Written by sons of Korah. Most assume that the specific sons of Korah addressed here and in the titles of ten other psalms were Levitical singers in the tabernacle/temple ceremonies, and perhaps they were performers of the psalm rather than the authors of it.This Psalm celebrates a victory of a great King. Perhaps it was written for the victory of a king like Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:15-23), but there is no doubt that it prophetically has in mind the ascension of the Messiah to His throne and celebrates His reign over the whole earth. One of the six psalms of the divine kingdom.
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.
SECTIONS:
I Reasons to Worship God as Victorious King and warrior
II Reason to worship God as Sovreign
THEME: Celebration of the Lord’s Kingship over the earth
QUESTIONS:
- Who is shouting and clapping?
- What reasons are given to worship and praise God?
- How is God sovereign?
- Who do the kings of the earth belong to?
ADDITONAL VERSES:
Philippians 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;”
Galatians 3:29 “And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”
Matthew 24:31 “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Daniel 7:13-14 “I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.”
Deuteronomy 7.6-8, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Psa/Psa-47.cfm
“All you peoples”- This is a command to more than Israel or followers of God; it is a command to all … peoples. It is ultimately the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the peoples of the earth through his Descendant, the Messiah (Genesis 12:2-3).
Psalm 47 follows quite naturally after Psalm 46. Psalm 46 is focused on the security of God’s people, noting how God had delivered them from one of their great enemies. It challenged the nations to observe that deliverance and stand in awe before God.” Now, in Psalm 47 God says to those same people: “Rejoice and be happy; the King of Israel is also the King of all the Earth.” (Boice)
Most people are not against shouting or enthusiastic outbursts (in church); they simply believe there is a right and wrong place for such shouting. Sadly, many who think a loud exclamation is fine at a football game think it is a scandal in the church.
He is a great King over all the earth. His realm extends over all the earth, and He is sovereign in all places. The pagan gods of the ancient world (Baal, Molech, Ashtoreth) were imagined to be territorial gods whose authority was limited to a nation or a region. The Psalmist wants us to know that the Lord God is not like one of these imagined gods. Without doubt, the Psalmist looked ahead and knew that this great King would be the Messiah. We look back at the fulfillment of the promise in Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon thought that this was a Psalm of David and not the sons of Korah; that he wrote it, but they sang it. He wrote, “Our ear has grown accustomed to the ring of David’s compositions, and we are morally certain that we hear it in this Psalm.” This may or may not be true.
The LORD with the sound of a trumpet: In the world of ancient Israel the trumpet was the sound of victory. To honor God clearly and strongly for His victory on our behalf, the sound of a trumpet is heard. God gave the gift of song and music to men, and the highest use of this gift is to praise the God who gave it.
The Jews understood the psalms not only in an historical context but also in a current context and Messianic context. After this psalm was written, the Jews throughout time would apply these words to their current situation, while recognizing that its meaning was originally in the past. But they believed that the ultimate fulfillment of these words would be found in the Messiah. This is true for psalm 47.
The Messiah would be the king over all the earth, subduing nations under their feet. This helps give us a perspective and understanding as to why the Jews expected the Messiah to free them from the Roman Empire. They expected him to rule over the kings of the earth by overthrowing Rome.
Jesus declared himself to be king. John 18:37, Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” But he was not the king the Jews were expecting. They assumed he would be king of the earth- a king by physical means. But Jesus declared, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over the Jews. As it is, My kingdom does not have its origin here” (John 18:36). Jesus is the kingly Messiah, but not a kingdom of this world. But, the Messiah rules over earthly kings from a heavenly throne.
The overwhelming message and hope in psalm 47 is that God is currently ruling. He didn’t set up Israel and leave them to deal with the powers of the world. Verse 8 says “God sits on His holy throne” it means that God is currently in charge over the affairs of the earth. Christ is in charge of the nations. Romans 13:1, “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God.” Just as God made the nations rise and fall in the Old Testament (Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece), so God has made nations rise and fall in the New Testament (Rome, Jerusalem). God still institutes and destroys governments. God’s power will never fail even if all the world powers were to come against.
This is a message of hope. We are part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken and will never end (Hebrews 12:28). This is the rule that we are truly under. We are under the rule of Christ. Are we living like citizens of God’s kingdom or like citizens of prince of the power of air? It is our choice as to which kingdom we will be citizens.
My reflection:
I lover to sing songs of praise to the Lord. As I shared before I was baptized as a Christian when a baby but later was baptized again as an adult because it was my own decision. I also shared how the Holy Spirit gave me a personal revelation about Jesus when I was seeking truth. And since that time I love to sing praise songs. Praise songs are my favorite! I love to praise God for who he is to me, what he’s done for me, the world I see around me. When I first got “born again” (baptized as an adult) I went around the house singing praise. I walked around the neighborhood singing praise songs (to myself, not out loud!!) I couldn’t stop singing. I was so joyful.
And I can imagine in heaven we will be so happy to joined to our loving God that we won’t be able to stop singing his praises! No, we will not get bored. I’m sure of it. I never get bored singing praise songs. A matter of fact when I feel depressed (I shared there is depression that runs in the family) nothing lifts me up like when I start to sing praise songs. I may not feel like singing at the time, but when I do the depression lifts. It reminds me of how Saul would be depressed and he would have David come and play his harp and sing to him and his depression would lift too. Try it next time you are feeling blue!
SONGS: Praise to the Lord, Shout to the Lord, Mighty to save, “This is My Father’s World (proclaims God’s rule over nature and history) “Rejoice for Christ is King (expresses joy in God’s reign) Lift High the Cross, The Lord Reign, Lord I Lift Your Name on High.