Psalms 48:4

4 For lo! the kings of (the) earth were gathered together (against it); they came into one place.

Psalms 48:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 48:4

For, lo, the kings were assembled
As the princes of the Philistines to seek for David, when in the strong hold of Zion, ( 2 Samuel 5:17 ) ; as the Ethiopians in the time of Asa, ( 2 Chronicles 14:9 ) ; and the Moabites and Ammonites in the times of Jehoshaphat, ( 2 Chronicles 20:1 ) ; and the kings of Syria and Israel in the times of Ahaz, ( Isaiah 7:1 ) ; and Sennacherib with his princes, who, in his esteem, were kings, in the times of Hezekiah, ( 2 Kings 18:17 ) ; which are instances of the kings, of the nations' gathering together against Zion, the city of Jerusalem, and people of the Jews, who were typical of the church of Christ; and that without success, and to their own confusion and destruction; though this seems to refer to the latter day of the Gospel dispensation, when all the kings of the earth, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan, will be gathered together at the instigation of Satan, to the battle of the great day of the Lord God Almighty, in a place called Armageddon, where they will be defeated by Christ the King of kings, ( Revelation 16:13 Revelation 16:14 Revelation 16:16 ) ( 19:19-21 ) . Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the passage of Gog and Magog gathering together to fight against Jerusalem, with which compare ( Revelation 20:8 Revelation 20:9 ) ;

they passed by together;
either to the battle, as Jarchi explains it; or they passed by Jerusalem, the city of our God, the church, without entering into it, or doing it any harm.

Psalms 48:4 In-Context

2 It is founded in the full out joying of all earth; the hill of Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great king. (Well-placed, it is the full out joy, or the rejoicing, of all the earth; Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.)

3 God shall be known in the houses thereof; when he shall take it. (And God is known as a refuge, or a stronghold, in its palaces.)

4 For lo! the kings of (the) earth were gathered together (against it); they came into one place.

5 They seeing, so wondered; they were troubled, they were moved (al)together, (But when they saw it, they wondered about it/they were full of wonder, or amazement; and they were troubled, and ran away,)

6 trembling took them. There sorrows, as of a woman travailing of child; (for panic, or trembling, took hold of them there. And sorrows, like when a woman laboureth with child;)