Psalms 48

1. GREAT is the LORD, and highly 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 hastened 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 the LORD 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: Tell the towers thereof. 13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, Consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation follow- ing. 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.

THIS Psalm, there is every reason to suppose, was composed on the same occasion as the two preceding. It celebrates God’s protecting care of Jerusalem, and especially the deliverance of the city from the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 18: 19; Isa. 36), as may be inferred from the many verbal coincidences which present them- selves, on a comparison of the Psalm with the prophecies of Isaiah relating to the Assyrian invasion (chaps. 8, 28, 29, 33). P.—This Psalm refers to the same circumstances as the two preceding. It completes the train of grate- ful thoughts suggested by the deliverance. In the first the overthrow of the enemy is the prominent thought, and in the second the tri- umph of God’s glory; in this the Psalmi—t turns his thoughts to the beauty, security, and splen- dor of the city of God. Cook.

The Psalm gives these points—a formidable muster before Jerusalem of hostile people under confederate kings, with the purpose of laying siege to the city; some mysterious check which arrests them before a sword is drawn, as if some panic fear had shot from its towers and shaken their hearts; and a flight in wild con- fusion from the impregnable dwelling-place of the Lord of hosts. The occasion of the terror is vaguely hinted at, as if some solemn mystery brooded over it. All that is clear about it is that it was purely the work of the Divine hand. Now there is one event in Jewish history which corresponds, point for point, to these details— the crushing destruction of the Assyrian army under Sennacherib. There was the same mus- tering of various nations, compelled by the con- queror to march in his train, and headed by their tributary kings. There was the same ar- rest before an arrow had been shot or a mound raised against the city. There was the same purely Divine agency coming in to destroy the invading army. Whatever may be thought, however, of that allocation of it to a place in the history, the great truths that it contains de- pend upon no such identification. They are truths for all time; gladness and consolation for all generations. There is the glory of Zion, the deliverance of Zion, and the consequent grateful praise and glad trust of Zion. A. M.

It consists of three parts: 1. An introduction which, after an ascription of praise to God, de- scribes the glory (v. 2) and the security (v. 3) of Zion, as the city in which God hath made Himself known (vs. 1-3). 2. The defeat of the enemy. Because God thus dwells in Zion and loves Zion, she has been saved out of the hand of the Assyrian. That mighty host led by its kingly captains did but look upon the city, and were confounded as in a moment, broken as with the east wind which breaks the ships of Tarshish, melting away “like snow in the glance of the Lord” (vs. 4-8). 3. Thanksgiving to God, whose praise is not only in Zion but in all the earth, and whose great deliverance the poet would have remembered in all time to come (vs. 9-14).

1-3. It is because Zion is the city of God that she so far surpasses all other cities in beauty and renown. It is the glory of His presence which makes her glorious; the strength of His presence which makes her safe.

2. Beautiful in elevation,** or “rising aloft in beauty.” This is precisely one of the most striking features in the topography of Jerusalem. “Its elevation,” says Stanley, “is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judæa, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest tablelands in the country. Hebron, indeed, is higher still, by some hundred feet; and from the south, accordingly, the approach to Jerusalem is by a slight descent. But from every other side the ascent is perpetual; and to the traveller approaching Jerusalem from the west or east it must have always presented the appearance, beyond any other capital of the then known world—we may add, beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth—of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of the Jordan or of the coast, a mountain air, enthroned on a mountain fastness.” P.

At the northernmost bounds—that is, of the city, or of the elevated plateau on which it was built. There can be no longer a doubt that the ancient hill of Zion is near the northern extremity of the more westerly of the two ridges into which the city was anciently divided. The temple hill was opposite on the eastern ridge. The crest of Zion was much the higher. On account of its elevation it was the characteristic feature of the Holy City, but by immense labor it was removed by the Maccabees, so that no hill higher than the Temple and the Upper City might be occupied by an enemy, as this had been by the Macedonians. On the eastern, western, and southern sides Jerusalem was bounded by impassable ravines, the valley of Hinnom on the west, and the valley of Kedron on the east, with their steep declivities, forming a junction at the south, rendering the city almost impregnable except on the northern side, where strong fortifications were needed. Inside the wall, having the deep gorge on its easterly side, the massive citadel of Zion towered above everything around it. De Witt.

