Psalm 47
by Pastor David Groendyk

This psalm is a psalm of celebration. One aspect of this celebration is the fact that God is the sovereign king. As Joel Beeke writes, “There is hardly a more practical truth for daily living than the absolute sovereignty of God.” No matter what our days look like, our God knows all, the good and the bad, that is going to happen to us. He has promised that he is working it all for our good. No wicked or evil thing can escape his sight. One praise-worthy aspect of God’s kingship is that he is a warrior (vv. 3–5). Just as he conquered Pharaoh and all of Egypt’s army at the Red Sea in one fell swoop (Ex. 15:1–3), so he conquers all of his and our enemies. There is no reason to fear any man or woman, because what can a human ultimately do to me? Our God is king, and he fights for us. He deserves all the loud shouts of praises and joyful singing that we can muster! Do you find the doctrine of God’s sovereignty practical? How should it affect the way you live? Another corollary of this teaching is that we all ought to be enthusiastic in our singing praise to God, both in our Sunday worship services and outside of Sunday. Do you enjoy singing praise to God? Even if you don’t like singing or don’t think you have a good singing voice, why should you still sing?

Notice also in this psalm that God is king over all the nations. Verses 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 all make some sort of reference to foreign peoples or nations or kings. It’s not just Israel that God is concerned about. His reign is meant to reach the farthest ends of the earth! Even here in the Old Testament, we get glimpses (and really even more than mere glimpses) of God’s plan to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). Therefore, every single Christian should have an interest in spreading God’s kingdom throughout the whole earth. Every Christian should care about the gospel being preached to every tongue, tribe, and nation. To be a Christian and not have an interest in missions is an oxymoron and runs counter to God’s own heart and desires. How can you cultivate the desire to see the gospel spread through the whole earth? Even if you yourself aren’t called to go overseas, how can you participate in missions?

Finally, it’s been said by many people before that Jesus is the true fulfillment of every single psalm, so let’s see how Jesus fulfills Psalm 47. In Mark 1:14–15, Jesus begins his earthly ministry by proclaiming that the kingdom of God was being fulfilled in his own coming. Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16). He is the warrior who leads the armies of heaven against all of his peoples’ enemies (Rev. 19:14). If you want to be in God’s kingdom and have God as your king, you must bow your knee to King Jesus (Phil. 2:9–11). You cannot truly know, love, and worship God unless you know, love, and worship Jesus as God and King (John 14:6–11). And this is the gospel message that we take to the nations as well. Jesus is God, Lord, King, and Savior. This is what makes Christianity’s message unique among all other religions. What other kinds of messages distract us as a church from that singular message? How can we more singularly focus on the gospel in our ministries?