For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
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For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
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For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
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(47-8) For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises in a skilful song.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Psalms 47:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Zechariah 14:9 Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
- Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
- Psalms 47:8 God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.
- Psalms 47:2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.
- Revelation 11:15 The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”
- 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 For if I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7. For God is King of all the earth…
7. For God is King of all the earth The Psalmist, having called God in the close of the preceding verse King of the chosen people, now calls him King of all the earth; and thus, while he claims to the Jews the right and honor of primogeniture, he at the same time joins to them the Gentiles as associates and partakers with them of the same blessing. By these words he intimates that the kingdom of God would be much more magnificent and glorious at the coming of the Messiah, than it was under the shadowy dispensation of the Law, inasmuch as it would be extended to the utmost boundaries of the earth. To show the greater earnestness in his exhortation, he repeats the words, Sing praises to God, five times. The word מםכיל, maskil, is put in the singular number instead of the plural; for he invites to this exercise all who are skillful in singing. He, no doubt, speaks of knowledge in the art of music; but he requires, at the same time, the worshippers of God to sing the praises of God intelligently, that there may not be the mere sound of tongues, as we know to be the case among the Papists. Knowledge of what is sung is required in order to engage in a proper manner in the singing of psalms, that the name of God may not be profaned, as it would certainly be, were there nothing more but the voice which melts away or is dissolved in the air.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He requireth that understanding be joined with singing, lest…
He requireth that understanding be joined with singing, lest the Name of God be profaned with vain crying.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 47:7 For God [is] the King of all…
Psa 47:7 For God [is] the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Ver. 7. For God is King of all the earth] q.d. Our King, said I? it is too little; he is King of all the earth. A title vainly taken by some proud princes, as Sesostris, king of Egypt, who would needs be called κοσμοκρατωρ, Lord of the whole world. So a decree went out from Augustus Caesar, that all the world should be taxed, Luk 2:1. The Great Turk, Amurath III, styled himself, God of the earth, governor of the whole world, &c.; but these were but bubbles of words, as St Peter hath it, God is the sole monarch of the whole world, παμβασιλευς.
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Sing ye praises with understanding] Non bacchantium more, but prudently, and with a well composed mind, saith Vatablus; Psalmo Didasealico, saith Tremellius, with such a psalm or song as whereby ye may rightly inform one another concerning his kingdom and your own duty. Heb. Sing ye Maschil, that is, one of the psalms that bear that title, as some sense it; or, every one of you that hath skill in songs, as others, Quotquot sapientes intelligentes et periti estis psallendi.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The King of all the earth; not only ours,…
The King of all the earth; not only ours, as I now said, but also of all the nations of the world; and therefore he may well require, and doth highly deserve, all our praises.
With understanding; not rashly, or formally and carelessly, but seriously, considering the greatness of this King whom you praise, and what abundant cause you have to praise and admire him; which is an intimation that the matter of this Psalm is more sublime and important than ordinary.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain God reigneth over the Heathen,.... He reigned over Israel…
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, Rev 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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The king - Not only ours, but of all…
The king - Not only ours, but of all the nations of the world. Sing - Not formally and carelessly, but seriously, considering the greatness of this king whom you praise, and what abundant cause you have to praise him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. For God is the King of all…
Verse 7. For God is the King of all the earth] He is not your King only, but the King of the universe. He has no limited power, no confined dominion.
Sing ye praises with understanding] זמרו משכיל zammeru maskil, sing an instructive song. Let sense and sound go together. Let your hearts and heads go with your voices. Understand what you sing; and feel what you understand; and let the song be what will give instruction in righteousness to them that hear it. [Anglo-Saxon], Sing wisely. - Anglo-Saxon. Multitudes sing foolishly.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For God is the King of all the earth…
For God is the King of all the earth - He has shown himself to be a universal sovereign. All nations are subject to him, and he has a claim to universal praise.
