mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 47.xml

<div2 id="Ps.xlviii" n="xlviii" next="Ps.xlix" prev="Ps.xlvii" progress="37.78%" title="Chapter XLVII">
<h2 id="Ps.xlviii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.xlviii-p0.2">PSALM XLVII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.xlviii-p1">The scope of this psalm is to stir us up to praise
God, to stir up all people to do so; and, I. We are directed in
what manner to do it, publicly, cheerfully, and intelligently,
<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.1 Bible:Ps.47.6 Bible:Ps.47.7" parsed="|Ps|47|1|0|0;|Ps|47|6|0|0;|Ps|47|7|0|0" passage="Ps 47:1,6,7">ver. 1, 6, 7</scripRef>. II. We are
furnished with matter for praise. 1. God's majesty, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.2" parsed="|Ps|47|2|0|0" passage="Ps 47:2">ver. 2</scripRef>. 2. His sovereign and universal
dominion, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.2 Bible:Ps.47.7-Ps.47.9" parsed="|Ps|47|2|0|0;|Ps|47|7|47|9" passage="Ps 47:2,7-9">ver. 2, 7-9</scripRef>.
3. The great things he had done, and will do, for his people,
<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.3-Ps.47.5" parsed="|Ps|47|3|47|5" passage="Ps 47:3-5">ver. 3-5</scripRef>. Many suppose
that this psalm was penned upon occasion of the bringing up of the
ark to Mount Zion which <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.5" parsed="|Ps|47|5|0|0" passage="Ps 47:5">ver.
5</scripRef> seems to refer to ("God has gone up with a
shout");—but it looks further, to the ascension of Christ into the
heavenly Zion, after he had finished his undertaking on earth, and
to the setting up of his kingdom in the world, to which the heathen
should become willing subjects. In singing this psalm we are to
give honour to the exalted Redeemer, to rejoice in his exaltation,
and to celebrate his praises, confessing that he is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.xlviii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47" parsed="|Ps|47|0|0|0" passage="Ps 47" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.xlviii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.1-Ps.47.4" parsed="|Ps|47|1|47|4" passage="Ps 47:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.47.1-Ps.47.4">
<h4 id="Ps.xlviii-p1.8">Exhortation to Praise God.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.xlviii-p1.9">
<p id="Ps.xlviii-p2">To the chief musician. A psalm for the sons of Korah.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xlviii-p3">1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto
God with the voice of triumph.   2 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xlviii-p3.1">Lord</span> most high <i>is</i> terrible; <i>he is</i>
a great King over all the earth.   3 He shall subdue the
people under us, and the nations under our feet.   4 He shall
choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he
loved. Selah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p4">The psalmist, having his own heart filled
with great and good thoughts of God, endeavours to engage all about
him in the blessed work of praise, as one convinced that God is
worthy of all blessing and praise, and as one grieved at his own
and others' backwardness to and barrenness in this work. Observe,
in these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p5">I. Who are called upon to praise God:
"<i>All you people,</i> all you people of Israel;" those were his
own subjects, and under his charge, and therefore he will engage
them to praise God, for on them he has an influence. Whatever
others do, he and his house, he and his people, shall praise the
Lord. Or, "All you people and nations of the earth;" and so it may
be taken as a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles and the
bringing of them into the church; see <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.15.11" parsed="|Rom|15|11|0|0" passage="Ro 15:11">Rom. xv. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p6">II. What they are called upon to do: "<i>O
clap your hands,</i> in token of your own joy and satisfaction in
what God has done for you, of your approbation, nay, your
admiration, of what God has done in general, and of your
indignation against all the enemies of God's glory, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.27.23" parsed="|Job|27|23|0|0" passage="Job 27:23">Job xxvii. 23</scripRef>. <i>Clap your
hands,</i> as men transported with pleasure, that cannot contain
themselves; <i>shout unto God,</i> not to make him hear (his ear is
not heavy), but to make all about you hear, and take notice how
much you are affected and filled with the works of God. Shout
<i>with the voice of triumph</i> in him, and in his power and
goodness, that others may join with you in the triumph." Note, Such
expressions of pious and devout affections as to some may seem
indecent and imprudent ought not to be hastily censured and
condemned, much less ridiculed, because, if they come from an
upright heart, God will accept the strength of the affection and
excuse the weakness of the expressions of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p7">III. What is suggested to us as matter for
our praise. 1. That the God with whom we have to do is a God of
awful majesty (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.2" parsed="|Ps|47|2|0|0" passage="Ps 47:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
<i>The Lord most high is terrible.</i> He is infinitely above the
noblest creatures, higher than the highest; there are those
perfections in him that are to be reverenced by all, and
particularly that power, holiness, and justice, that are to be
dreaded by all those that contend with him. 2. That he is a God of
sovereign and universal dominion. He is a King that reigns alone,
and with an absolute power, <i>a King over all the earth;</i> all
the creatures, being made by him, are subject to him, and therefore
he is <i>a great King,</i> the King of kings. 3. That he takes a
particular care of his people and their concerns, has done so and
ever will; (1.) In giving them victory and success (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.3" parsed="|Ps|47|3|0|0" passage="Ps 47:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), subduing the people and
nations under them, both those that stood in their way (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.2" parsed="|Ps|44|2|0|0" passage="Ps 44:2">Ps. xliv. 2</scripRef>) and those that made
attempts upon them. This God had done for them, witness the
planting of them in Canaan, and their continuance there unto this
day. This they doubted not but he would still do for them by his
servant David, who prospered which way soever he turned his
victorious arms. But this looks forward to the kingdom of the
Messiah, which was to be set over all the earth, and not confined
to the Jewish nation. Jesus Christ shall subdue the Gentiles; he
shall bring <i>them in as sheep into the fold</i> (so the word
signifies), not for slaughter, but for preservation. He shall
subdue their affections, and make them a <i>willing people in the
day of his power,</i> shall bring their thoughts into obedience to
him, and reduce those who had gone astray, under the guidance of
the <i>great shepherd and bishop of souls,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.25" parsed="|1Pet|2|25|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:25">1 Pet. ii. 25</scripRef>. (2.) In giving them rest and
settlement (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.4" parsed="|Ps|47|4|0|0" passage="Ps 47:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
<i>He shall choose our inheritance for us.</i> He had chosen the
land of Canaan to be an inheritance for Israel; it was the land
which the Lord their God spied out for them; see <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.8" parsed="|Deut|32|8|0|0" passage="De 32:8">Deut. xxxii. 8</scripRef>. This justified their
possession of that land, and gave them a good title; and this
sweetened their enjoyment of it, and made it comfortable; they had
reason to think it a happy lot, and to be satisfied in it, when it
was that which Infinite Wisdom chose for them. And the setting up
of God's sanctuary in it made it <i>the excellency,</i> the honour,
<i>of Jacob</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.8" parsed="|Amos|6|8|0|0" passage="Am 6:8">Amos vi. 8</scripRef>);
and he chose so good an inheritance for Jacob because he loved him,
<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|8|0|0" passage="De 7:8">Deut. vii. 8</scripRef>. Apply this
spiritually, and it bespeaks, [1.] The happiness of the saints,
that God himself has chosen their inheritance for them, and it is a
goodly heritage: <i>he</i> has chosen it who knows the soul, and
what will serve to make it happy; and he has chosen so well that he
himself has undertaken to be the <i>inheritance of his people</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.5" parsed="|Ps|16|5|0|0" passage="Ps 16:5">Ps. xvi. 5</scripRef>), and he has
laid up for them in the other world an inheritance incorruptible,
<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.4" parsed="|1Pet|1|4|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:4">1 Pet. i. 4</scripRef>. This will be
indeed the excellency of Jacob, for whom, because he loved them, he
prepared such a happiness as eye has not seen. [2.] The faith and
submission of the saints to God. This is the language of every
gracious soul, "God shall choose my inheritance for me; let him
appoint me my lot, and I will acquiesce in the appointment. He
knows what is good for me better than I do for myself, and
therefore I will have no will of my own but what is resolved into
his."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.xlviii-p7.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.5-Ps.47.9" parsed="|Ps|47|5|47|9" passage="Ps 47:5-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.47.5-Ps.47.9">
<h4 id="Ps.xlviii-p7.12">Exhortation to Praise God.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xlviii-p8">5 God is gone up with a shout, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xlviii-p8.1">Lord</span> with the sound of a trumpet.   6 Sing
praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing
praises.   7 For God <i>is</i> the King of all the earth: sing
ye praises with understanding.   8 God reigneth over the
heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.   9 The
princes of the people are gathered together, <i>even</i> the people
of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth <i>belong</i>
unto God: he is greatly exalted.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p9">We are here most earnestly pressed to
praise God, and to sing his praises; so backward are we to this
duty that we have need to be urged to it by precept upon precept,
and line upon line; so we are here (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.6" parsed="|Ps|47|6|0|0" passage="Ps 47:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Sing praises to God,</i> and
again, <i>Sing praises, Sing praises to our King,</i> and again,
<i>Sing praises.</i> This intimates that it is a very necessary and
excellent duty, that it is a duty we ought to be frequent and
abundant in; we may sing praises again and again in the same words,
and it is no vain repetition if it be done with new affections.
Should not a people praise their God? <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.4" parsed="|Dan|5|4|0|0" passage="Da 5:4">Dan. v. 4</scripRef>. Should not subjects praise their
king? God is our God, our King, and therefore we must praise him;
we must sing his praises, as those that are pleased with them and
that are not ashamed of them. But here is a needful rule subjoined
(<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.7" parsed="|Ps|47|7|0|0" passage="Ps 47:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>Sing you
praises with understanding,</i> with <i>Maschil.</i> 1.
"Intelligently; as those that do yourselves understand why and for
what reasons you praise God and what is the meaning of the
service." This is the gospel-rule (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.14.15" parsed="|1Cor|14|15|0|0" passage="1Co 14:15">1
Cor. xiv. 15</scripRef>), <i>to sing with the spirit and with the
understanding also;</i> it is only with the heart that we make
melody to the Lord, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.19" parsed="|Eph|5|19|0|0" passage="Eph 5:19">Eph. v.
19</scripRef>. It is not an acceptable service if it be not a
reasonable service. 2. "Instructively, as those that desire to make
others understand God's glorious perfections, and to teach them to
praise him." Three things are mentioned in these verses as just
matter for our praises, and each of them will admit of a double
sense:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p10">I. We must praise God going up (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.5" parsed="|Ps|47|5|0|0" passage="Ps 47:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>God has gone up with
a shout,</i> which may refer, 1. To the carrying up of the ark to
the hill of Zion, which was done with great solemnity, David
himself dancing before it, the priests, it is likely, blowing the
trumpets, and the people following with their loud huzzas. The ark
being the instituted token of God's special presence with them,
when that was brought up by warrant from him he might be said to
<i>go up.</i> The emerging of God's ordinances out of obscurity, in
order to the more public and solemn administration of them, is a
great favour to any people, which they have reason to rejoice in
and give thanks for. 2. To the ascension of our Lord Jesus into
heaven, when he had finished his work on earth, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.1.9" parsed="|Acts|1|9|0|0" passage="Ac 1:9">Acts i. 9</scripRef>. Then <i>God went up with a
shout,</i> the shout of a King, of a conqueror, as one who, having
<i>spoiled principalities and powers,</i> then <i>led captivity
captive,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.18" parsed="|Ps|68|18|0|0" passage="Ps 68:18">Ps. lxviii.
18</scripRef>. He went up as a Mediator, typified by the ark and
the mercy-seat over it, and was brought as the ark was into the
most holy place, <i>into heaven itself;</i> see <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.9.24" parsed="|Heb|9|24|0|0" passage="Heb 9:24">Heb. ix. 24</scripRef>. We read not of a shout, or of
the sound of a trumpet, at the ascension of Christ, but they were
the inhabitants of the upper world, those sons of God, that then
shouted for joy, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.7" parsed="|Job|38|7|0|0" passage="Job 38:7">Job xxxviii.