Surrounded by mountains, and standing itself on considerable heights, Jerusalem seemed the very spot on which to place the chief city of the country. If it was “beautiful for situation,” it was so in a military or utilitarian, rather than an aesthetic or picturesque sense. It was the very symbol of a God-encircled, God-protected city. “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even forever.” To an invading army it was difficult of access; and even when an army was under the walls, its strength and security may be judged from the saying ascribed to the Roman general Titus, that if it had not been for the dissensions among the people themselves, the place could never have been taken. W. G. B.—When I stood that morning on the brow of Olivet, and looked down on the city crowning those battlemented heights, encircled by those deep and dark ravines, I involuntarily exclaimed, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” And as I gazed, the red rays of the rising sun shed a halo round the top of the castle of David; then they tipped with gold each tapering minaret, and gilded each dome of mosque and church, and at length, bathed in one flood of ruddy light the terraced roofs of the city, and the grass and foliage, the cupolas, pavements, and colossal walls of the Haram. No human being could be disappointed who first saw Jerusalem from Olivet. J. L. Porter.

3. Did Mount Zion ever look more fair to those enraptured eyes? Only a few hours ago in danger of war, siege, capture, conflagration, utter destruction; now standing saved, untouched, in more than its former glory;—we need not wonder then that her joyful sons and daughters should sing: “Beautiful for elevation, the joy of all the land, is this our Mount Zion,” especially as seen from the north; the city honored as the home and throne of the Great King! In her palaces we have known and proved our God to be our refuge. In our danger we sought Him—not in vain! C.

4. There follows, in a few lines, a striking picture of the advance of the hostile army, and of its sudden destruction. Compare with this the wonderfully graphic description of the same march in Isa. 10: 28-34. The kings.

The mention of “kings” in the plural does not prove that the Psalm cannot be referred to the Assyrian invasion. They were perhaps satraps, or petty kings (cf. Judges 5 : 3, 19), dependent upon Sennacherib. In his annals, as lately deciphered, he speaks of setting up tributary kings or viceroys in Chaldea, Phoenicia, and Philistia, after conquering those countries. Calvin and others, who refer the Psalm to the time of Ahaz, suppose Pekah and Rezin to be meant. Hengstenberg and Delitzsch think that “the kings” are those of Moab, Ammon, and Edom, who united to attack Jehoshaphat, and that it is their discomfiture which is the subject of the Psalm. But the battle at Tekoa would surely not have been described as the deliverance of Jerusalem.

5. The force of the description in this verse, as in the last, is much increased by the way in which the verbs follow one another without a copula. Calvin well illustrates it by Cesar’s veni, vidi, vici. A succession of scenes is thus flashed upon the eye. Each word is a picture. First, we have the mustering of the hosts; then their march; then their first sight of the city; then their astonishment, their dismay, their wild panic and flight.

6,7. This confusion and terror are now further portrayed under two images: the first, that of a travailing woman, a common one in the Old Testament, and found also in the New; and the second, in which the defeat of Sennacherib’s army is compared to the wreck and dispersion of a navy in a storm. The image in this case is presented with lyric vividness, as if the sacred poet were himself looking on the scene. P.—The Psalmist is not thinking of any actual scattering of hostile fleets—from which Jerusalem was never in danger; but is using the shipwreck of “the ship of Tarshish” as a picture of the utter, swift, God-inflicted destruction which ground that invading army to pieces. A. M.

8. This marvellous deliverance is but a fresh proof, in our own experience, of that wonder-working love which in the days of old has so often manifested itself in Israel. The things which our fathers have told us, we have now witnessed with our own eyes. And therefore, also, the present is regarded as a pledge for the future: “God will establish it—make it stand firm—forever,” as 87 : 5. P.—God will confirm it, or establish her, i.e., Jerusalem, the city of our God. He will secure it against all such assaults as it has just escaped. As Jerusalem is here regarded not as a mere town, but as the seat of the theocracy, the earthly residence of

God, the promise is still valid, in its strongest sense, with respect to the Church, of which the ancient Zion was the constituted type and local centre. A.

As we have heard in the promise and prediction, so have we seen in the performance and accomplishment. We have heard that God is the Lord of hosts, and that Jerusalem is the city of our God, is dear to Him, is His particular care; and now we have seen it, we have seen the power of our God, we have seen His goodness, we have seen His care and concern for us; that He is a wall of fire round about Jerusalem, and the glory in the midst of her. In the great things that God has done, and is doing, for His Church, it is good to take notice of the fulfilling of the Scriptures. God Himself has undertaken the establishment of it; it is the Lord that has founded Zion (Isa. 14 : 22). And what we have seen, compared with what we have heard, may encourage us to hope in that promise of God, upon which the Church is built. H.