Sing ye praises with understanding - Margin, Every one “that hath understanding.” Neither the text here, however, nor the margin, expresses the true idea of the original. The Hebrew is, “Sing a Maschil” - משׂכיל maśkı̂yl; that is, Sing, or play, a didactic psalm or tune; that is, a song or ode adapted to convey valuable lessons of instruction. See the word explained in the notes at the title to Psa 32:1-11. The idea is, that the occasion was one on which “such” a psalm or song would be especially appropriate; an occasion on which great lessons or truths had been taught by the dealings of God, which it became his people now to set forth in a becoming manner. Those lessons or truths pertained to the fact that God is the great King over all the earth, or that he is a sovereign among the nations: a truth of immense importance to mankind, and a truth which the occasion on which the psalm was composed was especially adapted to bring to view.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. with understanding] So the LXX, Vulg., and Jer.…
7. with understanding] So the LXX, Vulg., and Jer. But better as R.V. marg., in a skilful psalm, Heb. Maschil. See Introd. p. xix.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) With understanding.—Rather, play a fine tune. (See title…
(7) With understanding.—Rather, play a fine tune. (See title Psalms 32) Or perhaps as LXX., and Vulg. adverbially, play with skill.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For God is the King of all the earth…
For God is the King of all the earth (comp. ver. 2). Sing ye praises with understanding; literally, sing a psalm of instruction. As Hengstenberg remarks, "Every song in praise of God, on account of God, on account of his glorious deeds, contains a rich treasure of instruction and improvement." Here the special instruction is that God is King over the whole earth, that he reigns over the heathen, and that the heathen shall also some time or other own his sovereignty.
Universal dominion.
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"God is King of all the earth." We must beware of making too wide a chasm between our sabbath rest and our daily work; devotion and daily duty. The risk is double of making our religion unreal, and our daily work irreligious. A devout Christian may be tempted to say, "Do not talk to me from the pulpit about earth; talk about heaven! I must launch out again into the rough sea of business and politics to-morrow; let not even the ground-swell disturb the peaceful haven." This is natural enough, but not always well. Our treasure is not on earth, but our work is. The tempter told our Saviour that the kingdoms of this world are delivered to him; but he was sternly rebuked. If he is called "the prince," even "the god of this world," it is a usurped dominion, which it is our business to protest and fight against. "The earth is the Lord"s," etc.; (Psa_24:1) "The kingdom is the Lord"s". (Psa_22:28)
I GOD IS THE ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN OF MANKIND, AS OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. Supreme authority and almighty power are his his only. Sin cannot change this. The most absolute and mighty despot on earth would become a helpless captive if his troops and people were unanimous in deposing him. But God"s power and authority would be exactly the same if every human being defied it. Disobedience could not last an hour if he saw fit to crush it. But he wills to rule, not by mere power, but by wisdom, righteousness, and love his own eternal law of being and working.
II GOD"S REGAL BOUNTY, HIS FATHERLY CARE AND GOODNESS, ARE EXERCISED TOWARDS ALL MEN. (Mat_5:45 Act_14:17 Act_17:25) The Laplander in his snow hut, no less than the most cultured child of civilization. If he knows every wild bird and beast, (Psa_50:10-12) and not a sparrow falls unnoticed by him, how much less can one human being, even the guiltiest and most debased, be outside his care!
III GOD"S IMPERIAL PROVIDENCE CONTROLS ALL HUMAN ACTION. Men rebel against his will, yet his purpose is accomplished. (Psa_30:10, 11 Act_3:17, 18 2Ch_10:15) Our inability to explain how this is possible does not affect the fact. Were it otherwise, God could not govern the world. Conscience and Scripture alike tell us that freedom and responsibility are not interfered with.
IV GOD RULES AND CARES FOR NATIONS AS SUCH; NOT INDIVIDUALS MERELY. For human history is the history of nations. The nation of Israel, constructed (so to speak), educated, governed, blessed, and chastened, as no other has been, holds a unique place in the providence of God and in the religious history of mankind. The full prophetic testimony of this fact is one of the strongest evidences of Old Testament inspiration. In this psalm, e.g., full of national sentiment and triumph, the heathen are regarded, not as conquered foes, but fellow-subjects.
