Psalm 47

Introduction

“Welcome to Torah Today Ministries, our continuing series, Tahillim Talks, our studies in the Psalms. And in this episode, we’ll find ourselves in Psalm 47. Now, this continues with the Psalms of the sons of Korah.

And I just wanna review a little something here. The Book of Psalms is divided into five books, as we’ve discussed before. The first 41 Psalms are the Book One, or the Genesis Book, as it’s sometimes called, of the Book of Psalms.

Then when we get to Psalm 42, we come to the Exodus Book, which begins with a group of eight Psalms by the sons of Korah. Now, we’ve been going through these Psalms, and in 47, 48 and 49, we come to the last three. But these eight Psalms can be grouped into three very specific groups.

Psalms 42, 43 and 44. These three Psalms of the sons of Korah describe a world that has fallen, a world that really needs redeemed, a world that is desperate for redemption, a world that’s unstable, that is dark, is painful and depressing in many ways. But God’s at work under the surface, and there’s hope.

But it describes some pretty depressing things in these first three Psalms. Then we come to Psalms 45 and 46, these two middle Psalms. We see God on the move.

We see his plan of redemption unfolding in this world. And we see him answering the prayers that are lifted up in the first three of these Psalms. And then we come to Psalm 47 and then 48 and 49, the last three of the Psalms of the sons of Korah.

We see that God has arrived. He is establishing his kingdom on earth. He is ruling over the earth as king.

And finally, the redemption has arrived and all the peoples in the earth see God ruling and reigning here. So these eight Psalms are in three groups of three, two and three. The first three are kind of depressing and there’s a cry for God to come and rescue us.

The middle two, we see God on the move. He’s coming in and things are happening. And then the last three, his kingdom is established.

So I’m excited to get to the Psalm, which begins this last group of three Psalms of the Psalms of the sons of Korah.”

Attribution & Opening Call

“So the attribution is to the choir master, a Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Psalm hears the word mesmor.

And it begins with these four verses. This is a very short Psalm. It’s only nine verses long, but it divides itself neatly in half by the use of the word seila at the end of verse four.

So it begins, clap your hands, all peoples. This would be Jews and Gentiles together. The whole world, clap hands, all peoples, shout to God with loud songs of joy.

Now let’s pause for a moment. We don’t read the Bible like we read other books where things are just poetic expressions. When it says clap your hands, there’s something very specific taking place here.

Now if you followed along with the teachings I’ve done here at Torah Today Ministries, you know that consistently, without exception, everywhere in the Bible, wherever you see left, it means the physical. Wherever you see right, it means the spiritual. In the Garden of Eden, left and right, spiritual and physical were merged completely in one.

But when sin came, we see this rip, this tear in the fabric of the universe. But in the last two chapters of Revelation, at the wedding supper of the lamb, when we see God’s bride and the king ruling on earth and the kingdom established, we see physical and spiritual once again merged together, never to be separated again. So what happens when we clap hands?

We take the left hand and the right hand and we bring them together quickly. And what happens is what’s called applause. So wherever you see clap your hands, it is a picture of something deeper, of spiritual and physical coming together and uniting to create a sound of joy and praise to our God and King.

So clap your hands, all peoples, shout to God with loud songs of joy. For Adonai, the most high, is to be feared a great king over all the earth. Now, throughout the scriptures, we find references to God being the God of all the earth, being the creator, being mighty over all the earth.

But there’s only three places I can find where he’s called King of all the earth. And two of those places are here in Psalm 47. This is the first one, a great king over all the earth.

And we’ll see it again, I think, in verse nine. And then over in Zechariah. Now listen to what it says in Zechariah.

Zechariah chapter 14, verse nine. And Adonai will be king over all the earth. On that day, Adonai will be one and his name one.

And this chapter in Zechariah describes God establishing his kingdom on earth, his millennial kingdom. And it says on that day, God will be one and his name will be one. He’ll be king over all the earth.”

(Hebrew terms standardized and italicized on first use: Adonai אֲדֹנָי; Zechariah זְכַרְיָה.)