7</scripRef>. He shall come again in the same manner as he went
(<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.1.11" parsed="|Acts|1|11|0|0" passage="Ac 1:11">Acts i. 11</scripRef>) and we are sure
that he shall come again with a shout and the sound of a
trumpet.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p11">II. We must praise God reigning, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.7-Ps.47.8" parsed="|Ps|47|7|47|8" passage="Ps 47:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. God is not only our
King, and therefore we owe our homage to him, but he is <i>King of
all the earth</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.7" parsed="|Ps|47|7|0|0" passage="Ps 47:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>), over all the kings of the earth, and therefore in
every place the incense of praise is to be offered up to him. Now
this may be understood, 1. Of the kingdom of providence. God, as
Creator, and the God of nature, <i>reigns over the heathen,</i>
disposes of them and all their affairs, as he pleases, though they
know him not, nor have any regard to him: <i>He sits upon the
throne of his holiness,</i> which he has prepared in the heavens,
and there he rules over all, even over the heathen, serving his own
purposes by them and upon them. See here the extent of God's
government; all are born within his allegiance; even the heathen
that serve other gods are ruled by the true God, our God, whether
they will or no. See the equity of his government; it is a throne
of holiness, on which he sits, whence he gives warrants, orders,
and judgment, in which we are sure there is no iniquity. 2. Of the
kingdom of the Messiah. Jesus Christ, who is God, and whose
<i>throne is for ever and ever reigns over the heathen;</i> not
only he is entrusted with the administration of the providential
kingdom, but he shall set up the kingdom of his grace in the
Gentile world, and rule in the hearts of multitudes that were bred
up in heathenism, <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.12-Eph.2.13" parsed="|Eph|2|12|2|13" passage="Eph 2:12,13">Eph. ii. 12,
13</scripRef>. This the apostle speaks of as a great mystery that
the <i>Gentiles should be fellow-heirs,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.6" parsed="|Eph|3|6|0|0" passage="Eph 3:6">Eph. iii. 6</scripRef>. Christ <i>sits upon the throne of
his holiness,</i> his throne in the heavens, where all the
administrations of his government are intended to show forth God's
holiness and to advance holiness among the children of men.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xlviii-p12">III. We must praise God as attended and
honoured by <i>the princes of the people,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.9" parsed="|Ps|47|9|0|0" passage="Ps 47:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. This may be understood, 1. Of the
congress or convention of the states of Israel, the heads and
rulers of the several tribes, at the solemn feasts, or to despatch
the public business of the nation. It was the honour of Israel that
they were <i>the people of the God of Abraham,</i> as they were
Abraham's seed and taken into his covenant; and, thanks be to God,
this blessing of Abraham has come upon the isles of the Gentiles,
<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.14" parsed="|Gal|3|14|0|0" passage="Ga 3:14">Gal. iii. 14</scripRef>. It was their
happiness that they had a settled government, <i>princes of their
people,</i> who were the <i>shields of their land.</i> Magistracy
is the shield of a nation, and it is a great mercy to any people to
have this shield, especially when their princes, <i>their shields,
belong unto the Lord,</i> are devoted to his honour, and their
power is employed in his service, for then he is greatly exalted.
It is likewise the honour of God that, in another sense, the
<i>shields of the earth do belong to him;</i> magistracy is his
institution, and he serves his own purposes by it in the government
of the world, turning the hearts of kings as the rivers of water,
which way soever he pleases. It was well with Israel when the
princes of their people were gathered together to consult for the
public welfare. The unanimous agreement of the great ones of a
nation in the things that belong to its peace is a very happy omen,
which promises abundance of blessings. 2. It may be applied to the
calling of the Gentiles into the church of Christ, and taken as a
prophecy that in the days of the Messiah the kings of the earth and
their people should join themselves to the church, and bring their
glory and power into the New Jerusalem, that they should all become
<i>the people of the God of Abraham,</i> to whom it was promised
that he should be <i>the father of many nations.</i> The
<i>volunteers</i> of the people (so it may be read); it is the same
word that is used in <scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.110.3" parsed="|Ps|110|3|0|0" passage="Ps 110:3">Ps. cx.
3</scripRef>, <i>Thy people shall be willing;</i> for those that
are gathered to Christ are not forced, but made freely willing, to
be his. When the <i>shields of the earth,</i> the ensigns of royal
dignity (<scripRef id="Ps.xlviii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.14.27-1Kgs.14.28" parsed="|1Kgs|14|27|14|28" passage="1Ki 14:27,28">1 Kings xiv. 27,
28</scripRef>), are surrendered to the Lord Jesus, as the keys of a
city are presented to the conqueror or sovereign, when princes use
their power for the advancement of the interests of religion, then
Christ is greatly exalted.</p>
</div></div2>