Psalm 47:1-3 (CB)

1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2 For the LORD Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. 3 He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet.

THE JOY OF SUBMISSION. God is the powerful King of the whole earth and is subduing people to his rule. But because God is the rightful King—the one we were created to know, serve, and love—the result of his conquest of their hearts is joy. They clap their hands because of his rule over them (v 1). God is the fuel that our souls were designed to run on. So the greater the submission to the true King, the greater the pleasure. Rather than thinking of ourselves as persecuted underdogs, Christians should be so overflowing with the joy of our salvation that we feel the privilege of singing his praises to those who do not know him.