With a Shout!
Original sermon given on The Ascension of Our Lord, May 17, 2026 written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Watch the sermon live.
“With a Shout”
Psalm 47; Ephesians 1.19-22
With a Shout!
In the name of the Living God and the Ascended Christ. Amen.
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth…
5 God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. (Psalm 47)
Imagine. You are the downtrodden Judean people of the Old Testament, oppressed by empire after empire for centuries. But now, you have been given one of the most remarkable victories ever recorded. Oh, how you will celebrate! Hundreds gather around the Ark of the Covenant, shouting, blowing trumpets, singing praises, and processing up the temple heights. Soldiers and musicians, priests, princes, peasants, all join in the grand, wonderfully noisy procession recognizing Yahweh enthroned as King over all.
This is the likely liturgical context for Psalm 47, which we sang this morning in a setting by Walter Pelz. Psalm 47 is one of a collection of “Enthronement Psalms” in the Bible, that is, Psalms which both recognize and reenact the enthronement of Yahweh as King of Kings and Lord of Lord over all. These “Enthronement Psalms” were used in religious processions as the people ascended with the Ark of the Covenant, up mount Zion, to the Holy of Holies of the temple: Yahweh enthroned as King over their enemies. “God has gone up with a shout...” (Psalm 47)
We might possibly even be able to locate the first, original setting for today’s “Enthronement Psalm,” Psalm 47. Now, you might not know his history, but you know his name: Jehosaphat, as in “Jumpin’ Jehosaphat”. Ever wonder why he’s jumpin’? I’m here to tell you. It’s about 900 B.C., and we’re in 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. God has just given Jehosaphat and his army the most astounding victory in battle, for it was completely passive for them. God’s instructions were simple before this fight: do not take control of anything; just trust me; I got this. “For the battle is not yours; it is God’s.” (2 Chron. 20.15)
And the Lord caused the enemy armies to fall into the confusion of battle and ambush and destroy one another. Jehosaphat and his men spent three days gathering all the plunder. They couldn’t even carry it all. This battle was not theirs; it was God’s. They were simply asked to behold the victory of God and rejoice in it.
2 Chronicles 20 tells us what happened next:
“27 Then all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had enabled them to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They came to Jerusalem, with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 29 They ascended up the temple mount celebrating Yahweh as their victorious, reigning King. (2 Chron. 20.27-29)
Far more than ancient poetry, Psalm 47 is prophecy, whose climax we celebrate on Ascension.[1] For our Lord, Christ, won for us a more amazing victory — and it had nothing to do with us. He defeated all the powers of darkness and death and the devil for us, when we were not able. Not with military might or power but with his own precious blood, and his perfect, selfless sacrifice on the cross. He rose three days later from the tomb, to make us right before the Father and to give to us the assurance of eternal life with him. Now we know that nothing can separate us from him and his love: no sin we have every committed; no time of trial or hardship; no guilt from the past or anxiety about the future; not even the hour of our death. Nothing can separate us from his love because the victory he won for us was all his work. Every bit of it. And like Jumpin’ Jehosaphat, our response is to behold the victory of God for us, share in its bounty, and rejoice in it.
That’s what Ascension is all about. Far more than simply the “Hey, where’d Jesus go?” festival, the Ascension is a recognition that the Lord Jesus, having won the victory for us, is indeed enthroned as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and ruler over all things.
St. Paul writes this same message to the Ephesian Christians, oppressed themselves under persecution, living also in fear and uncertainty. He writes that they might know “the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet...” (Eph. 1.19-22)
So, if you’re looking for a time to “let go and let God” as the bumper sticker says, Ascension is a good time. The King is in control: of your past, your present, and your future. He has defeated the greatest enemies of sin, death and the devil — all by his might alone, not your power. He sits enthroned as King of all creation. He has intervened in a mighty way into the life of his people. We have been given the victory through the crucified, risen, ascended, enthroned Lord Jesus Christ. “The battle is not yours; it is God’s.” (2 Chron. 20.15)
So jump with Jehosaphat. “Clap your hands! Shout to God all you peoples! Sing praises, sing praises sing praises! God has ascended with shouts of Joy!” (Psalm 47)
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.
[1] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72, 177
