Psalms 47:3

²How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! ³He subdues nations beneath us, and peoples under our feet. ⁴He chooses our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loves. Selah

Summary

Psalm 47:3 exalts the greatness and power of God, emphasizing His sovereignty over all nations. The imagery of God subduing the people under us and the nations under our feet conveys the idea of victory and triumph through God's might. This verse inspires awe and reverence for the Lord's authority and dominion, reminding believers that He is in control of all things. It serves as a declaration of God's supremacy and the assurance that He will reign victoriously over the earth.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

under us--that is, His saints; Israel's temporal victories were types of the spiritual conquests of the true Church.

John Gill Bible Commentary

He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. As Joshua, his type, subdued the Canaanites; and as David, another type of subdued the Syrians, Moabites, and others: the Jews from these words expect, that, in the times of the Messiah they look for, the Gentiles in a literal sense will be subdued by him, and become subject to them; but these, and all other expressions of the like kind, are to be understood in a spiritual sense; such as Isa 49:23; and which will have their accomplishment in the latter day, in the subjection of the Gentiles to the word and ordinances of the Gospel administered in his churches: though the passage here refers to the times following the ascension of Christ to heaven, when he went forth in the ministry of his apostles conquering and to conquer; and which he made use of to cause the people to fall under him, and to be willing to be saved by him; to submit to his righteousness, and to his ordinances, the sceptre of his kingdom; and which was causing them to triumph, and subduing the people under them, who through the Gospel preached by them became obedient by word and deed; and which was an occasion of joy even to the conquered ones. ; and which will have their accomplishment in the latter day, in the subjection of the Gentiles to the word and ordinances of the Gospel administered in his churches: though the passage here refers to the times following the ascension of Christ to heaven, when he went forth in the ministry of his apostles conquering and to conquer; and which he made use of to cause the people to fall under him, and to be willing to be saved by him; to submit to his righteousness, and to his ordinances, the sceptre of his kingdom; and which was causing them to triumph, and subduing the people under them, who through the Gospel preached by them became obedient by word and deed; and which was an occasion of joy even to the conquered ones. Psalms 47:4 psa 47:4 psa 47:4 psa 47:4He shall choose our inheritance for us,.... Either a portion in this life; God knows what is best for his people, and therefore they should leave it with him, who can make a better choice for them than for themselves: an Heathen (c) once gave this advice, "give thyself wholly to the will and disposal of the celestial ones; for they who are used to give good things easily can also choose the fittest.'' Or the heavenly inheritance, so called in allusion to the land of Canaan, subdued and possessed by the Israelites, in which Christ is greatly concerned; his people are predestinated to the adoption of children, that is, to the inheritance they are adopted to by him, in whom they obtain it; through his death they receive the promise of eternal inheritance, he being the testator of that will of their heavenly Father which bequeaths it to them; it is his righteousness which gives them a title to it, and through his grace they have a meetness for it, and he will at last introduce them into it; all which is a reason for joy and gladness in them. The Arabic version renders it, "he hath chosen us an inheritance for himself"; so the Lord's people are, Deu 32:9. Christ asked them of his father, and he gave them for his inheritance, he having chosen them as such, and greatly delighted he is with them, Psa 2:8; the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. The saints, who are, in his esteem, the excellent in the earth, and who will be in the latter day an eternal excellency, Psa 16:3; even the whole church, consisting of Jews and Gentiles, the spiritual Jacob or Israel of God, whom Christ has loved with an everlasting love, and therefore has chosen them for his portion and peculiar treasure; as Jacob in person was loved when Esau was hated. Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa 3:2. (c) Socrates apud Valer. Maxim. l. 7. c. 2. extern. 1.