O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth…
God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Psalm 47:1-2, 5-7 (King James Version)
“O Clap Your Hands” by Vaughn Williams
I cannot read this psalm, only sing it…and in the old King James Version at that. Long rehearsals of Ralph Vaughn Williams’ setting in high school and college tours made it a part of my bones. It needs no explanation except that “terrible” is now more tamely translated “awesome” (although there is something fearfully fascinating in calling God “terrible).” And for some reason I thought a photo of a field of new fern would substitute for clapping hands. The link to the anthem is above. Some of you will want to sing along.
Suggestions:
1. Take this verse with you and ponder its meaning for you throughout the day. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
2. Or read all of Psalm 47 to discover how this verse fits into the psalm or to discover a different verse.
3. Or comment with a photo of your own that illustrates this verse’s meaning for you.
Tomorrow’s verse is from Psalm 48:9,14.
Starting January 1, 2016, for 150 days I am posting a daily psalm verse with a photo that is a visual meditation on the text for me. Each day a verse from the next psalm is chosen until all 150 psalms have been featured. To participate you may subscribe to my blog at https://elainedent.net or “friend” me on Facebook and watch for the daily links to blog posts. Disclaimer: I am not a photographer and most of the photos are from a cell phone or small camera while hiking the Appalachian Trail or the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
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