Psalm 47:1-4

God the King of the Earth.

1 O ¹clap your hands, all peoples; ²Shout to God with the voice of joy.

2 For the LORD Most High is to be ³feared, A ⁴great King over all the earth.

3 He ⁵subdues peoples under us And nations under our feet.

4 He chooses our ⁶inheritance for us, The ⁷glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.

Psalm 47:1-4 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Thus psalm is thought by some to be written on occasion of the ark being brought from the house of Obededom to the city of David, to the place he had prepared for it; which was attended with singing and dancing, with shouting, and the sound of a trumpet, 2 Samuel 6:12; but it rather seems to be penned on account of the ascension of Christ to heaven, prophetically spoken of in this psalm; and of the spread of the Gospel, and the conquests it made in the Gentile world upon Christ's ascension; as the whole psalm shows: and even Aben Ezra and Kimchi apply it to the times of the Messiah; and so do some of their most ancient writers, who particularly interpret Psalm 47:5 of him, as may be seen in the note upon it.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 98:8
• 2. Psalms 106:47
• 3. Deuteronomy 7:21; Nehemiah 1:5; Psalms 66:3, 5; Psalms 68:35
• 4. Malachi 1:14
• 5. Psalms 18:47
• 6. 1 Peter 1:4
• 7. Amos 6:8; Amos 8:7; Nahum 2:2

Footnotes

• [a] Or "a ringing cry"
• [b] "Selah" may mean: "Pause, Crescendo" or "Musical interlude"