Psalm 48, Mount Zion
“Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north” (Psalms 48:2).
King Hezekiah was surrounded “like a bird in a cage.” 1 Jerusalem was besieged by the armies of Assyria led by king Sennacherib in the 7th century BC as recorded in Isaiah chapters 36, 37. To bolster morale within the city, the sons of Korah were directed to compose Psalms of praise and encouragement (Psalms 48:1). The trilogy of Psalms associated with this invasion is Psalms 46, 47, and 48. These were not to be sung in the temple, but as songs “upon Alamoth.” That is, songs for the voice of the adolescent girls in the city to sing in the streets after the fashion in which triumphal songs would normally be sung. (See “Psalm 46, A Song upon Alamoth,” Beauties of the Truth, November 2009; “Psalm 47, Celebrating Victory in the Face of Enemies,” Beauties of the Truth, February 2010.)
The reference to public participation in the city with singing, shouting and clapping in portions of these psalms (e.g. Psalms 47:1, 7 invites the whole earth to sing with intelligence; Psalms 48:2 “highly to be praised in the city, note, not just in the temple) clearly alludes to their use by a public chorus that were not the assigned temple singers. This singing was to take place even as the threat of destruction from the siege lay just out of bowshot beyond the city walls. However, Psalm 48 is so direct in its reference to the defeat of the enemy and the details that is very challenging to not see it as a Psalm of celebration following the clear providential deliverance of Jerusalem by the angel of the Lord (Isaiah 37:36).
“Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised. In the city of our God, in his holy mountain” (Psalms 48:1).
When we think of God’s attributes of Love, Wisdom, Power and Justice it is only natural that all of these should be praised. In this Psalm, all four of these attributes are celebrated. There is a lesson here for God’s people. When we meditate upon God’s holiness and his character, we should consider all four of his attributes, as did the Psalms’ authors. This will give us a balanced picture of God’s character and train our renewed minds to approach life’s issues as God would approach them.
Power (verse one) is the first attribute that opens the psalm – “Great is Jehovah.” God’s power and greatness were first in the minds of all the people who recognized that Jehovah’s help alone would keep them preserved against the Assyrian army.
The Wisdom of Jehovah is indirectly referred to in verse five. God’s attribute of Love is praised in verse nine. Justice, as set forth in the God’s righteousness and judgment, is praised in verses 10 and 11. The “city of God” refers to Jerusalem. The holy mountain refers to the temple mount, mount Moriah, as contrasted with the political and defense citadel of mount Zion which is the ancient city of David at the highest natural elevation of Jerusalem in the southwest corner. For the church, “Jerusalem which is above” (Galatians 4:26) is the city for which we long, and the heavenly kingdom is the “holy mountain.”
“Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north. The city of the great King” (Psalms 48:2).
The site of the holy city is indeed beautiful. The city is over 800 feet above sea-level; hence the Biblical phrase to “go up” to Jerusalem. Its elevation is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest tablelands of the country. As the “Joy of the whole earth,” it shall be the center from which radiates the true knowledge of God. This is a source of blessing today to all who accept it.
In Psalms 50:2, Zion is described as the perfection of beauty, and both descriptions are recalled in Lamentations 2:15. Like the ancient singers, we long for that time when Jerusalem will be “the joy of the whole earth.” We know that the promises to the earthly city will be fulfilled. The heavenly Mt. Zion, in the spiritual realm, “the sides of the north,” shall someday be recognized by all earth’s peoples.
Literal Jerusalem was the principal city of Judah as well as its capital. It lay on the extreme northern border of Judah’s territory, thus “on the sides of the north.” Mount Zion was within Judah’s territory, but the city extended beyond Judah’s borders into the territory of Benjamin, where Mt. Moriah served as the site of the temple.
(For the special promise that the Temple would be in Benjamin, and a map showing the division of Jerusalem between Judah and Benjamin, please see, “Between the Shoulders,” Beauties of the Truth, November 2009).
The Psalms celebrate the power of Jehovah, and the word “great” is the Hebrew word gaol (Strong 1419) in verse one. This is not the same word as “great” in verse two. That is the word rab (Strong 7227). Both these words appear often in the Psalms, but there may be an additional reason for bringing in rab in this Psalm. Rab appears in the titles of Assyrian officials such as the military leader “Rabshakeh” and “Rabsaris” (2 Kings 18:17, Isaiah 36:2). But Jehovah, not any Assyrian leader, is the true rab.
