Psalms 47:1-9
1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
5 God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
9 The princesa of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.
“King over All the Earth”
This psalm may have been sung in the valley of Berachah, where Jehoshaphat celebrated his victory over the Moabites. See 2 Chronicles 20:1. When some great deliverance has been granted, we should break out in blessing and praise. Notice Psalms 47:3! They are rightly placed side by side; because God will not subdue our enemies under us, unless we have allowed Him to choose our life-plan. Live on that plan and you are unconquerable.
In the second division, Psalms 47:5, Jehovah is depicted as returning from the war to his dwelling-place in the height of Zion. This seems to anticipate the Ascension, when Jesus became the enthroned King of men. They fail to recognize Him now, but some day the princes of the people shall be gathered together, and the kingdoms of the world shall have become the one kingdom of the Christ, Revelation 15:4. The shields of the earth, Psalms 47:9, are its princes and leaders. See Hosea 4:18, r.v., margin. The kings of wealth, science, art, literature, and power will one day bring their glory and honor into the gates of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 1:5; Revelation 21:24.