Advent 2023: December 7 - Psalm

Read Psalm 47.

Traditionally, Psalm 47 is read as the Church celebrates the Ascension of Jesus Christ.  You can see it in the Psalm itself: “God has gone up with a shout!  The Lord with the sound of the trumpet.”
When we think of the Ascension of Jesus, often we do not grasp the significance of it.  We think that Jesus just went off and left us.

But Jesus went away to become even closer to us.  Jesus ascended into heaven, and we should think of heaven as the control room of the creation.  From there Jesus reigns and rules all things.  And from heaven, Jesus can exercise his dominion and rule for the sake of the Church (see Ephesians as Paul deals with that topic).
 
From this Psalm we are given a glimpse through the veil, as it were, to see that the work of Jesus Christ, from his birth to his resurrection, has all served to bring us to this new day.  A day where Jesus subdues all things for his people.

This is a cause for celebration and jubilation.  For indeed, “God reigns over the nations, God sits on his Holy Throne.”  This is good news for you.  For the one who rules all things is your Savior and our Lord who promises to do right by his people and deliver them and to have them go through what he has gone through.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life after all.  And now this Lord is able to live in you, for his glory and for his name.
 
And so we indeed still gather in his name and as his people to receive his gifts and to praise him for his victory and to celebrate that our God reigns.