an elevation · adjective, masculine singular absolute
terrible
נוֹרָ֑אno.Ra'
H3372
to fear · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
great
גָּ֝דוֹלGa.dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
King
מֶ֥לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
earth
הָאָֽרֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psalms 99:3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
Malachi 1:14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King…
Deuteronomy 7:21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
Psalms 66:3-5 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
Psalms 68:35 O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
Nehemiah 1:5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and obser…
Psalms 47:7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 47:1-4
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,
I. Who are called upon to praise God: "All you people, 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…
His universal sovereignty now exists, and will be made known.
John Gill on Psalms 47:2
For the Lord most high is terrible,.... Christ is not only the Son of the Highest, but he himself is the most high God, God over all, blessed for ever. He is higher than the highest, than the angels in heaven, or any of the sons of men on earth. He is the high and lofty One, that dwells in the high and lofty place. And even this character agrees with him as the ascended Lord and King in his human nature; he is ascended on high, is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is highly exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour; he is made higher than the heavens, and than the kings of the earth are; angels, authorities, and powers, are subject to him. And this is a reason exciting all the…
Psalm 47:1-4
1. Clap your hands, all ye peoples: shout unto God with the voice of triumph. 2. For Jehovah is high, terrible, and a great King over all the earth. 3. He hath put in order [183] the people under us, and the nations under our feet. 4. He hath chosen our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah.
1. Clap your hands, all ye peoples As the Psalmist requires the nations, in token of their joy and of their thanksgiving; to God, to clap their hands, or rather exhorts them to a more than ordinary joy, the vehemence of which breaks forth and manifests itself by external expressions, it is certain that he is here speaking of the deliverance which God had wrought for…
The Church Fathers
He became manifest in the events themselves, by which he routed those harassing the godly and proved superior to their scheme, fearsome to the enemy and, in short, king like no other on earth, since he is also Lord of all.
"For the Lord Most High is terrible" [Psalm 47:2]. The Most High in descending made like one ludicrous, by ascending into Heaven is made terrible. "A great King over all the earth." Not only over the Jews; for over them also He is King. For of them also the Apostles believed and of them many thousands of men sold their goods, and laid the price at the Apostles' feet, [Acts 4:34] and in them was fulfilled what in the title of the Cross was written, "The King of the Jews." [Matthew 27:37] For He is King also of the Jews. But "of the Jews" is little. "O clap your hands, all you nations: for God is the King of all the earth." For it suffices not Him to have under Him one nation: therefore such great price gave He out of His side, as to buy the whole world.
This is really a great king, one who rids the world of error, and in a short space of time installs truth and abolishes the devil's tyranny, who was a great king even before there were subjects, having the might of his rule not in slaves, nor in pomp and circumstance but in nature itself.… This is a great king, the one whose dignity is not from without, who depends on no one for his kingship, who does all he wishes.… He chose his subjects in such a way as to persuade them to surrender their spirit rather than disregard what was commanded. Whereas the king enjoys the esteem of his subjects themselves, he by contrast provides the subjects with esteem; thus one is only a name, the other is reality. A great king is the one who made the whole world heaven, caused savages to have sound values and persuaded them to imitate angels.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 47:2-4) "Thereupon the fear of Elohim" - so closes the chronicler (Ch2 20:29) the narrative of the defeat of the confederates - "came upon all kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Jahve had fought against the enemies of Israel." The psalmist, however, does not in consequence or this particular event call upon them to tremble with fear, but to rejoice; for fear is an involuntary, extorted inward emotion, but joy a perfectly voluntary one. The true and final victory of Jahve consists not in a submission that is brought about by war and bloodshed and in consternation that stupefies the mind, but in a change in the minds and hearts of the peoples, so that they render joyful wor…
Ps 47 This psalm celebrates God’s kingship over all the earth; it tells of God’s victory in dealing with Israel and the nations. Both Israel (47:3-4) and the nations (47:9) participate in God’s kingdom.
47:1-2 As the sovereign king over the nations, God requires praise.
47:1 People clap their hands in praise and recognition of marvelous deeds (47:3-4; see 98:8; Isa 55:12; cp. Nah 3:19).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 47:2
For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
For the Lord, or Jehovah, the self existent and only God; Most high, most great in power, lofty in dominion, eminent in wisdom, elevated in glory. Is terrible, none can resist his power or stand before his vengeance; yet as these terrors are wielded on the behalf of his subjects, they are fit reasons for rejoicing. Omnipotence, which is terrible to crush, is almighty to protect. At a grand review of the troops of a great prince, all his loyal subjects are filled with triumph, because their liege lord is so able to defend his own, and so much dreaded by his foes. He is a great King over all the earth. Not over Judea o…
