A good example of the Songs of Zion, the psalm describes the glory of the city of Jerusalem which has been delivered by God from her enemies.
This psalm, sung with orchestral accompaniment, therefore contrast two different responses to the God of Zion and the Zion of God.
I. Introduction (48:1-3).
II. The Panic-Response of the Provokers of God (48:4-7).
A. The Chronicling of It (48:4-6);
B. The Cause of It (48:7).
III. The Praise-Response of the People of God (48:8-14).
A. Their Celebration (48:8-13);
B. Their Conclusion (48:14).
Ver. 4-7.
1. The opposition of worldly powers to the church. "The kings, "etc.
2. The manner in which they are subdued—by their own fears; conscience has persecuted those who have persecuted the church of God. They who have seized the ark of God have been glad to return it with an offering.
3. The completeness of their overthrow, As a fleet of ships of Tarshish, dispersed, broken, and engulfed by the east wind.
We sing this Psalm, because God is pleased to preserve His church and gospel against the roaring and hatred of kings and princes; who cease not from attacking them by violence and craft with all their might: and yet, they shall perish and be confounded, and covered with shame, while the gospel shall re main as it was before, unhurt and unhindered.
Psalm 48:1 Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of His holiness.
And in the perfections of His nature, being of great power, and of great wisdom, and of great faithfulness, and of strict holiness and justice.
And of wonderful grace and goodness; great in His works of creation and providence.
In His miraculous operations when on earth, and in the work of man's redemption and salvation.
Psalm 48:2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
“The north”:
“North” is an interpretive translation of a word term that is ocurring as a Semitic place name, meaning “Zaphon”.
In Canaanite mythology Zaphon was an ancient Near Eastern equivalent to Mt. Olympus, the dwelling place of pagan gods.
--If this was the psalmist’s intention in Psalm 48:2, the reference becomes a polemical description of the LORD; He is not only King of kings but also is God of all so-called gods.
Psalm 48:6 Fear took hold upon them there, [and] pain, as of a woman in travail.
"And pain, as of a woman in travail":
This figure is made use of elsewhere, when the destruction of Babylon and the coming of Christ are spoken of (see Isa. 13:8).
Psalm 48:7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
God is seen at sea, but he is equally present on land. Speculative heresies, pretending to bring us wealth from afar, are constantly assailing the church, but the breath of the Lord soon drives them to destruction.
Psalm 48:8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the
Psalm 48:9 We have thought of Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Thy temple.
Beauty brings on thoughts of God.
Psalm 48:12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
Psalm 48:14 For this God [is] our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide [even] unto death.
He will walk with us even unto death."
BooksOfTheBible/Charles Spurgeon/Martin Luther
