The Psalms have long occupied a special place in the life of the church, and for good reason.  John Calvin called the Psalms “an anatomy of the soul” because throughout the 150 psalms in our Bible we find the full range of the human experience.  There is a Psalm for every emotion that we experience.  But of course Psalms are not merely emotive, they actually contain some of the richest theological expressions in the entire Bible.

Today I want to consider Psalm 47, a short and powerful song extolling our glorious king.  There is debate on the original situation and setting for this psalm, but the main point is clear: God is king over the nations.  So it is a song of exultation and celebration, but a prophetic and eschatological dimension also marks it, as the psalmist longs for the full establishment of God’s rule on earth.

Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
² For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
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

What we see, right from the outset, is that this psalm is one of incredible joy.  As the people of Israel sang this song they would have done so with great volume and expression.  To think upon the glory of God as our king is a meditation that throughout the Bible – and in this psalm – leads to two reactions: 1) praise, and 2) fear.  Both reactions are clearly seen in 47:1-2.  Because He is the Lord, the Most High (Yahweh Elyon) he is to be feared. The title of God being “a great king” would have been significant during the time when Israel sang this song. Kings in the ancient Near East loved to designate themselves by this title because with it were associate superiority and supremacy. Any king assuming this title could not tolerate competition. So it is with God, He is the Great King over all the earth.

In the first four verses we also see four reasons to praise God: 1) Joy in His character, 2) joy in His reign, 3) the triumph of the Gospel, and 4) the love He has for His children.

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 early church often sung this Psalm on Ascension Day because it celebrates that God has gone up.  Therefore He is worthy of our song and the repetition of verse six simply reminds us of how appropriate and normal it is for God’s people to sing.

⁸ God reigns 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!

God’s ascension into heaven and his rule over the earth emphasize the universality of His reign, He reigns over the nations.  That He is seated on His holy throne means that He is altogether different from other gods.  He alone is King and He alone is God.  Verse nine is incredibly important as one writer mentions, “The history of divine salvation is consummated within the psalm’s field of vision.”  We are told the princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. Remember God’s covenant with Abraham, His promise that all the nations would be blessed through Abraham.  The psalmist is prophetically thinking of a time when all the nations would gather as the children of Abraham.  And so we have come to the centrality of Christ in our psalm.

• Who subdued the nations and the peoples?  We are told that Jesus did through His cross and victory over the grave (Col. 2:17; Rev. 20:3).
• Who ascended on high to reign? Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20).
• Who sits on His holy throne exercising rule and dominion? Jesus (Rev. 5:6-13; 7:9-17).
• Who secured blessing for the nations and welcomes them as children of Abraham? Jesus (Gal. 3:7-9).
• Who is to be highly exalted? Jesus (Rev. 5:7-13).

God’s reign as the victorious king of the universe finds its consummation in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  So let us clap our hands, shout with loud songs, sing praise, and exalt our King of Kings!

PSALM 47 AND THE PASTOR

So how might this psalm uniquely impact the life of a minister?  Three couple of things come to mind:

1. Let your ministry be centered on Christ. He is the center of the Psalm and the climactic concentration of history. Therefore, His current and coming kingdom must preoccupy our preaching and shepherding. If His kingdom advances through His church we would do well to lay up Christ at the center of all our ministry.
2. Let your ministry be focused on mission. Throughout this Psalm we see that God, through Jesus, reigns over the nations.  Therefore, He is to be feared.  The reality of His reign is a terror to those apart from Christ for God reigns over them as a judge.  Yet His reign is wonderfully sweet and comforting to His children for He reigns over them as a loving father.  So we cannot ever lose the focus of making disciples in our ministry.  Every person that we encounter exists under the lordship of Christ and we want to serve him or her in such a way that they, through faith, come to exalt the one true, holy, and great God.
3. Let your ministry always have an eye to the nations. Throughout Psalm 47 we see the universal scope of God’s reign: He is “a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet . . . God reigns over the nations; The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God.” The reality of God’s universal reign should encourage us to serve with the nations in mind.  What might that look like?  First of all, not forgetting that the area we currently find ourselves in, is part of the nations.  We want to see His reign extended where we live.  But we also want to disciple people to have the heart of Christ, which is a heart for the nations.  We want to pray regularly for the nations to come to Christ.  Revelation 5 tells us that Jesus has secured salvation for every tribe, tongue, nation, and language. So we ought to long for the consummation of this work and participate in the completion of this work.

In summary then, Psalm 47 is an exciting encouragement for your ministry to be focused on Christ, the victorious King of the nations.