Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 47:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 47:7: The reason or consequence in “For God is the King of all the earth” supports the surrounding claim in “All peoples summoned before the great king.”
Read It With
- Psalms 47:1–9
Read Psalms 47:7 with 47:1–9. Read alone, “For God is the King of all the earth” could lose the communal voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 47:1–9, the communal voice carries the movement “All peoples summoned before the great king” as part of “All peoples summoned before the great king.” Its divine-kingship-hymn form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 47:1–9 opens Psalm 47 with “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph” and establishes the communal voice and “All peoples summoned before the great king” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 47:7 supplies a reason or consequence through “For God is the King of all the earth” and must be read with the claim it supports.
Follow the Context
- Identify the communal voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 47:1–9; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 47:1–9, the communal voice carries the movement “All peoples summoned before the great king” as part of “All peoples summoned before the great king.” Its divine-kingship-hymn form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- Universal kingship praise must not become religious nationalism, forced conversion, or celebration of subjugated peoples.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 47:7 does not allow “For God is the King of all the earth” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse supplies a reason or consequence through “For God is the King of all the earth” and must be read with the claim it supports. The complete movement is “All peoples summoned before the great king.” Universal kingship praise must not become religious nationalism, forced conversion, or celebration of subjugated peoples.
What Remains True
Book II gives Psalm 47:7 a larger home, while “All peoples summoned before the great king” supplies its immediate one. Psalm 47:7 supplies a reason or consequence through “For God is the King of all the earth” and must be read with the claim it supports. Therefore, Human rule is answerable to the LORD and is measured by justice, especially protection of poor and vulnerable people, rather than by power or sacred slogans. The local movement is “All peoples summoned before the great king.” The unit's reviewed limit is: Universal kingship praise must not become religious nationalism, forced conversion, or celebration of subjugated peoples.
How It Can Shape Life
- Keep the movement “All peoples summoned before the great king” in view. Read “For God is the King of all the earth” inside ancient kingship, then assess every present leader by justice and care for vulnerable people without granting divine status to a ruler or nation. The textual reason is this verse's role: Psalm 47:7 supplies a reason or consequence through “For God is the King of all the earth” and must be read with the claim it supports.
Teach It Back
Starting from the verse role—Psalm 47:7 supplies a reason or consequence through “For God is the King of all the earth” and must be read with the claim it supports.—walk through the parallel lines of Psalms 47:1–9. State what remains true, how it shapes life, what remains uncertain, and why the poem does not authorize this use: Universal kingship praise must not become religious nationalism, forced conversion, or celebration of subjugated peoples.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 47:1–9 — All peoples summoned before the great kingSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 47:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 47:1–9
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 47:1–9.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 47 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 47:1–9
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres and psalm pairs; Theological Themes: kingship, Zion, and covenant; applied to Psalms 47:1–9
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 47 for Psalms 47:1–9
Open NETS Psalms ↗