The deliverance thus described links the present with the past. So God’s merciful manifestation to us has this blessed effect, that it changes hearsay and tradition into living experience;—this blessed effect, that it teaches us, or ought to teach us, the inexhaustibleness of the Divine power, the constant repetition in every age of the same works of love. Taught by it, we learn that all these old narratives of His grace and help are ever new, not past and gone, but ready to be reproduced in their essential characteristics in our lives too. We, too, if we mark the daily dealings of that loving Hand with us, have every occasion to say, Thy lovingkindness of old lives still. Still, as of old, the hosts of the Lord encamp round about them that fear Him to deliver them. Still, as of old, the voice of guidance comes from between the cherubim. Still, as of old, the pillar of cloud and fire moves before us. Still, as of old, angels walk with men. Still, as of old, His hand is stretched forth to bless, to feed, to guard. Nothing in the past of God’s dealings with men has passed away. A. M.

9-14. The next portion of the Psalm consists of the grateful celebration of that which God had done for Zion. We have thought, i.e., pondered, considered in that deep, still, heartfelt gratitude, whence issue the loud praises of the tongue. In Thy temple, either as the place in which the congregation met to acknowledge God’s lovingkindness, or as the place in which He had manifested His lovingkindness. P.—The deliverance, first of all, deepens the glad meditation on God’s favor and defence. “We have thought,” say the ransomed people, as with a sigh of rejoicing, “we have thought of Thy lovingkindness in the midst of Thy temple.” The scene of the manifestation of His power is the scene of their thankfulness, and the first issue of His mercy is His servants’ praise. Then, the deliverance spreads His fame throughout the world. “According to Thy name, O God, so is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth. Thy right hand is full of righteousness.” The name of God is God’s own making known of His character, and the thought of these words is double. They most beautifully express the profoundest trust in that blessed name that it only needs to be known in order to be loved. There is nothing wanted but His manifestation of Himself for His praise and glory to spread. Why is the Psalmist so sure that according to the revelation of His character will be the revenue of His praise? Because the Psalmist is so sure that that character is purely, perfectly, simply good—nothing else but good and blessing—and that He cannot act but in such a way as to magnify Himself. He is all “light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” There needs but the shining forth in order that the light of His character shall bring gladness and joy wheresoever it falls. A. M.

12-14. The study of the external and internal condition of the Church fills the heart with rapture and the lips with praise. In figurative martial terms the Psalmist celebrates the position, strength, glory, and perpetuity of the Church. Based upon the eternal Rock, it will stand until a long groaning creation awakes to hear the Easter hymn that is to be sung in the jubilee of the final Sabbath. E. S. Porter.

The citizens, who in the temple have been rendering the tribute of their meditation and thankful gratitude to God for His lovingkindness, are now called upon to come forth from the enclosure of the besieged city, and free from all fear of the invading army, to “walk about Zion, and go round about her and tell the towers,” and “mark her bulwarks” and palaces. They look first at the defences, on which no trace of assault appears, and then at the palaces guarded by them, that stand shining and unharmed. The deliverance has been so complete that there is not a sign of the peril or the danger left. Not one stone has been smitten from the walls, nor one agate chipped in the windows of the palaces. It is unharmed as well as uncaptured. Thus, we may say, we have a city which cannot be moved; and the removal of the things which can be shaken but makes more manifest its impregnable security. Whatever is His will stand forever. A. M.

13. Tell this to the generation following, as a wonderful instance of God’s care of His holy city, that the enemies should not only not ruin or destroy it, but not so much as hurt or deface it. This must certainly be applied to the Gospel Church, that Mount Zion (Heb. 12: 22). See it founded on Christ, the Rock fortified by the Divine power, guarded by Him that neither slumbers nor sleeps. See what precious ordinances are its palaces, what precious promises are its bulwarks; tell this to the generation following, that they may with purpose of heart espouse its interests and cleave to it. H.

All the discoveries of God which nature and providence are competent to make fade into comparative insignificance before the transcendent disclosures of redemption. That scheme stands like a temple of majestic proportions, and bears visibly engraved upon its portals not only the name of God, like the ancient temple of Isis, but also the sublimer mystery of His personal distinctions. In walking about Zion, telling her towers and marking well her bulwarks, we perceive the hand of the Father, the hand of the Son, and the hand of the Holy Ghost. There are palaces adorned for the great King which we are exhorted to consider, for there the Trinity reigns, there God displays His mysterious personality, and the whole house is filled with His glory. Thornwell.

14. The Father who made, the Son who redeemed, the Holy Ghost who sanctified and who liveth in the temple of our hearts—“this God is our God forever and ever; He shall be our guide unto death.” Farrar.—The verse as it stands is admirably in harmony with the song, and is its crowning beauty. When the Lord does great things for Church or nation, He means that all the faithful, however humble their station, should take courage from it, should repose in Him fresh confidence, and cling to Him with a firmer hope, and say, “This God is our God forever; He will guide us even unto death.” W. Binnie.

