Psa 48:1 | KingComments | STEP | This psalm is the second to last in the series of psalms “of the sons of Korah” that began with Psalm 42. In Psalms 42-43 we hear the complaint of the single person and in Psalm 44 the complaint of the whole remnant. They are in distress and cry out to God to deliver them from the power of the enemy. They are especially distressed because of their flight from the land, which makes them feel an immense lack of staying in the temple. Psalm 45 presents Christ as the answer to their cry to God for help. He is the One through Whom deliverance and their return to the land, Jerusalem and the temple will come. Psalm 46 expresses trust in God through the experience of God’s grace in the present. Psalm 47 celebrates God’s intervention on behalf of His people, with Christ being King over all the earth and Israel exalted above the nations. The call is to praise God together. Psalm 48 presents the King in Zion, the center of government from which He rules over all the earth. This psalm also talks about the importance of the city and the temple of God to the heart of God. Psalm 45 speaks of the beauty of the King ( ), Who is the great King in Zion ( ). Psalm 48 speaks of the beauty of Zion ( ), the city of the great King. Then the name Jerusalem will be changed to Yahweh Tsidkenu , which is “the LORD is our righteousness” ( ), and to Yahweh Shammah , which is “The LORD is there” ( ). Jerusalem has become the capital of the world (cf. ). This “psalm” is called “a song” ( ). By “a song” is usually meant a song of praise. It is a song of praise about the LORD’s victory over all His enemies. Now the realm of peace is dawning. For “of the sons of Korah” see at Psalm 42:1. Finally, there is rest for the believing remnant. God is seated on His holy throne ( ). This leads them to exclaim: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised” ( ). God is “great”. God’s greatness is reflected in this psalm in the beauty of Zion, the city of the great King. We see as a comparison the same thing with King Solomon, whose greatness is reflected in the house he built and in his servants ( ). God is exalted above all peoples and their gods. He has shown His power over them and overthrown all the hostile powers that were raised up against His city. Therefore, He is “greatly to be praised”. He is worthy of all praise and worship, both in His Person and in His actions. He dwells “in the city of our God”. It is the city of God because He dwells there and has ascended His throne. He has chosen that city Himself. The Korahites speak of “the city of our God” because the God who dwells in His city is their God. His throne and His temple are both on “His holy mountain”, which is Mount Zion. It is His “holy” mountain, which further emphasizes that God is there. They primarily sing of the city of Jerusalem in this song as a stronghold and a safe dwelling place. But they begin their song by singing of the beauty of the city, which is perfect ( ; ). This is the first thing that moves them when they see the city (cf. ; ; ). The city is “beautiful in elevation”. The word “beautiful” is used except here for the city only for the Messiah ( ). This indicates that the city is “beautiful” because of the Messiah Who dwells there. ‘Elevation’ in Hebrew is literally ‘height’. The city stands out above all other cities. This is so both because of the presence of the great King in that city and geographically ( ). Because Christ sits on His throne as King-Priest, there is joy for the whole earth. From the city of God, where the throne of Messiah stands and He reigns, blessing goes out over the whole earth (cf. ). There is peace and joy everywhere. By “Mount Zion” is meant the city of Jerusalem. That there is talk of “the far north” means that it is the place of God’s government ( ). First God’s government was from heaven, but now it is also on earth. This is the fulfillment of two prayers from the prayer the Lord Jesus taught His disciples: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” ( ). God is in the palaces, or strongholds, of the city in which princes dwell ( ). The strength and security of Jerusalem lie in the presence of God in the city. Because it is known that God has chosen the city as His dwelling place, the inhabitants of the city have no fear of outside threats mentioned in the next verse. Those outside threats have been frequent in earlier days ( ). Hostile kings have jointly marched against the city in the past. Perhaps here we can think of the enemies who went up against Jehoshaphat and were defeated by God’s action ( ). Another clear evidence of God’s protection is His deliverance of Jerusalem in the days when Sennacherib besieged the city ( ). In the future, He will deliver Jerusalem from the king of the North and still later from the armies coming from the remotest parts of the north ( ; ). From this action of God against those who have the audacity to attack His city, we see how valuable this city is to Him. It is His dwelling place that He has amidst His people. There He wants to be worshiped and served by them. God will retaliate for every attack on the apple of His eye. This is also true for us who are the church of the living God ( ). God makes sure that the attackers of His city will see something whereby they will be “amazed” and “terrified” ( ). What they will see is not mentioned. The city, “it” is in brackets in this verse, indicating that these words are not in the original text. Nor is it likely that the sight of the city will amaze and terrify them. More likely it is an appearance of a heavenly army or of the LORD Himself (cf. ; ). In any case, what they will see will cause them to flee in alarm. They came ( ), they saw ( ) and … they fled ( ). They have thought, in the words of Julius Caesar’s famous saying, Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered), that they would take Jerusalem that easy. Instead, it will be for them, to put it with a pun of Julius Caesar's saying: Veni, Vidi, Vanish. As quickly as they can, they will move away from the city. No one, however, will escape. What seemed to them to be an easy victory becomes a dramatic downfall. They are seized with “panic” ( ). They tremble with fear and feel the pain and anguish “as of a woman in childbirth”. This description of the enemies’ downfall makes the remnant realize all the more the value of that city and that temple on that mountain to God. Encouraged by God’s action on their behalf as just described, they turn to Him ( ). They express confidence that “with the east wind” He will “break the ships of Tarshish”. Just as the ships of Tarshish are powerless against an east wind, so the enemies of the great King are powerless against the sight of His majesty ( ). They have seen this perspective fulfilled ( ), having previously heard about it from the mouths of the Old Testament prophets. They have also heard what God has done for His people in the past ( ). God has stood up for His people in the past and He has done so once again. In the city dwells the Captain of the heavenly hosts. God no longer protects from heaven like He did in the past, but He now protects the city by His very presence in the city. He deploys His heavenly hosts as soon as His city is attacked. That city is “the city of our God”, the city where He Himself is. Therefore it is the city of His people. Therefore, every attack is a suicide attempt. It is an impossible task to besiege this city, let alone to conquer it, because “God will establish her forever”. We can also apply this to the church. We, the church, are the New Jerusalem, in which God dwells. We too may rejoice in this fact. We too may know that nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ ( ). There is no power on earth or in the heavenly places that can conquer or even do any harm to God’s New Testament city, the church ( ). That city is built on the rock, that is the Son of the living God. Therefore, the gates of Hades, or the power of the realm of the dead, will not be able to overpower it ( ). She abides in the perfection of the Son for all eternity.

