Psalm 47: A Difference Kind of Noise

After all of the turmoil of Psalm 46, where God intervenes and commands "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10a) to stop the fighting, you wonder what reaction of the nations will be. Grudging submission? Woeful assent? Beautiful smiles masking angry hearts?

No, in Psalm 47, we see an entirely different picture, presented almost as the aftermath of the previous psalm:

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! - Psalm 47:1-2

There is an outbreak of celebration. It is a strange picture, because the author envisions a place where God has defeated the enemies of Israel (subdued the nations under us, vs. 3) but the other nations are not just tolerant, but jubilant, about it.

For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. - Psalm 47:7

Every other would-be king must give way to the king of kings. Every would-be god must give way for the one true God. And that's a good thing for everybody. How? The author predicts a day when:

The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted. - Psalm 47:9

Rather than a God of one country; contending in a universe of other national deities, God in fact is the ruler of all the nations. In the Old Testament, it was never clear how this sort of prophecy was supposed to happen, unless a non-Jew "became" a Jew and came under the law or was ruled by the Jews as a subject people.
 
Notice that the author says they will be assembled as the people of the God of Abraham. Not the God of Israel or Jacob (cf. vs. 4), but Abraham. This is significant, because Abraham was a God-follower but was not under the Law of Moses, making him (as Paul puts it) "the father of us all"

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all - Romans 4:16

Jesus paved the way for us to join into the promises of God, allowing us to take advantage of the promise given to Abraham, because we are "in Christ" when we trust him.

"...remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:12-13

The turmoil and chaos of Psalm 46 has been brought to a happy conclusion. The noise of battle and wars and death has been replaced with the clapping of hands, songs of praise and the shouts of joy of Psalm 47, because God has taken his rightful place as the ruler of a people promised to Abraham and bought by Jesus.