Psalms 48 KJV
The Glory of Zion
About This Psalm
A tour of Jerusalem - beautiful, fortified, God's city. When you see something magnificent and know God is behind it.
1reat is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
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.
3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge.
4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.
5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.
6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with 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 for ever. Selah.
9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
10 According to 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 rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell 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.
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Did You Know?
The psalm appropriates the Canaanite name Zaphon ("sides of the north") for Mount Zion, transferring Baal's mythic mountain seat to Yahweh and asserting his supremacy over rival deities.
Verses 4-7 portray defeated kings in labor-like panic, echoing ancient Near Eastern treaty-curse motifs where invading coalitions suffer divine terror rather than military engagement.
The instruction to "walk about Zion" and count its towers reflects a possible post-victory liturgical procession, akin to ancient city-inspection rites that combined thanksgiving with boundary affirmation.
Together with Psalms 46 and 47, this forms a Korahite trilogy celebrating Yahweh's kingship, moving from cosmic upheaval (46) through enthronement (47) to Zion's inviolability (48).
The final phrase "our guide even unto death" reorients the psalm's focus from the city's physical walls to God's personal, lifelong guidance, subverting expectations of a purely nationalistic victory hymn.
Commentary & Study Notes
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Psalms 48 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: This Is A Spirited Psalm And Song (Compare Ps 30:1), Having Probably Been Suggested By The Same Occasion As The Foregoing. It Sets Forth The Privileges And Blessings Of God's Spiritual Dominion As The Terror Of The Wicked And Joy Of The Righteous.
This Is A Spirited Psalm And Song (Compare Ps 30:1), Having Probably Been Suggested By The Same Occasion As The Foregoing. It Sets Forth The Privileges And Blessings Of God's Spiritual Dominion As The Terror Of The Wicked And Joy Of The Righteous v1-14
1. to be praised--always: it is an epithet, as in Ps 18:3. mountain of his holiness--His Church (compare Isa 2:2, 3; 25:6, 7, 10); the sanctuary was erected first on Mount Zion, then (as the temple) on Moriah; hence the figure. 2, 3. situation--literally, "elevation." joy of, &c.--source of joy. sides of the north--poetically for eminent, lofty, distinguished, as the ancients believed the north to be the highest part of the earth (compare Isa 14:13). 3. palaces--literally, "citadels." refuge-- (Ps 9:10; 18:3). He was so known in them because they enjoyed His presence. 4-6. For--The reason is given. Though the kings (perhaps of Moab and Ammon, compare Ps 83:3-5) combined, a conviction of God's presence with His people, evinced by the unusual courage with which the prophets (compare 2Ch 20:12-20) had inspired them, seized on their minds, and smitten with sudden and intense alarm, they fled astonished. 7. ships of Tarshish--as engaged in a distant and lucrative trade, the most valuable. The phrase may illustrate God's control over all material agencies, whether their literal destruction be meant or not. 8. This present experience assures of that perpetual care which God extends to His Church. 9. thought of--literally, "compared," or considered, in respect of former dealings. in the . . . temple--in acts of solemn worship (compare 2Ch 20:28). 10. According . . . praise--that is, As Thy perfections manifested (compare Ps 8:1; 20:1-7), demand praise, it shall be given, everywhere. thy right hand, &c.--Thy righteous government is displayed by Thy power. 11. the daughters, &c.--the small towns, or the people, with the chief city, or rulers of the Church. judgments--decisions and acts of right government. 12-14. The call to survey Zion, or the Church, as a fortified city, is designed to suggest "how well our God secures His fold." This security is perpetual, and its pledge is His guidance through this life.