{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Psalm 47
Good morning and welcome back to Mishkan Katan. This morning, we will begin our study with Psalm 47, the next psalm in our lineup of psalms. So, grab your Bibles, and let’s begin.
A few days ago, we studied Psalms 42 and 43. You may recall that Psalm 43 was a direct continuation of Psalm 42. Psalm 47 is a sequel to Psalm 46. If you were with me last week for our study of Psalm 46, you will remember that it described the nations who united against God in the last days to defeat him and his chosen people and the Mashiach. The setting was Jerusalem. And they were soundly defeated. After this great battle, the messianic age will begin. The Earth will be restored to order. The center of the Earth will be Jerusalem, from which messiah will reign for 1000 years. So, the “setting” for Psalm 47 is the Messianic Age.
This psalm features the blast of the shofar (vs. 6). If you don’t know what a shofar is, it is sometimes translated in English as “trumpet.” When I use voice dictation to make my notes for this show, the app thinks I’m saying “ chauffeur”, lol! However, the biblical shofar looks nothing like a trumpet … or a chauffeur, for that matter! At least, it looks nothing, like the brass kind that you often see in bands and orchestras. Instead, it is usually curved and made out of the horn of a ram. Some of these are huge! As long as 3 feet long. Others are shorter, around a foot-long, and all sizes in between. Now, I have to admit to you that I have never blown a shofar. People who have say it is not easy to do. But, this musical instrument, primitive, though it is, makes a very distinctive sound.
I remember one time I was up in the mountains at a rental cabin, during one of the fall feasts, and we were blowing the shofar. After we did, we heard answering shofar blasts, coming from somewhere nearby! It was pretty cool. In the days of the Bible, and even today, the shofar is blown for a multitude of reasons.
***It was blown to gather the people together, sort of like a dinner bell was blown to tell the field hands it was time for the mid-day meal, and that they should gather for it.
***It was, at times, blown as a call to war. (You may recall that many shofarim were blown in the Battle of Jericho, when the walls came a-tumblin’ down.)
***It was blown to inspire the people in many different ways.
***It was blown to appeal to the mercy of Hashem.
***It was blown on every Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the lunar month, on the “new moon”.
***It was blown at the coronations of kings.
***It was blown as a symbol of return, during the time of the 50-year Jubilee year, when the people were allowed to regain possession of their ancestral lands. The blast of the shofar ushered in the Jubilee year.
The first time the shofar was heard was at Mt. Sinai, at the covenant event Jewish people refer to as their wedding day to God, to Hashem. At that time, the shofar blast was heard, blown as it were by the very breath of God. How do we know that? Because Exodus 19:19 says “as the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered His reply.” No human could blow a shofar and have the sound get louder and louder. It’s physically impossible. If you have or had ever witnessed someone blowing a shofar, you’d know what I mean. A human would run out of breath.
As I have mentioned we are now in the biblical month of Elul. The shofar is blown every morning, except on the Shabbat.
Every Rosh Hashanah, Tishri 1, which, this year, is coming up on the evening of September 22nd, the shofar is blown to welcome in the new civil year on the biblical calendar. It says, “Happy New Year”! On Rosh Hashanah, Psalm 47 is recited 7 times, before the shofar is blown. The name for God, Elohim, appears seven times in the psalm. So, if the psalm is recited 7 times on RH, before the shofar is blown, that name for G-d is spoken 49 times, once for each of the years in between each Jubilee year!
In this psalm, it is pictured as a “horn of redemption”, blown by Mashiach. We’ll look at that more closely in a moment.
Psalm 47 is not directly quoted in the Brit Chadasha, the New Testament.
And finally, this is another of the psalms ascribed to the sons of Korach. There are two more to go, after this one, psalms 48 and 49.
In verse 2, the reference to the nations, is to those defeated nations of the world in the just-concluded War of Gog and Magog. Some scholars see this designated war as one and the same with the Battle of Armageddon. I hold the view that the War of Gog and Magog will begin at the cusp of the year 6000, and that it will last for 7 years, all through the so-called “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” (which will be the first 7 years of the “thousand year reign of Messiah” and culminating in the Battle of Armageddon, which will finish the war and usher in the Messianic Age.
