Psalm 48
v.1
Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
v.2
It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.
v.3
God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress.
v.4
When the kings joined forces, when they advanced together,
v.5
they saw [her] and were astounded; they fled in terror.
v.6
Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor.
v.7
You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind.
v.8
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever. Selah
The psalmist’s hope for Zion’s eternal protection is fulfilled in Jesus Christ when he inaugurated the new age. He, who indwells his Church, promised, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt 16:18). The language of Psalm 48, drawn from its age of composition, becomes a metaphor in the new dispensation of the Church’s spiritual protection (cf. Eph 6:13–18). Christ’s inaugurated kingdom will be consummated in the new earth (Rev 21–22).
v.9
Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.
v.10
Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness.
v.11
Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments.
v.12
Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers,
v.13
consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation.
v.14
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.