God, our God, is our guide, an approved guide. The history of His guidance, the map of the tracks by which He has led His people, is before us. We can study it for ourselves, and can convince ourselves that God has made no mistakes; that He has never yet led any soul of man astray. The map of men’s courses through life is indeed a confused one; but the confusion is made by men’s wandering feet, by men’s divergences from God’s lines. The first instance has yet to be shown of one who has fared other than well by following God as a guide. V.—Heaven often seems distant and unknown, but if He who made the road thither is our guide we need not fear to lose the way. We do not want to see far ahead—only far enough to discern Him and trace His footsteps. Christ does not give us the full revelations of God and heaven at once; we could not bear them now. He gives us Himself, and in that gift everything is secure. Our peace lies not in believing much, but in believing well. If our faith in Him is unwavering He will return it with knowledge. The way to escape from doubts is to think about Christ. What we need is not explanation, but confidence. Sometimes we know not what to believe, but always we know whom we have believed. Religion is not a theory, nor a doctrine; it is the coming of a person to a person, by a person. They who follow Christ, even through darkness, will surely reach the Father. H. Van Dyke.

If God be our God, He is ours forever, not only through all the ages of time, but to eternity; for it is the everlasting blessedness of glorified saints that God Himself will be with them, and will be their God (Rev. 21: 3). If He be our God, He will be our guide, our faithful constant guide, to show us our way, and to lead us in it; He will be so even unto death, which will be the period of our way, and will bring us to our rest. He will be our guide beyond death. He will conduct us safe to a happiness on the other side death, to a life in which there shall be no more death. If we take the Lord for our God, He will conduct and convey us safe to death, through death, and beyond death, and up to glory. H.—What a portion is that of the believer! Possessions shall soon change masters; possessors shall soon mingle with the dust, and even the graves they shall occupy may not long be theirs; but it is the singular, the supreme happiness of every Christian to have a right to say, “This glorious God with all His Divine perfections is my God, forever and ever, and even death itself shall not separate me from His love.” G. Burdur.

Our God, our guide unto death. God’s presence is enough for toil and enough for rest. If He journey with us by the way, He will abide with us when nightfall comes; and His companionship will be sufficient for direction on the road, and for solace and safety in the evening camp. We have often to travel by solitary ways. Some of us have perplexed paths to tread. Some of us have sad memories of times when we journeyed in company with those who will never share our tent or counsel our steps any more, and as we sit lonely by our watchfire in the wilderness, have aching hearts and silent nights. Some of us may be, as yet, rich in companions and helpers, whose words are wisdom, whose wishes are love to us. But for us all, cast down and lonely, or still blessed with dear ones and afraid to live without them, there is a presence which departs never, which will move before us as we journey, and hover over us as a shield when we rest; which will be a cloud to veil the sun that it smite us not by day, and will redden into fire as the night falls, being ever brightest when we need it most, and burning clearest of all in the valley at the end, where its guidance will only cease because then “the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall lead them.” A. M.

The aged believer knows that his salvation is nearer than when he believed. As one long in bondage looks out wistfully for deliverance, so he lifts up his head, because his redemption draweth nigh. Hearkening for the footsteps of his beloved Master, who is coming to transport him to Himself, he patiently waits till his change come. These are blessed fruits of grace, enjoyed at a period when the world has nothing to offer to its outworn devotees. It is the privilege of aged Christians to expect these comforts, which are the more satisfying, as being altogether independent of all outward circumstances; they may be possessed, nay, they have been ten thousand times possessed, by the poor, the infirm, the diseased, the deaf, the blind; the united voice of hope and exultation, which rises from the tabernacles of aged pilgrims is, “For this God is our God forever and ever, He will be our guide even unto death.” J. W. A.

One is constantly surprised by the correspondence between these words of the Psalms and the words of Christ. More and more it seems that the Psalms are full of Christ. And surely we cannot miss the correspondence here, “This God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death;” “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” We want the guide at the end, but in order to that we want Him all the way to the end. That is what He says we shall have. “He will be our guide even unto death.” Beyond death we shall have Him if we have Him up to that point, for the great object of His guidance is to bring us to His own home. Again, the sev-

enty-third Psalm expands the thought, “Thou shalt guide me by Thy counsel and afterward take me to glory.” That word “take” is very suggestive. You find it in the forty-ninth Psalm, “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall take me.” It is the same word which is used in the story of