Psalms48
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1 Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, The city of the great King.
3 God hath made himself known in her palaces for a refuge.
4 For, lo, the kings assembled themselves, They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then were they amazed; They were dismayed, they hasted away.
6 Trembling took hold of them there, Pain, as of a woman in travail.
7 With the east wind Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen In the city of Jehovah of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah
9 We have thought on thy lovingkindness, O God, In the midst of thy temple.
10 As is thy name, O God, So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of thy judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her; Number the towers thereof;
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks; Consider her palaces: That ye may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.
Study
Psalms 48Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 48. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The glories of the church of Christ..
vv1-7
Jerusalem is the city of our God: none on earth render him due honour except the citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem. Happy the kingdom, the city, the family, the heart, in which God is great, in which he is all. There God is known. The clearer discoveries are made to us of the Lord and his greatness, the more it is expected that we should abound in his praises. The earth is, by sin, covered with deformity, therefore justly might that spot of ground, which was beautified with holiness, be called the joy of the whole earth; that which the whole earth has reason to rejoice in, that God would thus in very deed dwell with man upon the earth. The kings of the earth were afraid of it. Nothing in nature can more fitly represent the overthrow of heathenism by the Spirit of the gospel, than the wreck of a fleet in a storm. Both are by the mighty power of the Lord.
vv8-14
We have here the improvement which the people of God are to make of his glorious and gracious appearances for them. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. Let our hope of the stability of the church be encouraged. Let our minds be filled with good thoughts of God. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us, must be traced to the fountain of His loving-kindness. Let us give to God the glory of the great things he has done for us. Let all the members of the church take comfort from what the Lord does for his church. Let us observe the beauty, strength, and safety of the church. Consider its strength; see it founded on Christ the Rock, fortified by the Divine power, guarded by Him who neither slumbers nor sleeps. See what precious ordinances are its palaces, what precious promises are its bulwarks, that you may be encouraged to join yourselves to it: and tell this to others. This God, who has now done such great things for us, is unchangeable in his love to us, and his care for us. If he is our God, he will lead and keep us even to the last. He will so guide us, as to set us above the reach of death, so that it shall not do us any real hurt. He will lead us to a life in which there shall be no more death.
Key Words
שִׁיר: a song; abstractly, singing
מִזְמוֹר: properly, instrumental music; by implication, a poem set to notes
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
קֹרַח: Korach, the name of two Edomites and three Israelites
גָּדוֹל: great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent
מְאֹד: properly, vehemence, i.e. (with or without preposition) vehemently; by implication, wholly, speedily, etc. (often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated)
הָלַל: to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make ashow, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify
עִיר: a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
קֹדֶשׁ: a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity
Cross References
Psalms 48Jesus directly quotes this verse, calling Jerusalem 'the city of the great King.'
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jerusalem is explicitly lamented with these exact terms: 'the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth.'
Supported by Matthew Poole
Uses the rare, matching Hebrew geographical idiom 'sides of the north' regarding the mount of assembly.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Historical context: the coalition of kings assembling against Judah and their miraculous panic-driven defeat.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The New Testament fulfills Mount Zion and the city of God as the heavenly Jerusalem.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
God explicitly claims the title 'for I am a great King' echoed here in verse 2.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Illustrates the sudden, terrifying departure of the Assyrian army from Jerusalem's gates.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prophetic description of the mountain of the Lord's house established in the latter days.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels Isaiah 2:2 regarding the mountain of the house of the Lord being exalted.
Supported by Matthew Poole
New Testament parallel using the same metaphor of sudden destruction like travail upon a woman.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Provides the historical imagery of the actual breaking of the ships of Tarshish.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identical verbal parallel: 'Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments.'
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ezekiel describes the land of Israel as 'the glory of all lands,' echoing the beauty of Zion.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels the concept of hearing from ancestors and passing the testimony to the next generation.
Supported by Matthew Henry