This psalm takes place at the end of that 7-year period. The pagan nations of the world have been thoroughly defeated by Mashiach. In verse 2, they are being enjoined to unite and, as one, cry out to the one, true God, to find joy in their defeat, because it allows them to praise the Most High God, Hashem, and His Son, Yeshua, the Son of David and the Great King upon the Earth. Yeshua will reign upon the earth for the remainder of that 1000 years. The sages say that this psalm was one of David’s favorites, that he loved to play it upon his harp. I believe he must have realized he was singing about his future descendant, the Mashiach.
It is unusual to ask a defeated army to clap its hands in joy, but some writers say that is what we are seeing here. Radak the sage explains that the nations will realize that their downfall brought about helping Creation attain its original purpose. They will realize that Hashem is God over all the earth and that Israel is His chosen people. They will understand that their defeat was necessary to bring about the fulfillment of this historic prophecies.
For the most part, these nations have denied that the one, true God either a) even existed or b) if He did He was not interested or involved in the affairs of men. The Hebrew word “rahm” means “high above”, and refers to an airborne object not tethered to or connected to the earth. “Rahm” is how the pagans view God - - disconnected from their reality. By contrast, The Hebrew word “gadol” used here in verse 2 means “great”, but it connotes a tall tower that is connected to earth. In this way, it represents Hashem who is completely involved in the affairs of men.
Let’s read verses 1 through 4.
For the leader. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:
(1) Clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with cries of joy!
(2) For Adonai ‘Elyon is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
(3) He makes peoples subject to us,
puts nations under our feet.
(4) He chooses our heritage for us,
the pride of Ya‘akov, whom he loves. Selah.
Hmmm….seems to me, that the psalmist is speaking to, the defeated pagan nations at first, but then, in verse 3 to the people of Hashem (physical and spiritual Israel), who fought on the side of the Mashiach and who were the victors in this horrific war, the worst war the world had ever seen. Can you imagine the scope and devastation of it?
If you look at verse 3, it says that Hashem makes people groups subject to “us”. Who would this “us” be? Well, it seems to me it would be the chosen people of Hashem.
So, the pagan nations are called to assemble and assimilate for the purpose of coronating Hashem’s Mashiach as King over all the earth. As I mentioned earlier, shofarim were blown at the coronation of kings, and the coronation of King Yeshua will be no exception. Many believe this will occur on Rosh Hashanah. What a wonderful time to be studying this psalm, as Rosh Hashanah approaches in less than 3 weeks! I’m thinking of sharing a recorded Rosh Hashanah special with you on that Wednesday, as it is a high holy day in the biblical calendar.
The Rev Saadiah Gaon taught that, since Rosh Hashanah corresponds to the first day of Adam’s creation, humanity is obligated to coronate God as King on that self-same day. Psalm 98:6 says “With trumpets and the sound of the horn, blast forth before the king, Hashem!”
And, after He is coronated, Mashiach Yeshua will subjugate the people groups, the nations, of the world under the rule of His people, the “one faith, one people”, Israel. This will include all who have believed on His name down through the ages, and also those who are still living life in their human bodies at the beginning of the Messianic reign. This will be united Israel, heir to all the promises of Hashem, given down through the ages past. And, the rest of the world will be subject to us. Isaiah 43:3 says, “I have made Egypt your ransom.” In the Bible, Egypt is a type for all the pagan nations of the Earth. When we read “Out of Egypt I have called my son,” (Hosea 11:1) for example, it not only refers to the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah, Yeshua, being brought back from Egypt after Yosef and Miriam, his parents, sojourned there the first 2-3 years of his childhood.
It also refers to the calling out of the Jewish people from all the nations of the earth over the past 2750 years, where they were dispersed. This began with the “10 lost tribes” being dispersed by the Assyrians, around 722 BCE. Moses was used by God to begin the fulfillment of that mighty prophecy, and it hit another milestone in 1948, when the modern-day nation of Israel was established. Today, the Jews are being called out from all nations of the world, to “come home”, to return, to the land given to them by their Heavenly Father, in fulfillment to the promise He made to Abraham, millennia ago. Isaiah 27:13 prophesied and prophesies all this, saying, “And it shall come to pass on that day that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come - - those who were lost in the land of Assyria, and those who were dispersed in the land of Egypt - - and they shall prostrate themselves before Hashem in the holy mountain, Jerusalem.” Amen.
