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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,'1-');">Psa 47</a> – Praising the King of All the Earth</h2>
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<p><i>This is a wonderful Psalm celebrating a great victory of a great King. Perhaps it was occasioned by the victory of a king such as Jehoshaphat (as in <a onclick="return mV('2Ch',20,'15-23');">2Ch 20:15-23</a>), 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. </i></p>
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<p>“In later Jewish usage <a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,'1-');">Psa 47</a> was utilized as part of the New Year’s service.” (VanGemeren)<i></i></p>
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<p>A. <span>The</span> King of All the Earth blesses His chosen people.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,1);">1</a>) <span>The</span> command to praise.</p>
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<p class="c2">Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!<br>Shout to God with the voice of triumph!</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Oh, clap your hands</span></b>: The clapping of hands <i>draws attention</i> to something, usually as an outward expression of inward joy. The Bible uses it both in a negative and positive sense.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. This is a word for all nations, and “If they cannot all speak the same tongue, the symbolic language of the hands they can all use.” (Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. There is both clapping for praise (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,1);">Psa 47:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',98,8);">Psa 98:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',55,12);">Isa 55:12</a>) and clapping in derision (<a onclick="return mV('Job',27,23);">Job 27:23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Lam',2,15);">Lam 2:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Nah',3,19);">Nah 3:19</a>).</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">All you peoples</span></b>: This is a command to more than Israel or followers of God; it is a command to <b><span class="c3">all...peoples</span></b>. It is ultimately the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the peoples of the earth through his Descendant, the Messiah (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',12,'2-3');">Gen 12:2-3</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,'1-');">Psa 47</a> follows quite naturally after <a onclick="return mV('Psa',46,'1-');">Psa 46</a>. <a onclick="return mV('Psa',46,'1-');">Psa 46</a> 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 <a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,'1-');">Psa 47</a> God says to those same people: “Rejoice and be happy; the King of Israel is also the King of all the Earth.” (Boice)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Shout to God</span></b>: The note is strong and happy. The Psalmist did not have in mind sleepy singing or whispered prayers.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Most people are not against shouting or enthusiastic outbursts; 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.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,2);">2</a>) <span>The</span> reason for praise.</p>
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<p class="c2">For the <span class="c6">Lord</span> Most High is awesome;<br>He is a great King over all the earth.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The <span class="c6">Lord</span> Most High is awesome</span></b>: The Psalmist presents this without proof, as a <i>self-evident fact</i>. He considered it obvious to everyone, as much as water is wet and fire is hot.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He is a great King over all the earth</span></b>: Both the <i>office</i> and the <i>realm</i> are important. He is a <b><span class="c3">great King</span></b>, in that He is the King of Kings and the highest monarch. His realm extends <b><span class="c3">over all the earth</span></b>, and He is sovereign in all places.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The pagan gods of the ancient world (Baal, Molech, Ashtoreth, and so forth) were imagined to be <i>territorial</i> gods. Their 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.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,'3-4');">3-4</a>) God’s special care for His chosen.</p>
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<p class="c2">He will subdue the peoples under us,<br><span>And the nations under our feet.</span><br>He will choose our inheritance for us,<br><span>The excellence of Jacob whom He loves.</span> Selah </p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">He will subdue the peoples under us</span></b>: Here the Psalmist speaks as one of God’s chosen nation, Israel. He looks forward to the time when the righteous reign of the <i>great King</i> will be exercised all over the earth, and Israel will assume its destined place of leadership among the nations.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Without doubt, the Psalmist knew that this <i>great King</i> would be the Messiah; yet he looked <i>ahead</i> to the hope of the Messiah. We look back at the fulfillment of the promise to send the Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is the <i>great King</i> who will rule the earth and subdue the nations, granting believing Israel superpower status in the coming age.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He will choose our inheritance for us</span></b>: The Psalmist shows his great confidence in the wisdom and goodness of the <i>great King</i>. He is happy to let the <i>great King</i> <b><span class="c3">choose our inheritance</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is a glorious fact that our <i>great King</i> Jesus has chosen the inheritance of His people. <span> <a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,'3-6');">Eph 1:3-6</a> is just one passage that describes some of His choosing for us:</span></p><ul class="c6"><li>He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.</li><li>He chose us to be holy and blameless before Him in love.</li><li>He chose us to be adopted as sons into His family.</li></ul>
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<p class="c5">ii. It is a wise prayer, to ask our great King Jesus to <b><span class="c3">choose our inheritance for us</span></b>. We often get into trouble by wanting to choose our own inheritance.</p><ul class="c6"><li>We sometimes want to choose our own <i>blessings</i>. One has health, another has wealth, a third has great talents; each wishes they had what the other has. Yet it is far better to let God choose our blessings.</li><li>We sometimes want to choose our own <i>calling</i>. One sees the calling of another and thinks that the calling of the other is better, or they want to imitate the calling of another instead of running their own race.</li><li>We sometimes want to choose our own <i>crosses</i>. We think that our own problems are so much worse than others, and we think that we could bear any number of crosses – <i>except</i> the one He chose for us.</li></ul>
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<p class="c5"><span>iii</span>. Charles Spurgeon thought that this was a Psalm of David and not the sons of Korah; that he <i>wrote</i> it, but they <i>sang</i> 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, but certainly David knew that his King chose his inheritance at each stage of his life, and he showed contentment with the inheritance God chose for him.</p><ul class="c6"><li>As an anonymous shepherd boy</li><li>As a warrior against Goliath</li><li>As a fugitive running from Saul</li><li>As a king over Israel</li><li>As a disciplined sinner</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">The excellence of Jacob whom He loves</span></b>: This explains <i>why</i> we can be at peace with the inheritance He chooses for us. We know that for Jesus’ sake and because we are in Him, God is for us and not against us. He <b><span class="c3">loves</span></b> us as His chosen; because He chose us we are happy to let Him <b><span class="c3">choose our inheritance for us</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “<i>The pride of Jacob</i> is a brief way of saying ‘Jacob’s glorious land.’” (Kidner)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “The Holy Land is called ‘the excellency of Jacob,’ or ‘the pride of Jacob,’ on account of its beauty, and the excellence and variety of its productions (see <a onclick="return mV('Deu',8,'7-9');">Deu 8:7-9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',18,22);">2Ki 18:22</a>).” (Rawlinson)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. <b><span class="c3">Whom He loves</span></b> provokes a question: <i>Why</i> does God so love Jacob? Why does God so love the church? Why does God so love the world? The answer is that the reasons for His love are in <i>Him</i>, not in the ones He loves.</p>
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<p>B. A call to praise the King of All the Earth.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,5);">5</a>) <span>The</span> fact of praise.</p>
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<p class="c2">God has gone up with a shout,<br><span>The <span class="c6">Lord</span> with the sound of a trumpet.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">God has gone up with a shout</span></b>: The <i>going up</i> here refers to ascending to a royal throne. The idea is that the <i>great King</i> has taken His throne and therefore receives a <b><span class="c3">shout</span></b> of praise.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The idea is that God comes down from heaven to help and save His people, and when He goes back up He deserves praise and acclamation from His people.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Jesus ascended the royal throne in heaven after He finished His work for us on the cross and proved it by the empty tomb. He can only go <b><span class="c3">up with a shout</span></b> because He came down in humility to fight for His people and to save them.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The <span class="c6">Lord</span> with the sound of a trumpet</span></b>: In the world of ancient Israel the <b><span class="c3">trumpet</span></b> made the strongest and clearest sound; it was the sound of victory. To honor God clearly and strongly for His victory on our behalf, the <b><span class="c3">sound of a trumpet</span></b> is heard.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,'6-7');">6-7</a>) <span>The</span> call to praise and the reason for it.</p>
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<p class="c2">Sing praises to God, sing praises!<br>Sing praises to our King, sing praises!<br>For God is the King of all the earth;<br>Sing praises with understanding.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Sing praises!</span></b> In this context, this is almost a <i>command</i>. It is a fitting command in light of the glory of <b><span class="c3">the King of all the earth</span></b>. God might have given speech to humanity without the gift of song; there are some tone deaf people in the world. What is the case of some might have been the case of all; but 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.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “Let a thousand people speak at once; all thought and feeling are drowned in hubbub. But let them sing together in perfect time and tune; both the thought and feeling are raised to a pitch of energy else conceivable.” (Rawlinson)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">Sing praises</span></b>: “A single word in Hebrew, with therefore a swifter, livelier impact.” (Kidner)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. “This word is four times repeated in this short verse, and shows at once the earnestness and happiness of the people. They are the words of exultation and triumph. Feel your obligation to God; express it in thanksgiving.” (Clarke)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The King of all the earth</span></b>: The idea from the second verse is repeated for emphasis. God’s glorious authority extends far beyond the land or people of Israel. He is the global God, the <b><span class="c3">King of all the earth</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Sing praises with understanding</span></b>: Praise is appropriately offered with singing and should also be made <b><span class="c3">with understanding</span></b>. God wants our worship to be intelligent and not mindless. It is not necessary to be smart to worship God, but we should worship Him with all our being, including our mind (<a onclick="return mV('Mar',12,30);">Mar 12:30</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “We must not be guided by the <i>time</i>, but the <i>words</i> of the Psalm; we must mind the matter more than the music, and consider what we sing, as well as how we sing; the tune may affect the fancy, but it is the matter affects the heart, and that God principally eyes.” (Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">Sing praises with understanding</span></b>: According to Kidner, Paul had the Septuagint translation of this phrase in mind when he wrote in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',14,15);">1Cr 14:15</a>, <i>I will sing with the mind also</i>.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. All in all, this Psalm shows us how we are to praise God:</p><ul class="c6"><li>Praise Him <i>cheerfully</i> when you <i>clap your hands</i> as an expression of your inward joy.</li><li>Praise Him <i>universally</i> together with <i>all you peoples</i> who should praise the Lord.</li><li>Praise Him <i>vocally</i> as you <i>shout unto God with the voice of triumph</i>.</li><li>Praise Him <i>frequently</i>, as the idea of <b><span class="c3">sing praises</span></b> is repeated often. You cannot praise Him too much.</li><li>Praise Him <i>intelligently</i>, as you are to <b><span class="c3">sing praises with understanding</span></b> and to know and proclaim the reasons for our praise.</li></ul>
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<p>C. <span>The</span> King of All the Earth and the nations.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,8);">8</a>) <span>The</span> reign of the King.</p>
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<p class="c2">God reigns over the nations;<br>God sits on His holy throne.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">God reigns over the nations</span></b>: The <span class="c6">Lord</span> is not <i>King of all the earth</i> in some passive or ceremonial sense. He <b><span class="c3">reigns over the nations</span></b> and moves history towards His desired destination.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">God sits on His holy throne</span></b>: When John had his heavenly experience as recorded in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',4,'1-');">Rev 4</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',5,'1-');">5</a> he described everything in heaven in relation to this occupied throne. The center of heaven – indeed, the center of all creation – is this occupied throne in heaven.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. God <b><span class="c3">sits</span></b> upon the throne; it is not empty. He is no empty or ceremonial ruler.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. It is <b><span class="c3">His</span></b> throne; it belongs to Him and to none other.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. It is a <b><span class="c3">holy</span></b> throne, where the holiness of God has been perfectly satisfied by the work of Jesus on the cross. Therefore, it is both a <b><span class="c3">holy throne</span></b> and a throne of grace (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',4,16);">Hbr 4:16</a>).</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,9);">9</a>) The King is exalted above the nations.</p>
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<p class="c2">The princes of the people have gathered together,<br>The people of the God of Abraham.<br>For the shields of the earth belong to God;<br>He is greatly exalted.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The princes of the people have gathered</span></b>: In the mind of the Psalmist, the leaders of God’s people gather to both receive and exalt the King of all the earth.</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. “The promise concerning the blessing of the tribes of the nations in the seed of the patriarch is being fulfilled; for the nobles draw the peoples who are protected by them after themselves.”</span> (Keil and Delitzsch)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “The princes of the earth belong especially to God, since ‘by him kings reign, and princes decree justice’ (<a onclick="return mV('Pro',8,15);">Pro 8:15</a>).” (Rawlinson)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The shields of the earth belong to God</span></b>: “The Septuagint translates this <i>hoi krataioi</i>, the strong ones of the earth. . . The words refer to something by which the inhabitants of the earth are defended; God's providence, guardian angels, etc., etc.” (Clarke)</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “It is the abundant fulfillment of the promise of <a onclick="return mV('Gen',12,3);">Gen 12:3</a>; it anticipates what Paul expounds of the inclusion of the Gentiles as Abraham’s sons (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,11);">Rom 4:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',3,'7-9');">Gal 3:7-9</a>).” (Kidner)</p>
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