For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
Parallel translations
- KJV For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
- BSB For God is King of all the earth; sing profound praises to Him.
- NKJV For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding.
- NASB For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a psalm of wisdom.
- NLT For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God is King of all the earth, so His people are to sing praises with understanding. It matters because worship should engage the mind as well as the heart.
Overview
The universal kingship of God grounds the call to sing 'with understanding,' that is, thoughtfully and intelligently. True praise is not mere emotion but informed by who God is. The gospel deepens this understanding, revealing the King who reigns through Christ and inviting reasoned, heartfelt worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Zech 14:9Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
- Col 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
- Ps 47:8God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.
- Ps 47:2For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.
- Rev 11:15The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”
- 1 Cor 14:14–15For if I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 47:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.