Allright, let’s look at the remaining few verses, 5-9.
(5) God goes up to shouts of acclaim,
Adonai to a blast on the shofar.
(6) Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our king, sing praises!
(7) For God is king of all the earth;
sing praises in a maskil.
(8) God rules the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
(9) The leaders of the people gather together,
the people of the God of Avraham;
for the rulers of the earth belong to God,
who is exalted on high.
Verse 5 is a little puzzling. It basically says that, with the audible blast from the shofar God “ascends” or “arises” or “goes up”, according to what translation you are using. What does that mean? The sage Sforno believes it means that God the Judge who dispenses perfect justice will rise up in judgment against the nations represented by Gog and Magog. He will put an end to that long, multi-year war. The sage Radak sees this verse as fulfilling the prophecy in Psalm 46:1 “I will be exalted among the nations.” And, this is an interesting interpretation: In the Pirkei of Rabbi Eliezer, we learn that these words allude to the transmission of the second set of tablets at Mt. Sinai.
If you will recall, the Golden Calf incident occurred when the Israelites lost hope that Moshe would ever return from his first 40-day trip up the mountain. Somehow, they miscalculated how long he had been gone, and after their calculation of 40 days were up, they despaired, believing he had perished up there. Something had to be done; so, they appealed to Aaron to let them make a golden calf idol.
Well, when Moshe went up to the mountain for the second time, to get a second set of tablets from the Lord God, the people clearly marked off each day by punctuating it with the blast from a shofar. Since in so doing the people’s faith rose high above their previous idolatry, God ascended with the blast. It is for this historical reason that today the shofar is blown publicly from the first day of the month of Elul all the way through the end of 40 days, to Yom Kippur, which occurs on the 10th day of the month of Tishri, the month that follows the month of Elul, which we are now in. If you are watching this broadcast in real time, we are in the 10th day of the month of Elul.
In verse 6, the translator of the CJB uses the phrase “sing praises”, but the sages say it would be better translated “make music”, because the Hebrew word refers to musical instruments. So, “make music” encompasses both singing AND playing instruments. Radak goes on to interpret this to mean that fresh, new melodies should be composed for such an august occasion of the coronation of the Mashiach. Interestingly, the word “zamar”, the word translated “make music” here is closely related to the Hebrew word “zeh-moh-RAH”, which means “branch” or “vine”. This connection makes me think of these verses:
Isaiah 11:1 - - - But a branch will emerge from the trunk of Yishai (Jesse), a shoot will grow from his roots.
Jeremiah 23:5 - - - “The days are coming,” says Adonai when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and succeed, he will do what is just and right in the land.
John 15:5 - - - “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing.
So, imbedded in the admonition to sing praises, to make music using the verb “zamar” is a reference to the Branch to whom the praise and glory are due.
Psalm 47 ends by calling all who will be faithful to the one, true God (and by extension His Mashiach) to gather together in the Holy Land of Israel.
Psalm 48 describes the glorious reconstruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem, after its ruinous condition that occurred during the ravages of the earth due to the years-long battles of Gog and Magog, and also due to the ravages of the earth due to the trumpet judgments, bowl judgments and etc. that will take place during those 7 years. The city’s physical restoration will be a symbol of spiritual revival throughout the entire earth. It will be truly the crown jewel of the entire earth, an incomparable place of beauty and majesty, for it will indeed be the seat of Messiah’s rule.
This psalm was the Song of the Day during the Temple service for the second day of the week, according to the ancient sages. We are told this in the Mishnah section called Rosh Hashanah 31a. What happened on the second day of creation? The Divine Mysterious Majesty separated the heavenly from the earthly components of the universe. Rabbi Bachya explained that this division was the beginning of all future division in the world. Not that it was an unholy act, but a holy one, because God Himself did it. But, this schism is associated with the second day. Another Rabbi, Layla, explains that this division between heaven and earth initiated the strife between the physical and the spiritual. The sons of Korach were fitting composers for this psalm, because it was their forefather who instigated the strife between Moshe and the people in the wilderness.