Kingship vs. Deity

“Now, here’s something that Zechariah brings into the formula that helps us understand something profound about God’s kingship in this world. For God to be God of the universe, he doesn’t need anyone’s permission. He doesn’t need anyone to say so.

He is the creator. He is God. He can’t not be God.

And that’s just the way it is. No one had to make him God. He is God, the creator, the almighty.

But his kingship over the earth is a little different because to be king requires some cooperation from the subjects. When a man becomes king, there’s an inauguration. There is a coronation, which is probably a better word.

And a crown is placed on his head. He doesn’t take the crown and put it on himself. There’s a crown given to him and placed on his head.

And there’s a recognition that comes from the peoples and their representatives that you are now the king. And right now, we see a lot of kings in the world. We see a lot of people trying to be king and ruler here.

And we see in the temptation of Messiah that Satan offered him the kingdoms of the world, and Yeshua did not argue with him that they were not his to give, because Satan said they’re mine to give to whomever I will. And Yeshua, again, did not argue with him on that. So though God is God over all the earth, there’s a day coming when with our cooperation, with our blessing, with our invitation, he will also become the king and ruler here over the earth and his kingdom will be established.

Zechariah says that day is still in the future. And Psalm 47 is picturing that future day when he will be king over all the earth. Then verse three, he subdued peoples under us, who is the us, well, that’s the Jewish people.

He subdued peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Now, why does it say Jacob instead of Israel?”

(Hebrew names italicized on first use: Yeshua יֵשׁוּעַ.)

Jacob the Heel

“Because there’s something very specific, I believe, that God wants to communicate to us through this Psalm. The name Jacob means heel. When Jacob was born, he was grasping his twin brother’s heel as he exited the womb of his mother, Rebekah.

And so he’s called Yaakov, grasper or heel.

And the first time we see the word heel in Scripture is back in Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve sin, when God approaches them, and they explain to him in a kind of a self-centered way what occurred. He starts by cursing the serpent. And he says that the woman’s seed, there will be enmity between the serpent seed and the woman’s seed, but he, the woman’s seed, will crush the serpent’s head, and the serpent will bruise or crush the seed’s back of his heel.

Now let’s think about that for a moment. If you see a poisonous serpent and you need to kill it, and the only thing you can use is your body, you’re probably not gonna headbutt that serpent or use your elbow to crush it or your kneecap. You’re probably gonna use your foot.

In fact, it would be specifically the heel of your foot. You’ll bring your heel down on that serpent’s head to crush the head. And by doing so, you may cause some bruising and damage to your own heel as well.

Well, God has a heel in this world, a Yaakov in this world. And through Yaakov and through Jacob’s children, the Messiah has come. And through the children of Jacob, God has brought his Torah into the world.

He has brought his plan of salvation, redemption into the world. He has brought the prophets and all of the writings into the world, and above all, he brought his Messiah into the world. So the crushing of the serpent’s head is primarily through the work of Jacob and the people of Jacob.

And we know that they’ve been bruised and battered throughout their history as a result of this. Also, I want you to think about something else. God calls the earth his footstool.

His throne is in heaven, but his feet are resting on the footstool of the earth. And what’s the part of your foot that comes into contact with the footstool? It’s the heel.

The heel is a place where God, in some tangible way, makes contact with this world. And we want to read about the history of God and the miracles he’s done in this world. We read the Bible, which is the history of the descendants of Jacob.”

Tabernacle & Tachash Skins

“And something else, since I’m going on this little rabbi trail, might as well go all the way. Something else that’s significant to me is that after Adam and Eve sinned, and there’s this rift in the separation between spiritual and physical, God begins a process of restoring and repairing that rift. And so he gives Moses a plan for building a tabernacle, a house where God’s presence can abide on earth.

And so the Israelites, the children of Jacob, built this tabernacle. And when we read about the description of the tabernacle, we read that its outer covering was made of skins that were called Takash skins. We don’t know how to translate this word.

We don’t know what a Takash animal is. It just says Takash skins with no explanation. Some translations say it’s porpoise skins.

Some say badger skins. King James translation says unicorn skins. It doesn’t make any difference what kind of animal it was, because God’s trying to communicate something spiritual here, not something zoological.

But the only places we find this word Takash skins is in the description of the Tabernacle, with one exception, over in Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 16 10, it says this, God is speaking, says, I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and sandals of Takash skins on your feet. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

Is God describing that he has blessed Israel in so many wonderful ways? But this is the only appearance of Takash skins outside of the description of the Tabernacle. Now, what were these Takash skins?

Footwear. So if we think of the Tabernacle being covered with Takash skins, you can think of the Tabernacle as God’s footwear. And as Israel traveled through the wilderness, every time they came to rest, every time God’s foot came to rest, we see it clothed with Takash skins.

You get the picture? So again, we see Israel as being the people through whom and by whom God’s presence is brought into the world, where he in a tangible way impresses his Shekinah glory into earth. It’s an amazing picture, as you trace it through the scriptures.

So he chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. So we see why Jacob is used here, because Jacob means heal, the place where the one doing the walking comes into contact with the ground. And through Jacob, God makes contact with the earth.

And of course, through Jacob, through his word, through Messiah, and now through his spirit into us. Okay, I could camp out here for a long time, but we’ve got to move on.”

The Shout and the Trumpet

“Verse five, God has gone up with a shout, Adonai with the sound of a trumpet.

Now, when it says God has gone up, it doesn’t mean he’s left the earth. What it means is, he’s risen from his throne, he’s gone up, and now he’s coming in, he is riding in to bring victory and redemption. Sing praises to God, sing praises.

Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth. There it is, in verse seven, the second time where he’s called King of all the earth.

Sing praises.”

“Sing God” — Zamru Elohim זַמְּרוּ אֱלֹהִים

“Now, what’s interesting about this phrase, sing praises to God, it doesn’t actually say sing praises to God. It just says, zamru Elohim, zamru Elohim, sing God.

Singing praises to God would be zamru la Elohim. There’d be that L sound in between. But that L is not there.

It’s zamru Elohim, sing God. Now, of course, we can translate this as sing praises to God, but it’s almost as if it’s saying, let God be your song. Sing God, Him God.

Make melody of God. Let God’s attributes, let who he is, become your song that you sing with joy. That’s what’s expressed in the Hebrew.

And though there’s nothing wrong with saying, sing praises to God, in the Hebrew, it’s saying something just a little bit different, something that to me is a little richer and deeper even than singing praises to God. We’re actually singing forth God himself. So, Zamru Elohim, sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises to our King, sing praises.

As I said before, God was always God, but now he’s become King over all the earth. For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with a maskeel.

Now, we’ve encountered a number of Psalms that are called a maskeel. And a maskeel is a teaching psalm, a teaching psalm. So, one way to translate this, I forget what translator rendered this way, but he said, sing praises with keen understanding.

Sing praises with understanding, with intelligence.”

Singing with Understanding

“I’m pausing here because I’m trying to determine whether I should gripe a little bit. Why not? I’m old enough to be grouchy.

So, you know, a lot of the modern praise music is not very intelligent. I’m just going to be very blunt. It’s just not very intelligent. It does not have keen understanding.

It’s very generic, and I’m not saying that what it’s saying is not true, but it’s almost like so much of the praise music is just singing praise for the sake of praise without really understanding deeply the one whom they are praising, whom they’re singing praises to. God is amazing, he’s incredible, he is deep. There’s so much about him we have yet to learn and to know.

But praises, I believe, should reflect intelligence and deep insight in who God is. It’s one of the reasons I’ve grown to love the Psalms so much, especially the Psalms of David. Because when they praise God, you can tell David is seeing deeply into who God is and what his character is.

And I just see so much of modern praise music as being devoid of that. On the other hand, of many of the old hymns that I used to sing in the Baptist Church growing up, they did have intelligence, and they did sing about the deep things of God. It’s just the music was horrible.

So if we could just fix the two and take some of this ancient poetry, some of this old poetry from the old hymns, and update it with something that’s easier to listen to and put the best of the two together, I think we’ll really have something. And I always admire it when a musician and a modern songwriter will take the lyrics from the old hymns and then put them in a musical setting that’s so much better than just the beat and the organ that we used to listen to in church. Okay, I’ve aired my grouch.

