Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 47

O clap your hands, all ye people - A common way of expressing joy, or indicating applause. Compare the notes at Isaiah 55:12. The “people” here referred to are probably the Jewish people, and the call on them is to rejoice, with the customary marks of joy, in view of the great victory which God had gained over their enemies.

Shout unto God - Make a joyful noise in praise of God; that is, in acknowledgment that this victory has been gained by his interposition.

With a voice of triumph - With such a shout as is usually raised when a victory is obtained; such a shout as occurs in a triumphal procession. Compare 2 Samuel 6:15; 1 Chronicles 15:28; Job 39:25; Zechariah 4:7; Exodus 32:18; Isaiah 12:6; Isaiah 42:11; Isaiah 44:23; Jeremiah 50:15. There are doubtless times when loud shouts, as expressive of joy, are proper.

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; Psalms 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.

He shall subdue the people under us — Compare Psalms 18:39, note; Psalms 18:47, note. The word rendered “subdue” is that which commonly means “to speak.” The idea in the use of this word here is that he has only to speak and it is done , or that he could do it by a word. Compare, however, on the use of the word here, Gesenius (Lexicon), on the word — דבר dâbar — 2, Hiphil.

And the nations under our feet — That is, they shall be entirely or effectually subdued. See Psalms 7:5, note; Psalms 44:5, note. As God would enable them to do this, it was an occasion for thankfulness and triumph.

He shall choose our inheritance for us - He has chosen or selected the land which we inherit. Of all the countries which compose the world, he has chosen this to be the inheritance of his own people, or the place where they should dwell. The thought in this verse is based on the idea so common in the writings of the Hebrews, that their country was the glory of all lands - the place of all on earth most desirable to dwell in. It is in view of this fact that they are here called on to praise God, and to rejoice in him.

The excellency of Jacob - literally, “the pride - גאון gâ'ôn - of Jacob.” Septuagint, “beauty” - καλλονὴν kallonēn. So the Vulgate, “speciem.” The meaning is, that it was a land of which Jacob, the ancestor of the people, might be proud, or which he did boast of. It was ever regarded as an honor among the Jews that they dwelt in a land which had been the abode of the prophets; and especially was anything regarded as of value that could be traced to Jacob, that had been once in his possession, or that could be regarded as his gift. Compare (John 4:12).

Whom he loved - As one of the patriarchs. Perhaps special allusion is here made to Jacob rather than to Abraham and Isaac, because the land came actually into the possession of the Hebrew people in the time of Jacob’s sons. It was divided among the descendants of his sons, the twelve tribes, bearing their names; and thus Jacob was most naturally referred to as having been in possession of the land. Abraham and Isaac dwelt in the land as strangers and pilgrims (Hebrews 11:9–10), (Hebrews 11:13), having no possession there, not even of a burying-place except as they purchased it ; and the land actually came into the possession of the nation only in the family of Jacob.

God is gone up with a shout - That is, he has ascended to heaven, his home and throne, after having secured the victory. He is represented as having come down to aid his people in the war by the overthrow of their enemies, and (having accomplished this) as returning to heaven, accompanied by his hosts, and amidst the shouts of triumph. All this is, of course, poetical, and is not to be regarded as literal in any sense. Compare the notes at Psalms 7:7.

The Lord with the sound of a trumpet - Yahweh, accompanied with the notes of victory. All this is designed to denote triumph, and to show that the victory was to be traced solely to God.