The image behind “great” in verse one is interesting because it links back to the word Hebrew word “twisted” (Strong 1434), ghedeel. The poetic thought is clear. Alone, a single strand of wool, flax, or hemp has limited strength. Alone, it is not “great.” But when combined with other strands and “twisted,” the strands together acquire great strength. So it is with the greatness of Jehovah. He brings together multiple strands in his plans, spun or twisted together into a rope of great strength, a cord upon which we can depend for our very lives. This manner of reflecting on God’s greatness also recalls the special covenant with him that required the “twisted” blue fringe on the garments of the Jews (Numbers 15:38).
“God hath made himself known in her palaces for a refuge” (Psalms 48:3).
What blessed assurance this verse gives, for here we find not an invitation to seek for the subtle guidance of providence, but a clear discernment by sight showing the power of God. The “Palaces” again mentioned in verse 14 go beyond the temple. These are the noble buildings which would have been plundered and burnt by the invaders, had God’s presence not been within them. The knowledge and reverence of God should not just be reserved for Sabbath, or Sunday worship “in the temple.” Rather, each home having the fear, or reverence of God is a “palace” and a place of “refuge” (Strong 4869). These are like high ground, or a towering cliff, that proves inaccessible to our adversaries. This is the same word used in Psalms 46:7, 11.
“The kings assembled … They passed by together. They saw it, then were they amazed; they were dismayed, they hasted away. Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail” (Psalms 48:4-6).
Sennacherib and the vassals he boasted of, “Are not my princes all of them kings?” (Isaiah 10:8), “passed over” the frontier hasting back to their homeland. The proud boast uttered by Julius Caesar, Veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”), was completely reversed! Instead of boasting, the pangs of travail took hold of them. The Assyrians who planned an extended siege were confident that Jerusalem would fall. They were sure that the water supply was not sufficient for the population taking refuge behind their walls. But in the end, the Assyrians retreated and were “amazed.” They had not counted on the wisdom of Jerusalem’s defender, the Lord of Hosts. God has wisdom that is hidden from ages and generations. This wisdom even now is revealed only to God’s children. The enemies of Israel not only retreated, they retreated with trembling.
“With the east wind Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish” (Psalms 48:7).
In Moses’ time, deliverance came by an east wind parting the Red Sea, saving Israel from the Egyptians (Exodus 14: 21). But the east wind is also a symbol of destructive power, as in Isaiah 27:8, Jeremiah 18:17 and Job 27:21.
Verse seven contains an important detail not mentioned elsewhere. As in Isaiah 2:16, Tarshish is a symbol of size and strength, famed as a port with ships renowned as the largest of that age. Jonah hoped to flee there from God (Jonah 1:3). Tarshish was clearly on the Mediterranean Sea and is usually identified with the powerful Phoenician trading colony at the end of the known earth. It seems to be “Tartessus” in southwest Spain near modern Cadiz.
Solomon traded in the Indian Ocean, departing from “Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom,” on the Gulf of Aqaba (2 Chronicles 8:17). Yet he also used vessels of Tarshish (2 Chronicles 9:21). For piloting Solomon’s ships, King Hiram of Tyre on the Mediterranean sent skilled seamen (1 Kings 9:27). They did not intend to circumnavigate Africa from the Gulf of Aqaba to Spain; these ships were probably ocean-class merchant vessels modeled on Tarshish construction (Ezekiel 38:13). The ships of Tarshish were larger than the Ships of Kittim, the Mediterranean class ships.
The Assyrians evidently intended such ships to resupply their invasion. God destroyed this fleet, creating a supply problem for the Assyrian invaders who were certain that there would not be food and water sufficient for the defenders (2 Kings 18:27).
Whether the resupply was intended at the Gulf of Aqaba, or on the Mediterranean at Joppa, the breaking of the Assyrian resupply via the ships of Tarshish was a critical blow to the invaders, noted in scripture only here.
Assyrians in siege mode
In Psalms 46:9, the “chariots” actually refer to “supply wagons,” suggesting that supply problems may have weakened the army and set them up for the devastating plague sent from Jehovah. Likely, this was the bubonic plague.2
“As we have heard, so have we seen. In the city of Jehovah of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever. (Selah)” (Psalms 48:8).
