“For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.”
The affirmation that God is king of all the earth and the exhortation to sing psalms with understanding establish that intellectual comprehension should accompany and guide musical praise. The designation of God as king of all the earth reiterates the universal scope of divine sovereignty. The reference to singing with understanding suggests that praise should be intelligent and informed rather than mindless; the heart and mind should unite in worship. The specific mention of singing psalms with understanding indicates that the recitation and meditation on the psalmic texts should inform the worshipers' understanding of divine kingship. This verse suggests that true praise combines emotional and intellectual engagement.
Church Fathers on Psalms 47:7
1. The title of the Psalm goes thus. “To the end: for the sons of Korah: a Psalm of David himself.” These sons of Korah have the title also of some other Psalms, and indicate a sweet mystery, insinuate a great Sacrament: wherein let us willingly understand ourselves, and let us acknowledge in the title us who hear, and read, and as in a glass set before us behold who we are. The sons of Korah, who are they?. ..Haply the sons of the Bridegroom. For the Bridegroom was crucified…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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