Psalms 47:1-8

1 To victory, a psalm to the sons of Korah. All ye folks, make joy with hands; sing ye heartily to God in the voice of full out joying. (To victory, a song for the sons of Korah. All ye nations, make joy with your hands/clap with your hands; sing ye heartily to God with a joyful voice.)

2 For the Lord is high and fearedful; a great king on all earth. (For the Most High Lord is to be feared/For the Most High Lord is to be revered; a great King over all the earth.)

3 He made peoples subject to us; and heathen men under our feet. (He made the peoples subject to us; and put the heathen under our feet.)

4 He chose his heritage to us; the fairness of Jacob, whom he loved. (He chose our inheritance for us; for we who be the beauty of Jacob, whom he loved.)

5 God ascended in hearty song; and the Lord in the voice of a trump. (God ascended with a hearty song; the Lord went up with the sound of trumpets.)

6 Sing ye to our God, sing ye; sing ye to our king, sing ye. (Sing ye to our God, sing ye; sing ye to our King, sing ye.)

7 For God is king of all earth; sing ye [psalm] wisely. (For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye songs with all your skill/sing ye songs, and understand what they mean.)

8 God shall reign on heathen men; God sitteth on his holy seat. (God reigneth over all the heathen; yea, God sitteth 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.