Ascension
Psalm 47:5-6, 8 God has gone up with a shout, The Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.
Many believe that Psalm 47 describes what happened when the Ark of the Covenant was relocated to Jerusalem. As it ascended Mt. Zion, David danced with all his might. The people sang and shouted. Musicians blew on trumpets and cornets. The Ark was a powerful symbol of God’s presence. Where the Ark went, good things happened.
A thousand years after King David, the One whom the Ark represented was ascending–not to the temple mount in Jerusalem–but to His throne in heaven. There probably were no shouts of joy on the Mt. of Olives as a cloud received Jesus from their sight, but He certainly arrived in heaven to outbursts of delight and the reverberations of trumpet blasts. Every believer who had died trusting in Him was there when He returned from His mission of saving sinners.
Those in heaven hadn’t seen the cross or empty tomb, but they trusted that what God had promised, He would fulfill. How the crowd must have erupted when the Conqueror returned from His mission just as He said!
It’s not often that we shout for joy in our daily lives, but we could and should. We know that God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. He rules over all. He controls the events of world history, the rise and fall of nations. He is also intimately concerned about the smallest details of your life. If we could see that with our eyes, we’d do a lot less worrying and a lot more shouting for joy.
Dearest Jesus, we rejoice that You rule over all things for the sake of Your people and make all things work together for our eternal good. All praise and thanks to You. Amen.