Psalms 47:1-8

1 Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!
2 For the LORD Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.
3 He subdues the nations before us, putting our enemies beneath our feet.
4 He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance, the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he loves. Interlude
5 God has ascended with a mighty shout. The LORD has ascended with trumpets blaring.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm.
8 God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne.

Psalms 47:1-8 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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.
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