1 Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued nations under us,
peoples under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.
5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
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 to him a psalm of praise.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble
as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted. NIV
When you are reading a psalm and it tells you to do something in praise (e.g. clap your hands"), have you ever actually done it? Why or why not?
What does verse 1 of this psalm tell you to do? What does verse 6 tell you to do? Well…? Why aren't you doing it?
When do we normally clap our hands?
Why do we normally sing?
Describe the Who, What, Why and How of this psalm.
Verses 6-9 mirror the first five verses. Find the similarities in theme between them.
::::: APPLICATION CHALLENGE :::::
The next time you sing a song that tells you to "lift your hands" or "dance" or "shout" or "clap" or "Etc.', give it a try! You could even practice right now with this psalm wherever you are.
::::: DIGGING DEEPER ::::::
Which parts of this psalm would you like to learn more about? How could you accomplish this?
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