Psalms

Psalm 48

KJV

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.

They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.

Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

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.

We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.

Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.

For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Overview

Psalm 48, a song and psalm of the sons of Korah, celebrates God’s greatness in Zion. Hostile kings flee, worshipers meditate on steadfast love and righteousness, and the community is told to inspect the city so that God’s faithfulness can be recounted to the next generation.

Setting and context

Psalm 48 praises God in Zion, narrates the collapse of hostile royal confidence, meditates on steadfast love and righteousness, and turns the city’s remembered security into testimony for the next generation.

Themes

God praised in Zion · Kings flee; God establishes the city · Steadfast love, righteousness, and praise · Inspect Zion, tell the next generation, trust God’s guidance

Reflection

Reading notes

God is known within Zion’s citadels as a secure refuge; the verse locates the city’s confidence in God rather than in walls, wealth, or military power. The psalm closes by confessing that this God is our God forever and that he guides his people; the final Hebrew phrase is textually difficult and translated in more than one way, so confidence in God’s enduring guidance should not be made to depend on a single disputed rendering.

Key passages

Psalm 48:1: The LORD is great and greatly to be praised in the city of God; the city matters because it is the setting of divine praise, not because architecture or geography makes people more valuable. The LORD is great and greatly to be praised in the city of God; the city matters because it is the setting of divine praise, not because architecture or geography makes people more valuable. Psalm 48:3: God is known within Zion’s citadels as a secure refuge; the verse locates the city’s confidence in God rather than in walls, wealth, or military power. God is known within Zion’s citadels as a secure refuge; the verse locates the city’s confidence in God rather than in walls, wealth, or military power. Psalm 48:8: What the community had heard about God it now says it has seen in the city of the LORD of hosts; the testimony joins inherited faith with experienced confirmation, while “established forever” remains poetic covenant confidence rather than a guarantee against historical suffering. What the community had heard about God it now says it has seen in the city of the LORD of hosts; the testimony joins inherited faith with experienced confirmation, while “established forever” remains poetic covenant confidence rather than a guarantee against historical suffering. Psalm 48:9: In God’s temple the worshipers ponder steadfast love; public praise is rooted in deliberate remembrance of God’s covenant faithfulness. In God’s temple the worshipers ponder steadfast love; public praise is rooted in deliberate remembrance of God’s covenant faithfulness. Psalm 48:14: The psalm closes by confessing that this God is our God forever and that he guides his people; the final Hebrew phrase is textually difficult and translated in more than one way, so confidence in God’s enduring guidance should not be made to depend on a single disputed rendering. The psalm closes by confessing that this God is our God forever and that he guides his people; the final Hebrew phrase is textually difficult and translated in more than one way, so confidence in God’s enduring guidance should not be made to depend on a single disputed rendering.

Questions readers ask

Does Psalm 48 give a modern territorial claim? No. Zion is central to the psalm’s ancient theological poetry, but the text does not authorize modern conquest, nationalism, ethnic supremacy, or religious violence. Why walk around Zion in verses 12–13? The community observes towers, ramparts, and citadels so remembered deliverance can become concrete testimony for the next generation. Why do translations differ at Psalm 48:14? The final Hebrew expression is textually difficult and is rendered in more than one way. The secure point is the confession that this God is Israel’s enduring God and guide; the commentary does not make a doctrine depend on one disputed ending.