BackgroundAn enthronement hymn likely sung as the ark of the covenant was processed up the Temple Mount during a major festival.
Psalm 47: Clap and Shout, the King Has Risen
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
By Bea Zalel
Psalm 47
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
- Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout unto God with a voice of triumph.
- How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
- He subdues nations beneath us, and peoples under our feet.
- He chooses our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loves. Selah
- God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD with the sound of the horn.
- Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!
- For God is King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise.
- God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.
- The nobles of the nations have assembled as the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.
Theme
Psalm 47 belongs to a small cluster called the enthronement psalms. They were probably sung when the ark of the covenant, which Israelites understood as the footstool of Yahweh's invisible throne, was carried in procession back into the temple at the great festivals. The opening summons all peoples to clap. In the Hebrew Bible, clapping was not an audience response. It was the ritual gesture of acclaiming a king at a coronation (see 2 Kings 11:12 where Joash is crowned and the people clap and shout "Long live the king").
Verse 5 reads "God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." The verb "alah," to go up, was the standard term for ascending to Jerusalem. It was also the verb for the burnt offering rising in smoke. Here it pictures God himself ascending to take his throne, accompanied by the "shofar," the ram's horn that announced both battle and worship. Imagine the procession halting at the threshold. Then the long blast of the shofar splits the air over the city.
The psalm refuses to keep the kingship of God provincial. "All you peoples" appear in verse 1. The "princes of the peoples" gather in verse 9. The Hebrew is striking. The nations are described as joining "the people of the God of Abraham," which reaches all the way back to Genesis 12:3, where Abraham was promised that "all the families of the earth" would be blessed through him. The Sons of Korah are singing the original missionary hope of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Discussion questions
- What is an enthronement psalm? How do scholars think these songs functioned at the major festivals like Sukkot when the ark may have been processed?
- How does 2 Kings 11:12 (the coronation of Joash) help us understand what clapping and shouting actually meant in ancient Israel, as opposed to modern stadium applause?
- What is the "shofar," how was it different from a metal trumpet? Why is its sound especially fitting for a song about God ascending to his throne?
- Verse 5 says "God has gone up." How does the verb "alah" connect this image with daily temple worship and with the layout of Jerusalem's geography?
- What is the significance of verse 9 calling the gathering nations "the people of the God of Abraham," and how does that echo Genesis 12:3?
- How does Psalm 47 expand Israel's understanding of God's kingship beyond their own borders? What does that expansion suggest about how Israelites understood mission?
- How might first-temple worshipers have physically participated in this song through clapping, shouting, singing? What does that bodily worship teach us today?
- What is the difference between God being king over Israel versus God being king over "all the earth"? How does this psalm hold those two together?
- Where do you see verse 8 ("God reigns over the nations") at work in current world events? How does this psalm shape how a Christian might read political news?
- Compare Psalm 47 with the New Testament image of Christ's ascension (Acts 1:9, Ephesians 4:8). How might Christians hear an echo of "God has gone up with a shout" in those texts?
Read this psalm in another translation
The inline text above is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Open in a new tab to compare with a modern licensed translation: