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Clap Your Hands, All You Peoples
Psalm 47 is a song that calls people everywhere to praise God. It uses clapping, shouting and singing, and keeps returning to one main truth: God is King over all the earth.
Understanding the passage
Read these words in context
This passage is poetry and song addressed to all nations. It begins with a call to rejoice, then gives reasons for that praise by describing God as awesome, kingly and ruling. The psalm also speaks of God subduing nations, choosing an inheritance for Jacob, reigning over the nations, and sitting on his holy throne.
Psalms 47:1–9Main takeaway
Psalm 47 calls all peoples to praise God because he reigns as the greatly exalted King over all the earth.
Explore the poem and its images
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01All nations are called to praiseThe psalm opens with commands to clap and shout to God. The words are addressed to “all you nations”, so the call is broad, not limited to one group.
Explanation
The psalm opens with commands to clap and shout to God. The words are addressed to “all you nations”, so the call is broad, not limited to one group. The reason follows straight away: Yahweh Most High is awesome and a great King over all the earth.
02God’s authority and his choiceThe song says God subdues nations and peoples. It also says he chooses an inheritance for “Jacob whom he loved”.
Explanation
The song says God subdues nations and peoples. It also says he chooses an inheritance for “Jacob whom he loved”. These lines present God as active and ruling. “Selah” appears at the end of verse 4 as part of the psalm’s wording.
03Praise rises to the KingVerse 5 speaks of God going up with a shout and with the sound of a trumpet. Then the psalm repeats, “Sing praises”, calling God “our King” and “the King of all the earth”.
Explanation
Verse 5 speaks of God going up with a shout and with the sound of a trumpet. Then the psalm repeats, “Sing praises”, calling God “our King” and “the King of all the earth”. Praise is not empty noise, because the song says to “sing praises with understanding”.
04God reigns and is greatly exaltedThe final verses say God reigns over the nations and sits on his holy throne. They also picture the princes of the peoples gathered with the people of the God of Abraham.
Explanation
The final verses say God reigns over the nations and sits on his holy throne. They also picture the princes of the peoples gathered with the people of the God of Abraham. The closing lines join two truths together: the shields of the earth belong to God, and he is greatly exalted.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01Who is invited to praise God at the start of the psalm, and what are they told to do?
Look at the opening address and the commands that follow it.
02What reasons does this psalm give for calling God King?
Gather the phrases that describe God as over all the earth, over the nations, and on his holy throne.
03How does the psalm connect repeated praise with understanding?
Compare the many calls to sing praises with the reason given in the next verse.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Psalms 47:1–9
1Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.
3He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet.
4He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
5God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
6Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!
7For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
8God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.
9The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted!