Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 47:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 47:8. God reigneth over the heathen — Though this is literally true in God's universal dominion, yet more is here meant. God reigns over the heathen when, by the preaching of the Gospel, they are brought into the Church of Christ.

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. — He is a holy God; he proclaims holiness. His laws are holy, he requires holiness, and his genuine people are all holy. The throne of his holiness is the heaven of heavens; also the temple at Jerusalem; and, lastly, the hearts of the faithful.

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

PROPHETIC PORTION OF THE PSALM

"God is gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: Sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: Sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the nations: God sitteth upon his holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together To be the people of the God of Abraham; For the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted."

"God is gone up with a shout" This positively does not mean that, "An earthly king `goes up' to the high place where his palace is located."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IV, p. 246. This is merely a deduction based upon the nonsense of a `cultic' interpretation. What earthly king was ever entitled to be called, "God?"

Then, there is the view that God had, in a sense, "come down" to rescue his people; and after he had done so, of course, he went up to heaven; but this is the utmost abuse of the anthropomorphism inherent in certain Biblical statements that God "came down," as in Genesis 11:5. Never for one moment did God actually leave heaven and come down to earth either to inspect men's works, or to thwart them. It seems to us that even simple, uneducated people should certainly know a basic truth like that.

Note that the text says nothing of God's "coming down" to destroy Sennacherib; it is only the `interpreters' who come up with statements like that; and we wish to affirm that God did not come down from heaven in order to deliver the Jews from Assyria. He did not need to come down, nor did he do so. Therefore God's "going up" is no reference whatever to his going back to heaven after coming down to help the Jews.

In the history of mankind, God literally came down from heaven to this earth, only once, and that was in the person of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. He, alone, was the Day Spring who visited us from "On High."

"God went up" Our text states that "God went up," and as Delitzsch stated it, "The ascent of God presupposes a previous descent."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-B, p. 99. No doubt Delitzsch followed the wisdom of the apostle Paul in this, for that apostle made exactly the same argument, speaking of the ascension of Christ, he wrote: "Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended" (Ephesians 4:9)?

Note that in the apostolic usage of this terminology that it was a literal "coming down to earth" and "going up to heaven" that was meant. There was no anthropomorphism whatever. For these reasons, we hold that God's "going up" in this passage is a prophetic reference to the Ascension to heaven of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the reason that Christian scholars for centuries have called this "One of the Ascension Psalms." Moreover, "The traditional use of this Psalm in the historical Church is for `The Festival of the Ascension.'"H. C. Leupold, p. 369.

"Sing praises" This command occurs no less than five times in these two verses, indicating that something far more important, even, than the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib, is indicated in the words just spoken, that "God is gone up," implying, as it does, that he had also come down. What could that super-important event be? Only the visitation of Christ in the Incarnation and his exaltation at the right hand of God could be meant.

Kidner tells us that in the Hebrew, there is only a single word which is here repeatedly rendered, "Sing praises."Derek Kidner, Vol. I, p. 178.

"God reigneth over the nations; God sitteth upon his holy throne" This verse enables us to know the identity of "God" who went up (Psalms 47:5). He is the God who rules over the Gentiles (the `nations') in his kingdom, and who during that time is `sitting upon his holy throne.' The special application of this terminology to Jesus Christ is well known to every Christian, the same being a strong indication that Psalms 47:5 is indeed a prophecy of Christ's ascension.

We noted that one reason, perhaps, for the Spirit of God's inclusion of this prophecy in proximity to the Jewish boast of trampling the Gentiles under their feet in the first section, was for the purpose of rebuking that selfish and egoistic principle that apparently dominated the Jewish mind.

"The princes of the peoples are gathered together to be the people of the God of Abraham" The `peoples' here are the `nations,' i.e., `the Gentiles,' who are said to be gathered together for the purpose of "becoming" the people of the God of Abraham. In all the Bible there is not a clearer prophecy of God's converting the Gentiles and of bringing them into the kingdom of God, alongside the Jews, than we have here. Paul stated that:

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be no male and female; for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus; and if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. - Galatians 3:28-29.

Thus, as several writers have pointed out, we have the fulfilment here of what God promised Abraham, that through him "all the families of the earth would be blessed" (Genesis 12:3, and Genesis 17:4).

"The shields of the earth" Dummelow gave the meaning of this as "the princes of the earth."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 348. Apparently the meaning here relates to the rulers of all the Gentile nations. God's ownership and his kingship over all things and all men are effectively stated here,

The very fact of God, in some meaningful sense, ruling over all nations and all men is a truth that identifies the Kingdom of God on earth. Thus there are three tremendous prophecies in these five verses: (1) the Incarnation of Christ, certified by his ascension, (2) the establishment of God's kingdom on earth, and (3) the union of both Gentiles and Jews in the Messianic phase of God's kingdom.