One other point about this before we look at the psalm itself. If you read the Creation account, you will not see the words “it was good” in the narrative of the second day. The sages say the reason for this is that the fire of Hell was created on that day.
Is Psalm 48 mentioned in the Brit Chadasha? Yes, King Yeshua mentioned it in a section of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:33-35. In this passage, He is warning the listeners about swearing, and in so doing, he mentions part of Psalm 48:2. (CJB)
33 “Again, you have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not break your oath,’ and ‘Keep your vows to Adonai.’[e] 34 But I tell you not to swear at all — not ‘by heaven,’ because it is God’s throne; 35 not ‘by the earth,’ because it is his footstool;[f] and not ‘by Yerushalayim,’ because it is the city of the Great King.
Let’s look at the first 3 verses:
A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:
(1) Great is Adonai
and greatly to be praised,
in the city of our God,
his holy mountain,
(2) beautiful in its elevation,
the joy of all the earth,
Mount Tziyon, in the far north,
the city of the great king.
(3) In its citadels God
has been revealed as a strong defense.
You may have noticed that the superscription contains the words “song” and “psalm”. The Hebrew word “shir” is translated “song” and “mizmor” is translated “psalm”. The sages say that this double emphasis indicates the great importance of this particular work of praise. Psalm 92 also begins with this repetition.
The sages (Shevet MiYisrael, for one) go on to say that not only will Hashem’s name be enlarged in those days of the Messianic kingdom, but that the Temple itself will be enlarged to cover the entire Temple Mount area. AND, the city of Jerusalem will be enlarged to cover the entire land of Eretz Yisrael. This will be done to indicate the magnitude of the city’s importance. It will truly be the “joy of all the earth”. When you study the book of Ezekiel and in particular the dimensions of the Ezekiel temple, you will see that this is probably exactly what is going to happen, because the dimensions of that Temple far eclipse the current amount of space available on the Temple Mount, which the sages call “fairest of sites.” Lamentations 2:15 calls Jerusalem “perfect in beauty, a cause for joy in the whole earth”.
The sages also say, for example that, when God was giving out beauty to the earth, He gave 9 of 10 portions to Jerusalem, and one measure for the remainder of the world. You may think this attitude toward Jerusalem is overblown. You might chalk this adoration up to “there’s no place like home”, for example. However, the sages said this because of what took place at the Temple, which only existed in Jerusalem. A man could arrive in Jerusalem severely burdened and downcast from sin. After he sacrificed a sin offering or guilt offering, though, he would leave cleansed, renewed, overflowing with joy! So, there was individual restoration available in Jerusalem. On a more corporate level, the offerings made at the Temple had communal properties as well, through which the nation of Israel partook, and by extension there was spillover to the rest of the world. Let’s read on.
(4) For the kings met by agreement;
together they advanced.
(5) They saw and were filled with consternation;
terrified, they took to flight.
(6) Trembling took hold of them,
pains like those of a woman in labor,
(7) as when the wind out of the east
wrecks the “Tarshish” ships.
(8) We heard it, and now we see for ourselves
in the city of Adonai-Tzva’ot,
in the city of our God.
May God establish it forever.
Verses 4-7 again refer to the armies opposing the hosts of Hashem and His Mashiach, at the final battles of Gog and Magog.
That is some kind of terror which will follow in the wake of the indescribably mighty acts of Hashem that will occur at this battle. The world will have never seen terror such as this. The sages say that the east wind is the one reserved for God’s punishments. As example, they cite Exodus 14:21, where God swept the sea with a strong East wind, which then closed the Sea of Reeds over the heads of the Egyptian army, to wipe them out. Similarly, Ezekiel 27:26 says “The eastern wind smashed you in the midst of the seas”, referring to that same incident. Possibly, during this final battle of Gog and Magog, the sea will be involved, prompting this bit of prophecy here in the psalm to that effect.
Verse 8 speaks of merely hearing about God’s power and might, as opposed to getting to witness it firsthand. I imagine it would be much like seeing a photo of a panoramic vista, which absolutely does not capture the vibrancy, nor the majesty of the true image. We’ve all taken photos of beautiful vistas, and then tried to explain to others, “you just had to be there.” The people of this future day will see these mighty acts, which will be the culmination of thousands of years of prophetic consolations, foretold and envisioned by the prophets. It will be much like how our generation has been witnessing the returning of Jews to The Land, but on a much more rapid, much more grand scale.
