Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 47:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 47:2. For the Lord most high is terrible — He has insufferable majesty, and is a great King-the mightiest of all emperors, for he is Sovereign over the whole earth.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 46-48 When God saved Jerusalem

Confident in tone and bold in expression, these three psalms express praise to God for delivering Jerusalem from an enemy invasion. One example of such a deliverance was on the occasion of Assyria’s invasion of Judah during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:9-37).

No matter what troubles he meets, whether from earthquakes, floods or wars, the person who trusts in God is not overcome by them (46:1-3). He has an inner calmness, likened to a cool refreshing stream that flows gently from God. The Almighty is still in full control, and he gives strength to his people (4-7). God’s power can smash all opposition. Therefore, opponents should stop fighting against him and realize that he is the supreme God, the supreme ruler of the world (8-11).
The psalmist calls upon people of all nations to worship God with reverence and joy. The king who rules over all has come down from heaven, fought for his people and given them victory (47:1-4). Now he is seen returning to heaven to the sound of his people’s praises (5-7). He takes his seat on his throne again, king of the world. All nations are, like Israel, under the rule of the God of Abraham (8-9).
Now that their beloved city Jerusalem has been saved, the people praise its beauty and strength. More than that, they praise the God who saved it (48:1-3). Enemies thought they could destroy Jerusalem, but God scattered them. They were broken in pieces as ships smashed in a storm (4-7). Israel’s people had heard of God’s marvellous acts in the past; now they have seen them with their own eyes (8). In thanks for the victory, the people flock to the temple to praise God. Throughout the towns of Judah, and even in other countries, there is rejoicing (9-11). The citizens of Jerusalem are proud of their city, but they are prouder still of their God who has preserved it (12-14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

PRAISE OF GOD FOR HIS DELIVERANCE

"Oh clap your hands, all ye peoples; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For Jehovah Most High is terrible; He is a great king over all the earth. He subdueth peoples under us, And nations under our feet. He chooseth our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom he loved. (Selah)"

"Jehovah Most High" It is true that some ancient pagan god is said to have claimed this title; but in the Holy Scriptures, it never refers to a pagan deity, but always to Jehovah Most High, as here.

"Is terrible" "This word has a misleading connotation in our day. It does not mean anything repulsive, but something most marvelous and attractive, calling forth our richest praises. `Awe-inspiring' is what is meant."H. C. Leupold, p. 370.

"He is a great king over all the earth" No event in the history of Israel any more demonstrated this truth than the unqualified destruction of the army of Sennacherib. This truth is one that gets overlooked today; but the hand of God continually moves in human history. He rules in the kingdom of men, exalting whom he will (Daniel 4:25). God has even determined the appointed seasons of nations and "the boundaries of their dwelling places" (Acts 17:26). Men may not like this, or accept it as a fact; but it is true anyway. It was the Providence of God alone, for example, that gave Babylon the victory over Assyria. An unexpected flood made the difference, just as an untimely rain ruined Napoleon at Waterloo.

"He subdueth peoples under us... under our feet" The Jewish attitude toward the Gentiles surfaces in this, namely, their desire to control and rule over them; but the Holy Spirit overruled this error on their part to prophesy the conversion of the Gentiles and their reception into God's kingdom upon full parity with the Jews, in the very next paragraph.

"He chooseth our inheritance for us" This, of course, was the land of Canaan which God gave to the posterity of Abraham as their inheritance. Although this psalm makes no mention of any conditions, there were nevertheless stern and binding conditions laid down by God Himself, indicating that their "inheritance" would be taken away from them, that they would be removed from it, and scattered all over the world, unless they remained faithful to God. Anyone doubting that should read the last two or three chapters of Deuteronomy.

"The glory of Jacob whom he loved" Another rendition of `glory' here is `pride'; but either way it is a reference to Canaan the possession of Israel.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For the Lord most high - Yahweh, the Most High God; that is, who is exalted above all other beings. Compare Exodus 18:11; 1 Chronicles 16:25 Psa 96:4; 2 Chronicles 2:5; Psalms 95:3.

Is terrible - literally, is to be feared; that is, reverenced and adored. There is an idea in the words “terrible” and “terror” which is not contained in the original, as if there were something harsh, severe, stern, in his character. The word in the original does not go beyond the notion of inspiring reverence or awe, and is the common word by which the worship of God is designated in the Scriptures. The meaning is, that he is worthy of profound reverence or adoration.