‏ Psalms 48:1

Introduction

This psalm is the second to last in the series of psalms “of the sons of Korah” that began with Psalm 42. In Psalms 42-43 we hear the complaint of the single person and in Psalm 44 the complaint of the whole remnant. They are in distress and cry out to God to deliver them from the power of the enemy. They are especially distressed because of their flight from the land, which makes them feel an immense lack of staying in the temple. Psalm 45 presents Christ as the answer to their cry to God for help. He is the One through Whom deliverance and their return to the land, Jerusalem and the temple will come.

Psalm 46 expresses trust in God through the experience of God’s grace in the present. Psalm 47 celebrates God’s intervention on behalf of His people, with Christ being King over all the earth and Israel exalted above the nations. The call is to praise God together. Psalm 48 presents the King in Zion, the center of government from which He rules over all the earth. This psalm also talks about the importance of the city and the temple of God to the heart of God.

Psalm 45 speaks of the beauty of the King (Psa 45:2), Who is the great King in Zion (Psa 47:2). Psalm 48 speaks of the beauty of Zion (Psa 48:2), the city of the great King. Then the name Jerusalem will be changed to Yahweh Tsidkenu, which is “the LORD is our righteousness” (Jer 33:16), and to Yahweh Shammah, which is “The LORD is there” (Eze 48:35b). Jerusalem has become the capital of the world (cf. Isa 2:2-3).

The City of God

This “psalm” is called “a song” (Psa 48:1a). By “a song” is usually meant a song of praise. It is a song of praise about the LORD’s victory over all His enemies. Now the realm of peace is dawning.

For “of the sons of Korah” see at Psalm 42:1.

Finally, there is rest for the believing remnant. God is seated on His holy throne (Psa 47:8). This leads them to exclaim: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised” (Psa 48:1b). God is “great”. God’s greatness is reflected in this psalm in the beauty of Zion, the city of the great King. We see as a comparison the same thing with King Solomon, whose greatness is reflected in the house he built and in his servants (1Kgs 10:4-5).

God is exalted above all peoples and their gods. He has shown His power over them and overthrown all the hostile powers that were raised up against His city. Therefore, He is “greatly to be praised”. He is worthy of all praise and worship, both in His Person and in His actions.

He dwells “in the city of our God”. It is the city of God because He dwells there and has ascended His throne. He has chosen that city Himself. The Korahites speak of “the city of our God” because the God who dwells in His city is their God. His throne and His temple are both on “His holy mountain”, which is Mount Zion. It is His “holy” mountain, which further emphasizes that God is there.

