Psalm 48:1-7

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

1 ¹Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, In the ²city of our God, His ³holy mountain.

2 ⁴Beautiful in elevation, ⁵the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The ⁶city of the great King.

3 God, in her palaces, Has made Himself known as a ⁷stronghold.

4 For, lo, the ⁸kings assembled themselves, They passed by together.

5 They saw it, then they were amazed; They were ⁹terrified, they fled in alarm.

6 Panic seized them there, Anguish, as of ¹⁰a woman in childbirth.

7 With the ¹¹east wind You ¹²break the ¹³ships of Tarshish.

Psalm 48:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 48

\\<>\\. This psalm is entitled a "song psalm", a psalm to be sung vocally; or "a song and psalm" to be sung both vocally and instrumentally; and is one of the spiritual songs the apostle speaks of, Eph 5:19; It was occasioned, as some think, by David's spoiling the Philistines, 2Sa 5:17-21; or, as others, by the deliverance of the people from the Moabites and Ammonites in the times of Jehoshaphat, 2Ch 20:27,28; or, as others, by the deliverance of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from Sennacherib in the times of Hezekiah, 2Ki 19:34,35; though as Kimchi, a celebrated Jewish commentator, owns, it belongs to the times of the Messiah, as the other preceding psalms; and treats of his greatness, and of the praise and glory due to him, and gives large encomiums of his church.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Chronicles 16:25; Psalms 96:4; Psalms 145:3
• 2. Psalms 46:4
• 3. Psalms 2:6; Psalms 87:1; Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:1; Zechariah 8:3
• 4. Psalms 50:2
• 5. Lamentations 2:15
• 6. Matthew 5:35
• 7. Psalms 46:7
• 8. 2 Samuel 10:6-19
• 9. Exodus 15:15
• 10. Isaiah 13:8
• 11. Jeremiah 18:17
• 12. 1 Kings 22:48
• 13. 1 Kings 10:22; Ezekiel 27:25

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "were hurried away"
• [b] Lit "Trembling"