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Psalm 47 – New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;

    shout to God with loud songs of joy.

2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,

    a great king over all the earth.

3 He subdued peoples under us

    and nations under our feet.

4 He chose our heritage for us,

    the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

5 God has gone up with a shout,

    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

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 praises with a psalm. 

8 God is king over the nations;

    God sits on his holy throne.

9 The 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.

Hebrews 1 – New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son; today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds and his servants flames of fire.”

8 But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,    and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Our New Testament scriptures were written approximately 2,000 years ago. While I believe that there is truth in what was orally passed down and in what was then written, I also believe that our faith is alive and did not stop evolving “as it was written.” Our God may be changeless but our understanding of our faith must continue to evolve. Therefore, when Hebrews 1:9 says of Jesus,  9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” it must be more broadly interpreted to also be true for all of us. We must love righteousness and hate lawlessness. We must strive to make this earth a heavenly place for all created beings. 

This week, when many of us will gather with family and friends for the Thanksgiving Holiday it is fitting that the undercurrent present in these two scriptures are joy and gladness. Joy and gladness for a God whose love encompasses all of their human and more than human creations.

Our Psalm invites us to “Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. 2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome…”

As we approach the season of Advent let us remember to dwell on all that God created and declared good. There is much to be joyful and glad about – always. 

But we must be careful. Our Psalm also says that God “3 …subdued peoples under us and nations under our feet.” Some historical insight and context is important. 

My “Connections” biblical commentary this week led me to read Psalm 47 through the lens of the ancient worldview of a three-tiered universe. You may be familiar with this. The realm of the dead was the lowest level, beneath the earth. The middle level was represented as our earth. The top level was above the sky. For many of us, this ancient worldview is ingrained in our colloquial speech. We frequently refer to God and Heaven as “up” and Hell as “down.” 

I quote from Gail Ramshaw in my “Connections” biblical commentary, who puts this Psalm in context with our ascension narrative of Jesus, which includes his descent to the lower realm of the dead on Good Friday, being raised to the middle level for the forty days of Easter, and then raised again to a realm above the sky on Ascension Day. Framing Psalm 47 within this three-tiered universe places God “…up above the earth, the people… are on earth, and other peoples—those who are not worshipers of YHWH—are ‘under our feet.’”

Danger. Red flag. We must be careful with our scriptures. A religion centered in love does not have a God that condones harm. Our God does not disrespect or punish those who worship or believe differently than we do. And neither would a loving God ask us to harm those who are different than we are.  When we “other” any humans in order to rule or control them, what we are essentially doing is pushing them down into the realm of the dead and intending to keep them there, trampling them underfoot.

So I repeat, I believe that our faith is alive “as it was written” and yet cannot stop evolving. Our understanding of our faith and our scriptures must continue to grow and must be grounded in love. Love of God and Creation. Love of self. Love of neighbor. 

This Psalm also relies heavily on the imagery of kingship. The original text assumes that God is male, that God sits on a throne in heaven overseeing all of creation. 

Many translations now intersperse female pronouns with the male pronouns, but I find that anthropomorphizing God is also problematic. Most distressing however, is the unwavering literal belief in the language  that God is king and God is male, and using that to justify that men are to rule as kings over women and children and our non-binary kin. 

Perhaps you have noticed that in Liberation Theology, which I embrace, the kingdom of God is expressed as the kin-dom of God. This is in part, the belief that decision making is best when based in love and care for all and spread out among the many, in direct contrast to having all of the power placed in the control of a male autocrat. 

Returning to our Hebrews passage, We must also be careful that we do not “other” and push down those we differ from or disagree with because we think God has ordained it, elevating “us” above “them.” 

The truly righteous do not make decisions for others that harm the other and benefit themselves. We cannot let the words, “your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” be taken out of context. 

We must hold our leaders to account, not allowing them to elevate themselves above all others. Our leaders are not to serve themselves but to be of service to others.  

In my study of these two scriptures I found that in addition to the undercurrent of joy and gladness they also overlapped in regard to the need to protect and care for the most vulnerable among us. 

Jesus was revolutionary in this way. I love the image on our bulletin cover. Love is and must be embedded in revolution. And revolutionary love may appear backwards or wrong to those intent on upholding kingdom law instead of kin-dom law. 

Jesus, in his birth, and life, and death personified a revolutionary love. As we go about our lives we would do well to ask ourselves – am I doing “this” for love? If any answer is “no,” the follow-up questions are, “What would “this” situation look like with love at the core?” and “How do we get there from here?”

As we prepare ourselves to begin our journey through Advent, I invite us to begin contemplating when and how we are prepared to be bearers of peace, hope, joy, and especially love as we transition into this next season of life.

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – November 24, 2024