He is a great king over all the earth - He rules the world. He is a universal Sovereign. The immediate “occasion” of saying this, when the psalm was composed, was evidently some victory (which had been achieved over the enemies of the people of God) so decided, and so immediately by the divine power, as to prove that he has absolute control over all nations.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Since, then, no servitude is happy and desirable but that by which God subdues and brings under the standard and authority of Christ his Son those who before were rebels, it follows that this language is applicable only to the kingdom of Christ, who is called a high and terrible King, (verse 2;) not that he makes the wretched beings over whom he reigns to tremble by the tyranny and violence of his sway, but because his majesty, which before had been held in contempt, will suffice to quell the rebellion of the whole world. It is to be observed, that the design of the Holy Spirit is here to teach, that as the Jews had been long contumeliously treated, oppressed with wrongs, and afflicted from time to time with divers calamities, the goodness and liberality of God towards them was now so much the more illustrious, when the kingdom of David had subdued the neighboring nations on every sidle, and had attained to such a height of glory. We may, however, easily gather from the connection of the words the truth of what I have suggested, that when God is called a terrible and great King over all the earth, this prophecy applies to the kingdom of Christ. There is, therefore, no doubt, that the grace of God was celebrated by these titles, to strengthen the hearts of the godly during the period that intervened till the advent of Christ, in which not only the triumphant state of the people of Israel had fallen into decay, but in which also the people, being oppressed with the bitterest contumely, could have no taste of the favor of God, and no consolation from it, but by relying on the promises of God alone. We know that there was a long interruption of the splendor of the kingdom of God’s ancient people, which continued from the death of Solomon to the coming of Christ. This interval formed, as it were, a gulf or chasm, which would have swallowed up the minds of the godly, had they not been supported and upheld by the Word of God. As, therefore, God exhibited in the person of David a type of the kingdom of Christ, which is here extolled, although there followed shortly after a sad and almost shameful diminution of the glory of David’s kingdom, then the most grievous calamities, and, finally, the captivity and a most miserable dispersion, which differed little from a total destruction, the Holy Spirit has exhorted the faithful to continue clapping their hands for joy, until the advent of the promised Redeemer.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 47:1-9 is a psalm for the New Year. This psalm is read seven times before the blowing of the trumpet to announce the holy day, the beginning of the Jewish New Year.

O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the LORD most high is awesome; he is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of the trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our God, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: and he is greatly exalted ( Psalms 47:1-9 ).

This, again, is looking into the glorious New Age. The Jews looked at it as their New Year. But it is a psalm really by which we will usher in the New Age. The age in which Jesus establishes His kingdom and reigns over the earth. It is going to be a whole New Age. And so, it is significant that they would use it for a new year, because always in a new year there is a hope of things better, a new day dawning, and so forth. A new year dawning, new opportunities. But this is a New Age, the Kingdom Age that is dawning. And this is the psalm that will usher in the glorious Kingdom Age, as we clap our hands and shout unto God with a voice of triumph, because He has now established His kingdom over all of the earth and we are there with Him. He is the King over the earth, sing praises. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The psalmist called on all people to applaud Yahweh joyfully because He is the great universal sovereign enthroned on high. This is a call to willing submission to His authority.

"Kings in the ancient Near East loved to designate themselves by this title [great king] because with it were associated superiority, suzerainty, and the power to grant vassal treaties (cf. 2 Kings 18:19; Isaiah 36:4). Any king assuming this title could not tolerate competition. So it is with Yahweh. He alone is the Great King over all the earth (cf. Malachi 1:11; Malachi 1:14)!" [Note: VanGemeren, p. 358.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. The sovereign King’s homage 47:1-4

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 47

The psalmist called on all nations to honor Israel’s God who will one day rule over them. This is one of the so-called "enthronement" psalms that deals with Yahweh’s universal reign (cf. Psalms 93; Psalms 95-99). These are prophetic psalms since the worldwide rule of Messiah was future when the psalmist wrote.

"The enthronement festival is a scholarly extrapolation from a Babylonian festival in which the god Marduk was annually reenthroned in pomp and circumstance at a special event in the fall agricultural festival. The comparable occasion in Israel, or so thought Sigmund Mowinckel, was the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month. However, the direct biblical evidence for such an Israelite festival is virtually nil. It has essentially grown out of a ’parallelomania’ in biblical studies that shapes Israelite religion in the form of the neighboring cultures’ religions. One can identify parallels, to be sure, but the imposition of whole institutions on Israelite religion merely because echoes of such institutions from other cultures can be heard in the Psalms is questionable." [Note: Bullock, p. 181.]

A better title for this classification of psalms might be "kingship of Yahweh" psalms. [Note: Ibid., p. 188.] They bear the following characteristics: universal concern for all peoples and the whole earth, references to other gods, God’s characteristic acts (e.g., making, establishing, judging), and physical and spiritual protocol of the attitude of praise before the heavenly King. [Note: J. D. W. Watts, "Yahweh Malak Psalms," Theologische Zeitschrift 21 (1965):341-48.]

The Jews use this psalm on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year’s Day, and liturgical Christians use it as part of the celebration of Ascension Day. [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 184.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For the Lord most high [is] terrible,.... Christ is not only the Son of the Highest, but he himself is the most high God, God over all, blessed for ever. He is higher than the highest, than the angels in heaven, or any of the sons of men on earth. He is the high and lofty One, that dwells in the high and lofty place. And even this character agrees with him as the ascended Lord and King in his human nature; he is ascended on high, is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is highly exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour; he is made higher than the heavens, and than the kings of the earth are; angels, authorities, and powers, are subject to him. And this is a reason exciting all the people to joy and gladness. And he is "terrible" to his enemies, being the Lion of the tribe of Judah; who will rule the nations with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces as a potter's vessel: and so he will be when he shall come in the clouds of heaven, land descend from thence, in flaming fire, to take vengeance on those who have despised and rejected him; and at the same time will be glorious to and admired by them that believe in him. His appearance, which will be terrible to others, will be matter of joy to them. Though the word used may be rendered as it is in Psalms 111:9; "reverend" or "to be feared" b, as he is; see Isaiah 8:13; both on account of his goodness, as the Redeemer and Saviour of his people, Hosea 3:5; and of his greatness, being equal with God, and King of saints. As it follows;

