Date:      10th January 2007                                                                  (Wednesday PM)                                                                                Ref: A0281

Place:     Kambah P.S.

Title: Shout to the King

Text:        & Psalm 47:1-4

Illust:     On the 27th Sept 1916, General Monash had his 3rd Division, 27,000 men on Parade in Bulford Field, England. They were waiting for the arrival of King George V, who was about to do an inspection of the entire unit. After riding along in front inspecting the troops, General Monash & the King watched for over 2 hours as the entire division marched past them. Monash & the King then rode the 2km to the Bulford Railway station – “Monash’s flair for the big occasion reached a climax as he had his troops drawn up a hundred deep on the sloping field adjoining the road. Each unit ‘broke into a deafening cheer’ as the King rode by, ‘raising hats aloft on bayonets’”

I.                   Praise

A.               A Loud Noise

i.                 When the King rode past the men of the 3rd Division they ‘broke into a deafening cheer’. Here we have earthly royalty, a King & Kingdom for whom many of these men would soon pay the ultimate sacrifice & he receives this ovation of praise. – Seen footage of the Queen’s visit anywhere – thousands of spectators line the route of her cavalcade to cheer & wave flags.

ii.               What is the right response for the church to our King – & 1Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!  - Clap & Shout, rejoice & praise God.

         Psalm 98:4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. (NKJV)

         Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. (NKJV)

iii.             I Like that “rejoice greatly” – “shout” not called to be calm & collected in our worship, extravagant, joyful, clap your hands, raise your hands, Shout out loud – I remember the 1st few services I attended, after getting saved, my hands ached from clapping. – I don’t want to be out praised by a rock, out clapped by a tree or out sung by a hill!

         Isaiah 55:12 “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (NKJV)

         Luke 19:40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (NKJV)

B.               All Peoples

i.                 This is not something that is supposed to be limited to a select few, this is the call for all of the people of God & 1Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!  - You are not special, exempted from worshipping God. We are all called to worship Him, to praise Him

ii.               When God moves we are all called to praise Him; Because He is God we are called to praise Him. - God moves in response to the praises of His people, ALL of His people.

         Ezra 3:11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. (NKJV)

         Luke 19:37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, (NKJV)

iii.             When we get to heaven we all will praise God. May as well get in some practice now! Revelation 19:1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! (NKJV)   

II.                 Awesome King

A.               Terrible

i.                 & 2 For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. – He is the awesome King, or as the KJV reads- 2 For the LORD most high is terrible; - I like that:

         Terrible; from the verb - 2. revere, venerate, i.e., show profound respect for one, that borders on fear of the object; be awesome, dreadful 3. respect, revere, i.e., show high status and honor to one in authority even bordering on fear[1]

ii.               The God that you serve is the awesome, the terrible King; - When you praise Him you are reminding yourself of His glory & power and declaring these out loud so that others can hear & be persuaded.

         Psalm 145:6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will declare Your greatness. (NKJV)

iii.             When you praise Him, and get down into your spirit the revelation of the awesomeness of the God you serve, His strength available to you, supporting you, there should be & needs to be no opposition to you that cannot be overcome, that you need to back down from.

         Deuteronomy 7:21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. (KJV)

         Nahum 1:6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him. (NKJV)

B.               Over All

i.                 Nobody, I repeat nobody is greater than God, and is not subject to Him. ~ No matter how powerful they appear or how much money they have. They are subject to God. & 2 For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth.

         Psalm 22:27-28 27 All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. 28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations. (NKJV) 

ii.               He rules over the nations, even those that don’t acknowledge Him, He rules over this nation, our politicians may think that they rule, But God is the sovereign. He rules. Nothing happens on the earth, in this nation, in this city, in your family, in your life that He is not in complete & total control of. – This is the lesson that Job learnt.

iii.             While this may not be acknowledged now by the vast majority of the world’s population, doesn’t change the truth of it. And one day it will be made evident to all.

         Daniel 7:13-14 13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. (NKJV)

         Philippians 2:9-11 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NKJV)

! III.              His Reign

A.               Subdued Nations

i.                 He is going to subdue the nations, indeed He already has & does: & 3 He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet. – Notice who they are subject to? “us”, “our feet” – We have the authority of the King of Kings, the nations are subject to us, if we would but exercise in faith the authority & power we have been given to preach the Kingdom of God to this lost & dying world.

ii.               Jesus Christ the King of Kings & Lord of Lords, He reigns and all His enemies, those that would stand up to defy Him in disobedience and rebellion, He will crush under His feet  ~ 1 Corinthians 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. (NKJV)  - You are His ambassador, His chosen people. – You act in His authority

iii.             He is for you! – On your side. He fights for you. It is YOU that have the authority in His name, to crush the serpents & scorpions, any & all opposition to the plans & purposes of God for your life, family, city & nation.

         Deuteronomy 33:29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.” (NKJV) 

B.               Our Inheritance

i.                 Rupert Murdoch one of Australia’s richest business men turns 76 y.o. in March. One day he is going to die. “There is reported to be tension between Murdoch and his oldest children over the terms of a trust holding the family's 28.5 percent stake in News Corporation, estimated in 2005 to be worth about $6.1 billion. Under the trust, his children by Wendi Deng share in the proceeds of the stock but have no voting privileges or control of the stock. Voting rights in the stock are divided 50/50 between Murdoch on the one side and his children of his first two marriages.” Talking about a pretty sizeable inheritance. – How would you like that?

         Nothing! - Compared to your inheritance: &  4 He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves.

ii.               Kerry Packer died 1 year ago leaving an est $6.5b – What good is that to Him now! Eventually his children will die, what good will be their inheritance, it is worldly wealth that is passing. Your inheritance is eternal.

         1 Peter 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (NKJV) 

         Ephesians 1:18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (NKJV) 

iii.             Over the Christmas break visited Shiloh, a Christian Camp where I spent 18mths of my childhood. Probably for at least the 1st 12 mths we lived in a cramped Caravan. But it was only temporary while Dad established the Camp & built our home. – You need to understand, to see, that this world is not your inheritance, it is a ‘stage set’ a temporary home, like living in the caravan, don’t get too attached, eventually you are moving out. ~ You will receive your inheritance.

iv.             God loves you! You are & 4b The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. ~ He delights in you ~ Psalm 16:3 As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” (NKJV) – This evening will you delight yourself in Him, to praise & adore Him? Shout out in triumph! – The King is coming and you will have your inheritance.

IV.             Altar Call

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[1]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (HGK3707). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.