To the leader. Of
the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of
joy.
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he
loves. Selah
5 God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
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 praises with a psalm.
8 God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of
Abraham.
For the shields of the earth
belong to God;
he is highly exalted.
Psalm 47 is an eschatological or enthronement hymn. It dates from either the exile or the post-exilic period. This psalm elaborates on the acclamation, “Yahweh is King.” The enthronement of Yahweh is the occasion. The empire extends to all nations who will one day join the chosen people. History and eschatology take on actual significance in worship. This is a great Ascension Sunday psalm because the psalm is a futuristic look at God who ascends amid shouts of joy and thunderous applause.
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
Psalm 47: 1-4 anticipate the filling of the sanctuary with the praises of the Lord. 1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. 2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth. 3 The Lord subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. Here we have a recollection of the miraculous subjugation of the nations of Canaan during the Tribal Federation period. 4 The Lord chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob, that is, the kingdom of Israel, whom the Lord loves. Selah The elections of individuals, including the patriarchs here, is always a concrete historical act on the part of the Lord that forms the starting point and basis of the salvation history of God with the people of God.[1] The election of the people was the chief issue in the election traditions of Israel, in this case of the land or inheritance by the Lord.[2]
Psalm 47:5-7 exhibits the intersection of history and eschatology. It sees history in light of the goal toward which history is moving. Thus, 5 God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 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 praises with a psalm. The election of Israel and the giving of the land hailed is the initiation of the kingly rule of God over the nations. The kingdom is eternal and universal, but actualized in history, and experienced afresh as a reality in the present cultivation of a relationship with the Lord and with the people of God.[3] The expectation of the rule of God was a hope for the just rule of God that will fill the earth, with this verse suggesting that the covenant people were to be already in a special way the kingdom in which its God reigns as King.[4]
Psalm 47:8-9, God takes the throne to be king of the whole earth. 8 God is king over the nations; God sits on the holy divine throne. 9 The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. Thereby, the Psalm extends the covenant with Abraham to all nations and peoples. For the shields of the earth belong to God; God is highly exalted. We see here that the nations actually become the people of God, and there the psalm ends on an eschatological note. The theocratic perspective and enthusiasm for the majesty of God make all distinctions vanish. God will have weapons of war at divine disposal, bringing in a kingdom of peace. It ends on a note of exclusive joy in God, the exalted one enthroned forever.
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