We’ll get back on to the teaching.”

God Reigns; The Nations Gather

“Verse eight, God reigns over the nations. And again, here we see the Gentiles.

God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. Now, this next phrase I find fascinating.

The princes of the peoples, again, there’s the peoples, the Gentiles, gather as the people of God of Abraham. Now, why do I have the princes in red? Now, the word that’s translated princes is the word nadiv.

There you see it. And if you think this sounds like the name Nadav, like in Nadav and Avihu or Nadab and Abihu, you’re exactly right. The word nadav, and here nadiv means to give willingly, to be generous.

In fact, the first place we find the word nadiv, it’s not princes. The first place we find the word nadiv in the Torah is in Exodus 35, five, and then again in verse 22. I’ll just read them together.

This is where Moses instructs the people to take up a shuruma offering. It says, take from among you a contribution to Adonai, whoever is nadiv of heart, in other words, generous of heart, let him bring out a nice contribution, gold, silver, and bronze. And then on to verse 22.

Then all those who are nadiv of heart, all those willing of heart, both men and women came and brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and bracelets, articles of gold, and it goes on. And then also Psalm 51, 12, which we’ll be getting to in a few weeks. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, uphold me with a nadiv spirit, with a willing spirit.

So the first two places at least that we find the word nadiv in the Torah, it is not princes, but it has to do with people who are generous and who are willing of heart. Now there are other places of course where it is translated princes. But this is the thing I love about Hebrew.”

Nadiv: Princes or the Willing of Heart

“You take one word and it has two different meanings that don’t seem at first to have much to do with each other. But a prince, a son of the king, especially a son of our king, shouldn’t a prince of our king be one who is generous and willing of heart? And so here in this verse where it says the Nadiv of the peoples gathers the people of the God of Abraham.

Should it be translated the princes of the peoples? Yeah, that could be true of course. That would be true.

The princes of the peoples will gather to the God of Abraham. But I think also we can interpret this word as being the generous, the willing of heart. The people who love God and want to give themselves and all they have to their redeemer and their king.

I think it’s referring to all of these. If the two possible translations are not in conflict with each other, then why not just embrace them both? But look at this verse again.

Just whether it’s princes or generous, just look what it says. The princes, the generous, the willing of the peoples, gather as the people of the God of Abraham. Gather as the people of the God of Abraham.

Aren’t the people of the God of Abraham, the children of Abraham, the Jewish people? Yet here it tells us that the peoples, the Gentiles of the world, will gather as the people of the God of Abraham. And some of the ancient rabbinic commentators have all suggested that all the people of the world become the people of God.

Isn’t that wonderful? That’s amazing. And why does it say the God of Abraham?

Why doesn’t it say the God of Israel, the God of Jacob, the God of David? The God of David. Why Abraham?

Because Abraham was a Gentile. He was a Gentile who received a call from God and in faith followed that call and became God’s friend. And in Romans, Paul says that all of us who walk in the steps of Abraham are children of Abraham because he is the father of all who believe.

And maybe Paul was thinking of this verse in Psalm 47 when he wrote that part of the Book of Romans. So the princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields or protectors of the earth belong to God.

I’m not sure how to translate that. It comes to the word mogain, which means shield. But what does it mean?

The shields of the earth belong to God. It can also be the protectors of the earth belong to God. The people who are protecting the world.

Not trying to preserve the sinful culture of the world, but people who are trying to be protection to others in the world. That’s something God causes to be. For the protectors or the shields of the earth belong to God.

He is highly exalted. It’s a very short Psalm, isn’t it? But so much is packed in here.

And it’s easy just to read over it and miss the depth that has been expressed in this Psalm. But I’m excited to look forward, as I look forward to looking into Psalms 48 and 49, because anything that describes God’s coming kingdom is something that kind of gets me excited, because it’s something that’s going to happen. It’s something we’re going to see, and it’s going to be the thing that the earth has been aching and groaning for, for so many centuries.

So until I see you back here for Psalm 48, I wish you shalom and may God bless.”