Now, for the final verses of the psalm, 9-14.
(9) God, within your temple
we meditate on your grace.
(10) God, your praise, like your name,
extends to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
(11) Let Mount Tziyon rejoice,
let the daughters of Y’hudah be glad,
because of your judgment [on the enemy].
(12) Walk through Tziyon, go all around it;
count how many towers it has.
(13) Note its ramparts, pass through its citadels,
so that you can tell generations to come
(14) that such is God, our God forever;
he will guide us eternally.
Rashi says that verse 9 begins a fervent prayer to Hashem, yearning to live to see such victories. Some render this Hebrew word “damah” as “thought”, “contemplated” “hoped” or, as it is in the CJB, “meditated”. Others associate this verb “damah” as imagine, conceive, because the Israel of the future will exclaim, “the wondrous events we just witnessed more than lived up to the conception of triumph our forefathers imagined long ago.”
Regarding verse 10, when the strength and might of Hashem is referenced, it is often pictured as His strong right hand and/or strong right arm. Here are just a few specific Bible verses that use these phrases:
Exodus 15:6: "Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy".
Psalm 89:13: "You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, and high is Your right hand".
Psalm 98:1: "His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him".
Psalm 118:16: "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!".
Isaiah 40:10: "The Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule".
Isaiah 51:9: "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old".
Jeremiah 32:17: "Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!".
And finally, a very famous verse, Deuteronomy 26:8, which, although it does not specify Hashem’s right hand, does refer to the supernatural deliverance of the Hebrew nation from Egypt. 8 and Adonai brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders.”
In verse 11, the “daughters of Judah” refers to the other, lesser cities of Judah, according to the commentators, which makes sense when you think about it. Why should we rejoice in judgments? They are not pleasant to endure, surely. The Talmud, in Makkos 23a, says that when the famous Rabbi Akiva saw wild foxes roaming among the ruins of the Temple, after its destruction late in the first century CE, he laughed joyfully, because he remembered that there are both prophecies about destruction AND about renewal. And, if Hashem was faithful to bring about and fulfill the former, certainly He would be faithful to eventually bring about the latter. As the verse says, “Joy comes in the morning.” (Ps 30:5) The dark night of destruction heralds the joyful morning of restoration.
Verse 12 - - There was a time-honored custom of the righteous to walk around the perimeter of Jerusalem on Erev Rosh Chodesh, the evening that began the first day of the lunar month, the biblical month. The sage Rashi maintains that this verse and the one following are instructive to the rebuilding of the great city in the future.
Verse 13 begins with the word “note”, in the CJB, but the original Hebrew is better translated “mark well”. Literally, the Hebrew says, “put your hearts” - - put your hearts upon her ramparts. The Hebrew word for “hearts” here is spelled with only one vav. Ordinarily, when referring to the human heart, the word "hearts" is spelled with two vavs, side by side to indicate the double-mindedness of the human heart, the good inclination and the evil inclination. So, by using just one vav here, a couple of things could be intended. One, is that this verse is instructive to the heavenly angelic council of God, since in Genesis 18:5, the hearts of holy, sinless angelic beings are spelled with just one vav, as is the spelling when referring to the heart of HaShem. No evil inclination present there, in either case, of course. Another possible meaning is that we humans should be single-hearted in our love for Jerusalem and for restoration to the future vision the Lord God has for her, so that we may testify to our future generations of the character of the Divine Mysterious Majesty.
Isaiah 54:11-12 foretells the beauty of the holy city of the future.
11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,[a]
your foundations with lapis lazuli.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be their peace.
The last part of verse 14 - - He will guide us “eternally”. The short prepositional phrase translated in the CJB as “eternally” is literally “upon death” or “even unto death”. It connotes that our Heavenly Father will guide us as His children, to death, through death and beyond. We need have no fear of death, because He is waiting for us on the other side, where we will rejoice with Him for eternity.
What a powerful, affirming ending for a great psalm!
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