The wondrous acts of God first come to us in stories that we hear as children. We pass these stories on to our own children. When the power and intercession of God spoken of in these accounts actually are witnessed, we see with our own eyes. Faith becomes sight and we are filled with confidence. Jerusalem is the special place that God will establish forever. The use of “Selah,” which has the sense of “pause and consider,” marks a transition. The last six verses of this psalm are the meditation on the event.
“We have thought on thy lovingkindness, 0 God, In the midst of thy temple” (Psalms 48:9).
The Hebrew verb for “thought” (Strong 1819) suggests brooding contemplation which studies all the aspects of a subject and prepares the way for resolute action. If God has shown such lovingkindness, what but lovingkindness in our own hearts is the appropriate response? The sanctuary is the place for such pondering, because a public display of Thanksgiving was in order.
“As is thy name, 0 God, So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness” (Psalms 48:10).
A simile that calls for reflection upon the name of God is the focus of this verse. The name of Jehovah appears in verse one and verse nine that leads into the Selah, yet not here. God’s proper name, Yahweh, or “He who becomes, the self-existing one,” which is nearly always translated “L ORD” in our common versions, is likened to praise to the ends of the earth. “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalms 22:3).
However, here the expectancy is much larger. The hope is that this praise would go forward and renew itself and be ceaseless long after our lips are sealed forever. This verse lifts the struggle from the immediate deliverance of the holy city to praise universal. So far, this verse stands unfulfilled. But during the Kingdom it will be the desire of all nations to praise Jehovah. The “right hand” of favor and power exercised righteous judgment against the Assyrian invaders. They had no just cause for their war against Judah, and they received a righteous recompense.
“Let mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of thy judgments” (Psalms 48:11).
Every segment of society from the political and military leadership headquartered in Mount Zion to the defenseless “daughters,” that is the young women, “the daughters of Judah,” the Alamoth singing this praise, would rejoice in Jehovah’s judgments.
“Walk about Zion, and go round about her: number the towers thereof” (Psalms 48:12).
The thought behind “count the towers thereof” is an allusion to the incident in Isaiah 33:18, 36:4, when the Assyrian generals made such a survey and laughed at the weakness of the city’s defenses. Now the inhabitants gaze at them and learn how invincible those defenses are. For Zion is fortified by the presence of God.
“Mark ye well her bulwarks; Consider her palaces … tell it to the generation following” (Psalms 48:13).
“Mark ye well,” literally, “set your heart to,” take good notice of the fact that the outer walls and buildings are undamaged, despite the assault by the Assyrian war engines depicted in the bas-reliefs from this period. “Tell it to the generation following,” for the lessons of history may soon be forgotten despite our best attempts to convey them. Hence, the wisdom of God in permitting the direct experience with the consequences of the fall of mankind into sin, rather than just learning about them by instruction.
After the successful resistance against the Assyrians, the very king Hezekiah who so faithfully saw the city safely through this grave threat would soon invite in a delegation from Babylon. This delegation’s report about the riches in the kingdom would set a course that in a little over a century resulted in the unfaithful Jerusalem of Zedekiah’s day coming under the yoke of Babylon (Isaiah 39).
“This God is our God for ever and ever” (Psalms 48:14).
The Hebrew is emphatic. It is God and none other and he will be God eternally.3
– Br. Richard Doctor
(1) Pritchard, James B., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd Edition with Supplement, Princeton (1969), Text 287- 288.
(2) Editor’s note: Consider Herodotus II.141 (Henry Cary translation). When the Egyptians “arrived there, a number of field mice, pouring in upon their enemies, devoured their quivers and their bows, and moreover, the handles of their shields; so that on the next day, when they fled bereft of their arms, many of them fell. And to this day, a stone statue of this king stands in the temple of Vulcan, with a mouse in his hand.” In fuller text, see RVIC 2 Kings 19:35, footnote 155. Mice suggests also that bubonic plague may have been a major factor.
(3) “Eternally.” Hebrew, al-muth, literally “upon death,” hence King James and RV “even unto death,” which, however, requires el for al. The Septuagint read it as one word, probably as olamoth, “worlds, eternity.” Rahlfs’ Septuagint reads “for the ages, even for the ages of the ages.” Modern expositors hold that it is not part of the text, the verse reading: “For such is God, our God; forever and ever he will guide us.” Al-muth would then be a musical direction, comparable with al muth-labben, the heading of Psalm 9, or the references to Alamoth.