They primarily sing of the city of Jerusalem in this song as a stronghold and a safe dwelling place. But they begin their song by singing of the beauty of the city, which is perfect (Psa 48:2; Psa 50:2). This is the first thing that moves them when they see the city (cf. Eze 16:14; Lam 2:15; Mk 13:1). The city is “beautiful in elevation”. The word “beautiful” is used except here for the city only for the Messiah (Psa 45:2). This indicates that the city is “beautiful” because of the Messiah Who dwells there. ‘Elevation’ in Hebrew is literally ‘height’. The city stands out above all other cities. This is so both because of the presence of the great King in that city and geographically (Zec 14:10b).

Because Christ sits on His throne as King-Priest, there is joy for the whole earth. From the city of God, where the throne of Messiah stands and He reigns, blessing goes out over the whole earth (cf. Isa 2:1-5). There is peace and joy everywhere. By “Mount Zion” is meant the city of Jerusalem. That there is talk of “the far north” means that it is the place of God’s government (Isa 14:13). First God’s government was from heaven, but now it is also on earth. This is the fulfillment of two prayers from the prayer the Lord Jesus taught His disciples: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10).

God is in the palaces, or strongholds, of the city in which princes dwell (Psa 48:3). The strength and security of Jerusalem lie in the presence of God in the city. Because it is known that God has chosen the city as His dwelling place, the inhabitants of the city have no fear of outside threats mentioned in the next verse.

Those outside threats have been frequent in earlier days (Psa 48:4). Hostile kings have jointly marched against the city in the past. Perhaps here we can think of the enemies who went up against Jehoshaphat and were defeated by God’s action (2Chr 20:1-2 ; 22-23).

Another clear evidence of God’s protection is His deliverance of Jerusalem in the days when Sennacherib besieged the city (Isa 37:36). In the future, He will deliver Jerusalem from the king of the North and still later from the armies coming from the remotest parts of the north (Dan 11:45; Eze 39:1-6).

From this action of God against those who have the audacity to attack His city, we see how valuable this city is to Him. It is His dwelling place that He has amidst His people. There He wants to be worshiped and served by them. God will retaliate for every attack on the apple of His eye. This is also true for us who are the church of the living God (1Cor 3:16-17).

God makes sure that the attackers of His city will see something whereby they will be “amazed” and “terrified” (Psa 48:5). What they will see is not mentioned. The city, “it” is in brackets in this verse, indicating that these words are not in the original text. Nor is it likely that the sight of the city will amaze and terrify them. More likely it is an appearance of a heavenly army or of the LORD Himself (cf. 2Kgs 6:14-17; Isa 37:36).

In any case, what they will see will cause them to flee in alarm. They came (Psa 48:4), they saw (Psa 48:5a) and … they fled (Psa 48:5b). They have thought, in the words of Julius Caesar’s famous saying, Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered), that they would take Jerusalem that easy. Instead, it will be for them, to put it with a pun of Julius Caesar's saying: Veni, Vidi, Vanish. As quickly as they can, they will move away from the city. No one, however, will escape.

What seemed to them to be an easy victory becomes a dramatic downfall. They are seized with “panic” (Psa 48:6). They tremble with fear and feel the pain and anguish “as of a woman in childbirth”. This description of the enemies’ downfall makes the remnant realize all the more the value of that city and that temple on that mountain to God.

Encouraged by God’s action on their behalf as just described, they turn to Him (Psa 48:7). They express confidence that “with the east wind” He will “break the ships of Tarshish”. Just as the ships of Tarshish are powerless against an east wind, so the enemies of the great King are powerless against the sight of His majesty (Psa 48:5).

They have seen this perspective fulfilled (Psa 48:8), having previously heard about it from the mouths of the Old Testament prophets. They have also heard what God has done for His people in the past (Psa 44:1b). God has stood up for His people in the past and He has done so once again.

In the city dwells the Captain of the heavenly hosts. God no longer protects from heaven like He did in the past, but He now protects the city by His very presence in the city. He deploys His heavenly hosts as soon as His city is attacked. That city is “the city of our God”, the city where He Himself is. Therefore it is the city of His people. Therefore, every attack is a suicide attempt. It is an impossible task to besiege this city, let alone to conquer it, because “God will establish her forever”.

We can also apply this to the church. We, the church, are the New Jerusalem, in which God dwells. We too may rejoice in this fact. We too may know that nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ (Rom 8:31-39).

There is no power on earth or in the heavenly places that can conquer or even do any harm to God’s New Testament city, the church (Rev 21:9-10). That city is built on the rock, that is the Son of the living God. Therefore, the gates of Hades, or the power of the realm of the dead, will not be able to overpower it (Mt 16:16-18). She abides in the perfection of the Son for all eternity.