In these last verses, "All peoples and nations are called upon to desist from opposing God, and to accept him as their exalted Sovereign."The Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 80.

When all nations shall submit to Christ, and all the peoples of mankind bow down before him, and when rebellion and resistance to his will have ceased, then shall come to pass what is written:

"THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD IS BECOME
THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST;
AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER."
- Revelation 11:15

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

God reigneth over the heathen - Over the “nations;” not over the “heathen” in the sense in which that term is understood now. It does not mean that God reigns, or that he has set up his throne over the people that have not the true religion, but that he is exalted over the “nations” of the earth as such; or, that he has universal dominion. See the notes at Psalms 46:10.

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness - Upon his holy throne, The idea is, that his government is established in holiness or justice.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

8.He hath obtained the kingdom over the heathen Literally it is, He hath reigned; but as the verb מלך, malach, is in the past tense, which in Hebrew denotes a continued act, we have translated it, He hath obtained the kingdom The prophet repeatedly informs us that God reigns over the Gentiles; and from this it is easy to gather that he here treats of a new and a previously unheard of manner of reigning. There is an implied contrast between the time of the Law, when God confined his empire, or kingdom, within the boundaries of Judea, and the coming of Christ, when he extended it far and wide, so as to occupy the whole world from one end to the other. The majesty of God sent forth some sparks of its brightness among the heathen nations, when David made them tributary; but the prophet could not, on that account, have properly said that God reigned among them, since they both contemned his worship and the true religion, and also wished to see the Church completely extinguished. To find the fulfillment of this prophecy, we must, therefore, necessarily come to Christ. What is added in the second clause of the verse, God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness, may be taken in a twofold sense. By this form of expression is often to be understood the tabernacle, or the temple; but it also sometimes signifies heaven. If any are inclined to explain it of the temple, the meaning will be, That while God reigned over the whole world, and comprehended all nations under his dominion, he had established his chief seat at Jerusalem; and it was from thence that the doctrine of the gospel, by which he has brought under his dominion all people, flowed. We may, however, very properly take this expression as spoken of heaven; and thus the sense will be, That God, in stretching forth his hand to subdue men, and bring them to submit to his authority, evidently shows that, from his heavenly throne, he reigns over men. Unless he show men his power and working by signs manifest and near at hand, he is not acknowledged as Governor of the world.

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

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.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The sovereign King’s reign 47:5-9

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Again he called for praise because the Lord reigns over all nations. He looked ahead in time to see this enthronement. It has not yet taken place, but the psalmist was sure it would happen. The King of the Universe will inevitably rule one day over all, and every knee will bow before Him (Philippians 2:9-11). [Note: See Allen, Rediscovering Prophecy, pp. 217-30.]

As the saints experience discouragement, they can find hope and joy in the fact that, one day, Jesus Christ will subdue all His enemies and rule over all the nations.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

God reigneth over the Heathen,.... He reigned over Israel under the former dispensation, and now he reigns over the Gentiles under the Gospel dispensation; as appears by the numerous instances of conversion among them in the first ages of Christianity; and by the many churches that were planted by the means of the apostles; and by the destruction of the Roman Pagan empire under the sixth seal, Revelation 6:12; and which will still more appear by the destruction of Rome Papal, when all the Heathens shall perish out of the land; and by the fulness and forces of the Gentiles being brought into a submission to him; all which are reasons to sing praises to him;

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness; or his holy throne, which is heaven; on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; on his Father's throne; having done his work on earth he is received up into heaven, and is set down on a throne at the right hand of God, an honour which none of the angels have: he has ceased from his work and entered into his rest, and sits and sees of the travail of his soul; all which is matter of joy to his people, and a reason why they should sing praises; and the rather, since they are set down with him in heavenly places: or this may be understood of his sitting on the throne of judgment to judge the world in righteousness at the last day, it following upon his reign over the Gentiles; though the other sense best agrees with his immediate ascension to heaven.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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 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.

      We are here most earnestly pressed to praise God, and to sing his praises; so backward are we to this duty that we have need to be urged to it by precept upon precept, and line upon line; so we are here (Psalms 47:6; Psalms 47:6): Sing praises to God, and again, Sing praises, Sing praises to our King, and again, Sing praises. This intimates that it is a very necessary and excellent duty, that it is a duty we ought to be frequent and abundant in; we may sing praises again and again in the same words, and it is no vain repetition if it be done with new affections. Should not a people praise their God? Daniel 5:4. Should not subjects praise their king? God is our God, our King, and therefore we must praise him; we must sing his praises, as those that are pleased with them and that are not ashamed of them. But here is a needful rule subjoined (Psalms 47:7; Psalms 47:7): Sing you praises with understanding, with Maschil. 1. "Intelligently; as those that do yourselves understand why and for what reasons you praise God and what is the meaning of the service." This is the gospel-rule (1 Corinthians 14:15), to sing with the spirit and with the understanding also; it is only with the heart that we make melody to the Lord, Ephesians 5:19. It is not an acceptable service if it be not a reasonable service. 2. "Instructively, as those that desire to make others understand God's glorious perfections, and to teach them to praise him." Three things are mentioned in these verses as just matter for our praises, and each of them will admit of a double sense:--

