Sports and their fans are an interesting phenomenon. They are mock wars; our forces against your forces. The forces have specific colors, banners, chants, music, shouts, and sometimes just a great amount of noise around them.
In a war, when your side is winning or has won, you are encircled with joyful noise. The noise is used to intimidate the enemy, celebrate victory, and energize the warriors as it spirals ever upward and energy creates more energy.
Why do we do this and why does this happen? It all has to do with the nature of glory. The word “glory” in Hebrew speaks of weightiness. That which adds weightiness to you in the eyes of others whether through responsibility, beauty, or achievement is glorious. In Psalm 8, crowning man with glory is equivalent to God giving him dominion over the works of his hands (Ps 8.5-8). When Jesus is exalted, he is crowned with glory, all authority in heaven and on earth (Heb 2.5-9; Mt 28.18). Winning is glorious.
When our forces–whether sports teams or military–are winning, we are all caught up in this glory. Glory is social; that is, it is experienced in relationship with others. From the man’s glory being embodied in the woman (1Cor 11.7), to subjects participating in the glory of their king, to citizens participating in the glory of their military’s victories, to fans participating in the glory of their teams, to angels and men participating in the glory cloud of God, glory is social. We share it so that when one of our number is glorified through victory and exaltation, we participate with them. Their glory is our glory.
We do this because of God’s eternal, all-glorious existence is shared between Father, Son, and Spirit. God’s glory is eternally social. This glory pulsates with energy that spirals into the creation of the world and its ever-growing and moving forward. Where there is glory such as this, it tends to feed the energy within the group creating even more energy.
As energy swells, it creates noise. This glory is noisy because God’s glory cloud as we see it on Mt. Sinai, for example, is noisy; sounds of trumpets growing louder and thunder rumbling (Ex 19). The more glory the more noise; the more noise, the greater the energy.
Psalm 47 is noisy because God Yahweh has won and his people are swirling around in this wonderous glory cloud of shouts. In Psalm 46 Yahweh promised that he would be exalted among the nations (46.10). Psalm 47 is the fulfillment and response to a promise fulfilled.
“All peoples” are called to clap their hands and “shout to God with the voice of triumph.” The Psalm is addressed to all the nations, and all the nations are called to ascend into God’s glory of victory and, therefore, participate in the noise. The words of the sons of Korah are focused on what God has done for Israel, but when God blesses Israel by exalting the son of David, all the nations will be blessed, just as God promised Abraham in Genesis 12 and David in Psalm 2.
Yahweh God is King of all the earth. He subdued the nations, giving Jacob the inheritance promised. The victory is evidence of Yahweh’s having ascended; possibly to the place of rest in his Temple above the cherubim. When this happens, it is time to sing praises/play music. It is time to celebrate victory.
This victory means that God is gathering the princes of the peoples, the Gentiles, the nations, just as he gathers the people of Abraham. God has made all the kings his own. This is what he is saying when he says that all the “shields” of the earth belong to God. (“Shields” and “kings” are paralleled in Psalm 89.18.) The protectors of the earth belong to God. He gives victory and he causes defeat. The war is in his hand.
Psalm 47 is traditionally used in the liturgical year on Ascension Day, the day on which the church celebrates the crowning of Jesus as King after his victory. The Ascension is not merely about Jesus going back up to heaven, but about his being coronated and enthroned to rule the created order, heaven and earth, until all of his enemies are made his footstool. It acknowledges victory already won and anticipates the victory to come.
We set aside a day for this on the liturgical calendar, but we celebrate it every Lord’s Day as we participate in the glory of his ascension as we move from entrance to communion, where we sit with Christ in heavenly places. As we move through the liturgy, the energy spirals ever upward, moving from the place of confession to the place of celebration. As we sing and play music, the energy grows as we celebrate and encourage one another by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit moves between us, creating energy through our voices and instruments. This is one reason why in an energetic liturgy people are tired at the benediction.
Our noise is not a cacophony, but skillful, purposeful, orderly, and directed, reflecting the very glory of God himself. The decibels aren’t a bad thing. The clapping and shouting commanded in the Psalm are loud. Our spoken and sung responses ought to be vigorous, filled with energy, and LOUD. This is all appropriate because our God is King. God has ascended with a shout. So should we. The war is in his hands. He has won it, so we celebrate. He is winning it, so we sing, play music, clap, and shout to energize us for the battle as well as intimidate our enemies.
Christians, in worship, bring the noise! Jesus is King!
