Gathering of The Saints
"Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!"
– Psalm 47:1
Just as all the others, this is an amazing Psalm. It is a Psalm of celebration. The previous Psalm gives us a picture of Christ ruling, reigning, and being on the throne. What a time it will be in the millennial reign when our Lord is ruling. It is important as the Scriptures present these things to us to take the time and be reminded of what is coming and what we are to be right now.
The Super Bowl has recently taken place. I am sure there was a lot of shouting and screaming as many were cheering on their favorite team, for better or for worse. And, that is just for a football game! The shouting and praising we can do because of the truth of what God has for us should be even more exciting. What an honor and blessing we have to praise God!
The church has gone through a time when we have not gathered together. Now we are in a time when we either desire to get back to fellowship or become comfortable with the "new way" of having church. Maybe you have noticed what I have seen. Not everyone is excited about God. Churches are emptying and selling their properties at a very high rate across the country and the world. People are not coming back and supporting fellowships, and churches are crumbling. People are just watching it on their televisions, unsettled and distracted, wondering when a commercial break will be—not paying attention to the message. There is church going on, but it is not in the heart. This is why we get together so that the Holy Spirit can move in us as we are obedient to His Word. Obedience comes when we are not "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:24).
Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in what is going on in our own lives. I love God's Word because it not only speaks of what is happening today. It also goes over experiences of the past that we can learn from. We are learning from the saints who have gone before us. Not only that, they provide us with the prophetic hope that we all, as Christians, will have in the future. And, that is what these Psalms are giving us a picture of. There will be a new age before the new heaven and new earth. Christ will be here on this earth, ruling and reigning for a thousand years. While we are here, waiting for the church's rapture, may we finish well.
“As water cannot rise higher than its source, so the moral quality in an act can never be higher than the motive that inspires it. For this reason, no act that arises from an evil motive can be good, even though some good may appear to come out of it.”
– A. W. Tozer