      I. We must praise God going up (Psalms 47:5; Psalms 47:5): God has gone up with a shout, which may refer, 1. To the carrying up of the ark to the hill of Zion, which was done with great solemnity, David himself dancing before it, the priests, it is likely, blowing the trumpets, and the people following with their loud huzzas. The ark being the instituted token of God's special presence with them, when that was brought up by warrant from him he might be said to go up. The emerging of God's ordinances out of obscurity, in order to the more public and solemn administration of them, is a great favour to any people, which they have reason to rejoice in and give thanks for. 2. To the ascension of our Lord Jesus into heaven, when he had finished his work on earth, Acts 1:9. Then God went up with a shout, the shout of a King, of a conqueror, as one who, having spoiled principalities and powers, then led captivity captive,Psalms 68:18. He went up as a Mediator, typified by the ark and the mercy-seat over it, and was brought as the ark was into the most holy place, into heaven itself; see Hebrews 9:24. We read not of a shout, or of the sound of a trumpet, at the ascension of Christ, but they were the inhabitants of the upper world, those sons of God, that then shouted for joy, Job 38:7. He shall come again in the same manner as he went (Acts 1:11) and we are sure that he shall come again with a shout and the sound of a trumpet.

      II. We must praise God reigning, Psalms 47:7; Psalms 47:8. God is not only our King, and therefore we owe our homage to him, but he is King of all the earth (Psalms 47:7; Psalms 47:7), over all the kings of the earth, and therefore in every place the incense of praise is to be offered up to him. Now this may be understood, 1. Of the kingdom of providence. God, as Creator, and the God of nature, reigns over the heathen, disposes of them and all their affairs, as he pleases, though they know him not, nor have any regard to him: He sits upon the throne of his holiness, which he has prepared in the heavens, and there he rules over all, even over the heathen, serving his own purposes by them and upon them. See here the extent of God's government; all are born within his allegiance; even the heathen that serve other gods are ruled by the true God, our God, whether they will or no. See the equity of his government; it is a throne of holiness, on which he sits, whence he gives warrants, orders, and judgment, in which we are sure there is no iniquity. 2. Of the kingdom of the Messiah. Jesus Christ, who is God, and whose throne is for ever and ever reigns over the heathen; not only he is entrusted with the administration of the providential kingdom, but he shall set up the kingdom of his grace in the Gentile world, and rule in the hearts of multitudes that were bred up in heathenism, Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 2:13. This the apostle speaks of as a great mystery that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs,Ephesians 3:6. Christ sits upon the throne of his holiness, his throne in the heavens, where all the administrations of his government are intended to show forth God's holiness and to advance holiness among the children of men.

      III. We must praise God as attended and honoured by the princes of the people,Psalms 47:9; Psalms 47:9. This may be understood, 1. Of the congress or convention of the states of Israel, the heads and rulers of the several tribes, at the solemn feasts, or to despatch the public business of the nation. It was the honour of Israel that they were the people of the God of Abraham, as they were Abraham's seed and taken into his covenant; and, thanks be to God, this blessing of Abraham has come upon the isles of the Gentiles, Galatians 3:14. It was their happiness that they had a settled government, princes of their people, who were the shields of their land. Magistracy is the shield of a nation, and it is a great mercy to any people to have this shield, especially when their princes, their shields, belong unto the Lord, are devoted to his honour, and their power is employed in his service, for then he is greatly exalted. It is likewise the honour of God that, in another sense, the shields of the earth do belong to him; magistracy is his institution, and he serves his own purposes by it in the government of the world, turning the hearts of kings as the rivers of water, which way soever he pleases. It was well with Israel when the princes of their people were gathered together to consult for the public welfare. The unanimous agreement of the great ones of a nation in the things that belong to its peace is a very happy omen, which promises abundance of blessings. 2. It may be applied to the calling of the Gentiles into the church of Christ, and taken as a prophecy that in the days of the Messiah the kings of the earth and their people should join themselves to the church, and bring their glory and power into the New Jerusalem, that they should all become the people of the God of Abraham, to whom it was promised that he should be the father of many nations. The volunteers of the people (so it may be read); it is the same word that is used in Psalms 110:3, Thy people shall be willing; for those that are gathered to Christ are not forced, but made freely willing, to be his. When the shields of the earth, the ensigns of royal dignity (1 Kings 14:27; 1 Kings 14:28), are surrendered to the Lord Jesus, as the keys of a city are presented to the conqueror or sovereign, when princes use their power for the advancement of the interests of religion, then Christ is greatly exalted.