Psalm 47--God Is King over All the Earth

Psalm 47
English Standard Version

God Is King over All the Earth
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
47 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

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!

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!

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The people once again are encouraged to rejoice because of the reality that the LORD is King, no matter how things may look in the moment.  He has chosen them to be His holy people and has given them the Land as an eternal inheritance.  The people are then supposed to pause and reflect on what this all means.

In the second stanza, the LORD is pictured as a mighty warrior that leads His people into battle with a battle cry and the blast of the trumpet.  The Levites were supposed to be there to give praise to the LORD for the way He fights for His people while the other 12 tribes engaged in battle.  This time, all the people were to join in the singing and music as the LORD Himself fought and won the victory.  (This happened at the cross and will happen again at the Second Coming).

Verse three points to something future, but also something in the present.  There will be a future kingdom here on earth where all nations will be subject to the rule of Father and the Son from the Holy City of Jerusalem, but it doesn't change the fact that God is Sovreign now as He reigns from heaven.  Even though we don't see Him or His throne currently, He is there and He is in charge of everyone and everything.  God will gather a remnant from all the peoples of the earth so that every nation will come and worship Him just as the Jews will do--others will know Him in the way that Abraham and the other people of God knew Him.  No one will any longer need shields for defense as the LORD will be our Shield and Defender.