Naravist

Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 47

Psalm 47: clap your hands, God is gone up with a shout

General context

The psalm calls all people to clap their hands and shout to God with the voice of triumph, because the Lord most high is terrible and a great King over all the earth. He will subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet, and will choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved; Selah follows. God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. The hearers are told four times in one verse to sing praises, to God and to our King, because God is the King of all the earth, and to sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the heathen and sits on the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God, and he is greatly exalted.

Cited passages: Psalms 47:1, Psalms 47:2, Psalms 47:3, Psalms 47:4, Psalms 47:5, Psalms 47:6, Psalms 47:7, Psalms 47:8, Psalms 47:9

Psalms 47 (KJV)

1O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

2For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.

3He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

4He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

5God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

6Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

7For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

8God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

9The princes 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "O clap your hands, all ye people", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. No single speaker is identified; the voice is a summons addressed to "all ye people", and it speaks of "us" and "our inheritance" and "our King". The people are tied to "Jacob" and to "the God of Abraham", and no other name, place or event appears. "God is gone up with a shout" is stated as an event without saying from where or to where, and the "trumpet" is mentioned as sound only. The gathering of "the princes of the people" is reported in the present, with the phrase "even the people of the God of Abraham" set beside it, without saying where they meet or how the princes and that people are related in the sentence. Selah stands once, after verse 4. Nothing in the psalm is spoken to God directly; every line is either a command to the hearers or a statement about God.

Cited passages: Psalms 47:1, Psalms 47:4, Psalms 47:9, Psalms 47:5, Psalms 47:6

Literary context

The psalm is two calls to praise, each followed by reasons beginning "For". The first call is bodily and loud, clapping and shouting; the second is the five-fold "sing praises" of verses 6 and 7. The reasons widen the frame: a King "over all the earth", then "the King of all the earth", then reigning "over the heathen". Two verbs of ascent carry the middle: God "is gone up" and he "sitteth upon the throne". The word "under" is repeated for the nations, "under us" and "under our feet", while God is "most high" and "greatly exalted". The last verse turns from sound to assembly, with princes gathered and shields belonging to God. This psalm follows the "Be still" of Psalm 46 with its opposite instruction, to shout, and its closing refrain there, "The Lord of hosts is with us", becomes here the God of Abraham enthroned over everyone.

Cited passages: Psalms 47:2, Psalms 47:7, Psalms 47:8, Psalms 47:6, Psalms 47:3, Psalms 47:9, Psalms 46:10, Psalms 46:11

Key moments

  1. Clap your hands (Psalms 47:1). All people are called to clap and shout to God with the voice of triumph.
  2. A great King over all the earth (Psalms 47:2). The reason for praise is that the Lord most high is a great King.
  3. The inheritance chosen (Psalms 47:4). God chooses the inheritance, the excellency of Jacob, and Selah follows.
  4. Gone up with a shout (Psalms 47:5). God goes up with a shout and the sound of a trumpet.
  5. Sing praises with understanding (Psalms 47:7). The hearers are told to sing praises to the King of all the earth with understanding.
  6. The princes gathered (Psalms 47:9). Princes are gathered as the people of the God of Abraham, and God is greatly exalted.

For reflection

The psalm tells all people to clap for a God who subdues the nations under one people's feet; how does the poem hold together its call to everyone and its claim for Jacob?

People in this chapter