V THIS REGAL, IMPERIAL RULE IS COMMITTED TO THE LORD JESUS. (Mat_28:18) The hands nailed to the cross hold the sceptre of the world. (Rev_2:26, Rev_2:27) Not for worldly ends; but for the sake of that higher kingdom, specially called in the New Testament "the kingdom of God;" the rule, namely, of righteousness, truth, and love, for which we pray, "Thy kingdom come.
CONCLUSION. To which kingdom do you belong does each one of us? only to that to which even the most ignorant belongs, without knowing it; the most wicked, against his will? or that which the Son of God and Son of man lived, died, and rose again to found and to make triumphant, and in whose triumph we may share?
Christianity the faith of all nations.
Judaism was not fitted for universality. Its rites, its laws as to meats and drinks, its localization of worship, gave it the character of a national rather than a universal religion. Yet it was by Hebrew prophets that the idea of a universal religion was propounded. Taught of God, they were able to rise above what was local and exclusive, and to rejoice in foresight of the latter-day glory, when Jehovah should be "King of all the earth." The fulfilment is in Christ, whose coming was hailed, not only as "King of the Jews," but as the "Light of the Gentiles," and the Saviour of the world. Christianity, not the Christianity of the Creeds or of any particular Church, but the Christianity of Christ, is the faith for all nations. The fact that the Bible is so fitted for translation into all languages; that the rites of the gospel are so simple and so adapted to all countries; that the laws as to Church government are so few, and so capable of being worked out according to the needs of different peoples, might be urged as arguments for universality. But there are other and stronger reasons. Christianity is fitted to be the faith of all nations, because of
I ITS REPRESENTATION OF GOD. It has been truly said that "Christianity alone of religions gives a clear, self-consistent, adequate view of God. It alone discloses and promises to man a complete communion with God." The cry of Philip, "Show us the Father," finds in Christ a full response. (Joh_14:9) "In creation God is a God above us; in the Law he is a God against us; but in the gospel, he is Immanuel, a God with us, a God like us, a God for us.
II ITS DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. The evil that presses upon men everywhere is sin. How can it be taken away? The answer is," Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Our character and life depend upon our beliefs.
Belief in Christ not only secures pardon and reconciliation with God, but restoration of purity. In the Gospels we have not only the doctrine, but facts that authenticate the doctrine. The great conversions of St. Luke (Luk_7:48 Luk_19:9, 10 23:43) are samples of what Christ has done and is doing, (1Ti_1:15-17) and what he begins he will perfect.
III ITS IDEAL OF HUMANITY. We have not only the Law, but the life. (Mat_5:1-11 1Pe_2:21) Christ not only gives us the ideal, but shows us how that ideal may be realized. (Mat_15:24-27 Tit_2:11-13) Thus in Christ God comes down to man, and man is raised up to God. The promise is unto all, without respect of persons.
IV ITS BOND OF BROTHERHOOD. What force, and commerce, and ecclesiasticism, and all human devices failed to do, Christ has done. He treats men simply as men, and by his Spirit binds them together as brethren. The wall of partition is broken down. The divisions formed by pride and selfishness are abolished, and all the world over "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free," but all are one in Christ Jesus. (Gal_3:28)
V ITS CONSOLATIONS AND HOPES. Here there is comfort for every troubled heart. Christ is our Hope. To use the words of Arthur Hallam, "I see that the Bible fits into every fold of the human heart. I am a man, and I believe it to be God"s book, because it is man"s book.
VI ITS PROMISE OF IMMORTALITY. This is the climax. Godliness has the promise not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come. The vision rises bright before every Christian. "Days without night; joys without sorrow; sanctity without sin; charity without stain; possession without fear; society without envying; communication of joys without lessening; and they shall dwell in a blessed country where an enemy never entered, and from which a friend never went away." Therefore we pray with increasing fervour, "Thy kingdom come. W.F.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 7. For God is the King of all…
Ver. 7. For God is the King of all the earth. The Jews of our Saviour's time resented this truth, but had their hearts been right they would have rejoiced in it. They would have kept their God to themselves, and not even have allowed the Gentile dogs to eat the crumbs from under his table. Alas! how selfishness turns honey into wormwood. Jehovah is not the God of the Jews only, all the nations of the earth are, through the Messiah, yet to own him Lord. Meanwhile his providential throne governs all events beneath the sky. Sing praises with understanding. Sing a didactic Psalm. Sound doctrine praises God. Even under the economy of types and ceremonies, it is clear that the Lord had regard to the spirituality of worship, and would be praised thoughtfully, intelligently, and with deep appreciation of the reason for song. It is to be feared from the slovenly way in which some make a noise in singing, that they fancy any sound will do. On the other hand, from the great attention paid by some to the mere music, we feel sadly sure that the sense has no effect upon them. Is it not a sin to be tickling men's ears with sounds when we profess to be adoring the Lord? What has a sensuous delight in organs, anthems, etc., to do with devotion? Do not men mistake physical effects for spiritual impulses? Do they not often offer to God strains far more calculated for human amusement than for divine acceptance? An understanding enlightened of the Holy Spirit is then and then only fully capable of offering worthy praise.
