Applause is such a strange social phenomenon. We clap for bone-crunching tackles, masterful gymnastics routines, six year-olds at their piano recitals and famous virtuosos at theirs, baptisms and bar mitzvahs, speeches (including sermons nowadays), and a range of other activities. We signify our approval of sterling performance, a fact that assumes (1) that we have in our heads a set of standards about what constitutes excellence in a given field and (2) that the type of endeavor is secondary (so we applaud the open-field crushing of a receiver and a baptism of a young person, often on the same day — whoever said we humans were logical beings plainly didn’t know us!). Yet surely what we applaud determines what sorts of people we are.
Psalm 47 invites Gentiles to join Israel in its applause of the Almighty, signaling the universal scope of the rule of providence. Why should they applaud? Because Yhwh has redeemed Israel, thus keeping age-old promises and insuring that peace and holiness have a chance in the world. The psalm runs to the old image of God as king (and thus as guarantor of justice and human wholeness) by singing “Yhwh Most High is awesome, a great king over all the land” (v. 2; Hebrew 3) and “for Elohim is king over all the earth…. Elohim reigns o’er the nations; Elohim sits on his holy throne” (vv. 7-8; Hebrew 8-9). The enthroned ruler is the one who brings about life-giving order. A few observations:
- The setting of the song is unclear. Is it a celebration of a particular national victory, or a song sung in the midst of a festival (Tabernacles?) about a long-standing or recurring history of redemption? The answer might matter for how we interpret the psalm, but there is no way of knowing for sure. As it stands, the poem has gotten separated from its original setting and thus functions as a celebration of the world’s very structure as a place under the sovereign care of God.
- The phrase in v. 9, “Elohim who sits on his holy throne,” evokes a very old theme, seen also in Egyptian theology, of a God who is in charge of the cosmos and keeps all threats to peace and justice at bay. However difficult such a metaphor might be for us in our democratic age, the idea of God as the perfect ruler operates throughout the Bible and is a basic assumption of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the religions that sprung from Israel.
Why is God’s kingship, brought to bear in history, worth celebrating? If you assume that the infinite being cares perfectly for human beings and is incapable of corruption, ignorance, self-interest, inattentiveness, or any of the other frailties that mar human rule, then God’s rule sounds like very good news. Surely for its beneficiaries this would be so. Obedience to the dictates of such a ruler would be easy since they so obviously reflect a profound commitment to human well-being. Obedience would not be experienced as obedience at all, but simply as the movement of the soul in response to virtue (Aristotle’s ideal).
Does the psalm assume that the nations somehow benefit from God’s salvation of Israel? Certainly the text does not spell out how this would be so, but it is not necessary to assume that the poet was a naive xenophobe who imagined that others would enjoy his happiness, whatever their own condition. If the non-violent, harmonious world imagined in the Psalms and prophets were to emerge, then surely everyone would benefit. After all, the ravages of war fall on everyone in their path, not just one group. So it does not seem too far-fetched to imagine that in the back of the psalmist’s mind — and in the minds of the congregations singing the psalm either in ancient Israel or subsequently — the prospect of divine settlement of wrongs would be an inviting idea.
Of course, the psalm is not engaging in political theorizing. It is trying to get people to sing and enjoy the prospects of a new world. In many ways, that option seems even more humanly inviting. If we celebrated the possibilities of peace and justice, and celebrated the reality of such when we saw it, how would our lives and our world be different? This week, I think I’ll try it. Stay tuned for results!