[he is] a great King over all the earth; as he must needs be, since he is the great God and our Saviour; and is King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is now King of Zion, and head over all things to the church; and before long the kingdoms of this world will become his, and he will take to himself his great power and reign, and shall be King over all the earth openly and visibly; he shall be one, and his name One,

Zechariah 14:9; which is another reason for joy and gladness among the people.

b נורא "reverendus", Junius Tremellius "timendus est", Coccius; "venerandus", Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician. A psalm for the sons of Korah.

      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.

      The psalmist, having his own heart filled with great and good thoughts of God, endeavours to engage all about him in the blessed work of praise, as one convinced that God is worthy of all blessing and praise, and as one grieved at his own and others' backwardness to and barrenness in this work. Observe, in these verses,

      I. Who are called upon to praise God: "All you people, all you people of Israel;" those were his own subjects, and under his charge, and therefore he will engage them to praise God, for on them he has an influence. Whatever others do, he and his house, he and his people, shall praise the Lord. Or, "All you people and nations of the earth;" and so it may be taken as a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles and the bringing of them into the church; see Romans 15:11.

      II. What they are called upon to do: "O clap your hands, in token of your own joy and satisfaction in what God has done for you, of your approbation, nay, your admiration, of what God has done in general, and of your indignation against all the enemies of God's glory, Job 27:23. Clap your hands, as men transported with pleasure, that cannot contain themselves; shout unto God, not to make him hear (his ear is not heavy), but to make all about you hear, and take notice how much you are affected and filled with the works of God. Shout with the voice of triumph in him, and in his power and goodness, that others may join with you in the triumph." Note, Such expressions of pious and devout affections as to some may seem indecent and imprudent ought not to be hastily censured and condemned, much less ridiculed, because, if they come from an upright heart, God will accept the strength of the affection and excuse the weakness of the expressions of it.

      III. What is suggested to us as matter for our praise. 1. That the God with whom we have to do is a God of awful majesty (Psalms 47:2; Psalms 47:2): The Lord most high is terrible. He is infinitely above the noblest creatures, higher than the highest; there are those perfections in him that are to be reverenced by all, and particularly that power, holiness, and justice, that are to be dreaded by all those that contend with him. 2. That he is a God of sovereign and universal dominion. He is a King that reigns alone, and with an absolute power, a King over all the earth; all the creatures, being made by him, are subject to him, and therefore he is a great King, the King of kings. 3. That he takes a particular care of his people and their concerns, has done so and ever will; (1.) In giving them victory and success (Psalms 47:3; Psalms 47:3), subduing the people and nations under them, both those that stood in their way (Psalms 44:2) and those that made attempts upon them. This God had done for them, witness the planting of them in Canaan, and their continuance there unto this day. This they doubted not but he would still do for them by his servant David, who prospered which way soever he turned his victorious arms. But this looks forward to the kingdom of the Messiah, which was to be set over all the earth, and not confined to the Jewish nation. Jesus Christ shall subdue the Gentiles; he shall bring them in as sheep into the fold (so the word signifies), not for slaughter, but for preservation. He shall subdue their affections, and make them a willing people in the day of his power, shall bring their thoughts into obedience to him, and reduce those who had gone astray, under the guidance of the great shepherd and bishop of souls,1 Peter 2:25. (2.) In giving them rest and settlement (Psalms 47:4; Psalms 47:4): He shall choose our inheritance for us. He had chosen the land of Canaan to be an inheritance for Israel; it was the land which the Lord their God spied out for them; see Deuteronomy 32:8. This justified their possession of that land, an d gave them a good title; and this sweetened their enjoyment of it, and made it comfortable; they had reason to think it a happy lot, and to be satisfied in it, when it was that which Infinite Wisdom chose for them. And the setting up of God's sanctuary in it made it the excellency, the honour, of Jacob (Amos 6:8); and he chose so good an inheritance for Jacob because he loved him, Deuteronomy 7:8. Apply this spiritually, and it bespeaks, [1.] The happiness of the saints, that God himself has chosen their inheritance for them, and it is a goodly heritage: he has chosen it who knows the soul, and what will serve to make it happy; and he has chosen so well that he himself has undertaken to be the inheritance of his people (Psalms 16:5), and he has laid up for them in the other world an inheritance incorruptible, 1 Peter 1:4. This will be indeed the excellency of Jacob, for whom, because he loved them, he prepared such a happiness as eye has not seen. [2.] The faith and submission of the saints to God. This is the language of every gracious soul, "God shall choose my inheritance for me; let him appoint me my lot, and I will acquiesce in the appointment. He knows what is good for me better than I do for myself, and therefore I will have no will of my own but what is resolved into his."