A song, a psalm for the sons of Korah
48
📚Great is the LORD,and greatly to be
praised in the city of our God,
in his holy mountain.
48:1 We do not know when, or by whom, this psalm was written. From vs 4-8 we judge it was after an attack on Jerusalem by federated kings. No such event occurred in the days of David. It is likely that the time was either during the invasion described in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, or the one in Isaiah chapters 36,37.⚜
2 📚Beautiful for elevation,
the joy of the whole earth,
is mount Zion,
on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.
3 📚God is known in her palaces
as a refuge.
48:1-3 God chose Jerusalem as His royal residence, the place for His temple. There He reigned as King over His people, and defended them from His enemies (Ps 9:11; 76:2; 132:13; 135:21; Matt 5:35). The greatest thing we can say of any place or people is that the true God is there and is known. Without this any other beauty is hardly beauty at all.⚜
4 📚For, see, the kings assembled,
they passed by together.
5 📚They saw it and so
they marvelled;
they were troubled and
hurried away.
6 📚Fear took hold on them there,
and pain like that of a woman
in childbirth.
7 📚You broke them like the ships
of Tarshish,
broken by an east wind.
8 📚As we have heard,
so have we seen in the
city of the LORD of hosts,
in the city of our God.
God will establish it forever. Selah
9 📚We have thought of
your loving kindness,
O God, within your temple.
48:9 God’s love and grace are the great subjects that should be the theme of our meditations. If they are, we will not find it difficult to praise God (vs 10,11).⚜
10 📚According to your name,
O God,
so is your praise
to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full
of righteousness.
11 📚Let mount Zion rejoice.
Let the daughters of Judah
be glad,
because of your judgments.
12 📚Walk about Zion, and go
around her.
Count her towers.
13 📚Set your eyes well
on her bulwarks.
Consider her palaces,
so that you may tell it
to the following generation.
48:12-13 The writer is thrilled by the sight of Jerusalem. What joy and satisfaction, then, should we not find in meditating on the Jerusalem which is above (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22; Rev 21:2, 10-26). Remember in the study of the Psalms and, for that matter, of the whole of the Old Testament, that earthly things are often pictures and types of spiritual and heavenly truths.⚜
14 📚For this God is our God
forever and ever.
He will be our guide 📖 even
to death.
48:14 The best of all is not the city, but God’s presence to guide until death, and to be enjoyed forever and ever.⚜