? What does this say about Jesus?
Read Psalm 47 again. What does this say about God? How does this affect you?
The Psalms give a voice to area of life. They are honest and often brutal cries of the heart. What if you were to pray honestly to God, what would you say ?
Try writing a psalm in your own language. What would you write?
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