Ver. 7. For God is the King of all the earth: as if he had said, "our King, said I? it is too little; he is King of all the earth." John Trapp.
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Ver. 7. Sing ye praises with understanding. How may we make melody in our hearts to God in singing of Psalms? We must sing with understanding. We must not be guided by the time, but the words of the Psalm; we must mind the matter more than the music, and consider what we sing, as well as how we sing; the tune may affect the fancy, but it is the matter affects the heart, and that God principally eyes. The psalmist advises us in this particular, and so doth the apostle 1Co 14:15. Otherwise this sweet duty would be more the work of a chorister than of a Christian, and we should be more delighted in an anthem of the musician's making, than in a Psalm of the Spirit's making. A. Lapide observes that in the text, 1Co 14:15, the word understanding is maschil, (lyksm), profound judgment: we must sing wisely, if we will sing gratefully; we must relish what we sing. In a word, we must sing as we must pray; now the most rude petitioner will understand what he prays. 1Co 14:15. If we do not understand what we sing, it argues carelessness of spirit, or hardness of heart; and this makes the service impertinent. Upon this the worthy Davenant cries out, "Adieu to the bellowing of the Papists, who sing in an unknown tongue." God will not understand us in that service which we understand not ourselves. One of the first pieces of the creation was light, and this must break out in every duty. John Wells(1676), in "Morning Exercises."
Ver. 7. Sing ye praises with understanding, sing an instructive song. Let sense and sound go together. Let your hearts and heads go with your voices. Understand what you sing, and feel what you understand. Adam Clarke.
Ver. 7. Sing ye praises with understanding; because in the full light of the new dispensation, the darkness of the patriarchal ages, the seeing as through a glass of the Levitical law, are turned into the vision of full and very reality. Hugo Victorinus.
Ver. 7. Sing ye praises with understanding. Mark this, thou who daily readest the Psalms, and yet does not understand them. Simon de Muis.
Ver. 7. With understanding. If they had sung with understanding, they had not adored stones. When a man sensible sang to a stone insensible, did he sing "with understanding"? But now, brethren, we see not with our eyes whom we adore, and yet correctly we adore. Much more is God commended to us, that with our eyes see him not. Augustine.
Ver. 7. (last clause). The psalmody of the instructed, and instruction by psalmody; praise should be both the fruit and the vehicle of teaching.
Psalms 47:8*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain God is the King of all the earth: sing…
Psa_47:7
God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
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Worship-song
Hymns help to nobler worship of God and clearer visions of His face.
I. Because they embody the holy thoughts and feelings of inspiring and seeing men and women. Many of the greatest hymns are the lyric expression of great experiences produced by some exceptional circumstances of the life. Cowper, by his coachman missing the way, was hindered from carrying out a plan of self-destruction which, in a season of great depression, he had formed. On his recovery he wrote the well-known hymn, God moves in a mysterious way; and many more such illustrations might be given.
II. They express great thoughts and feelings. The most deeply religious parts of the Old Testament are its poetic books. Hymns are more moving than devotional manuals, and their rhythm makes them cling to the memory.
III. They have new power through the music to which they are wedded, and--
IV. They are the noblest vehicle for united worship. (T. Garrett Horder.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 47:7 People from all the earth (see 96:1-3) will…
47:7 People from all the earth (see 96:1-3) will worship God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.