Psalm 48 — 49
27:26). Note the shattered weapons in 46:8–9. The overconfident Assyrians and their allies found themselves defeated and disgraced and had to go home.
PSALM 48
This is the third of the psalms celebrating Jehovah's victory in delivering Jerusalem from the Assyrians (see 46 and 47). The emphasis is on the Lord and Mount Zion. Other psalms about Zion are 76, 84, 87, 122, and 132. Believers today are citizens of the Zion that is above (Gal. 4:21–31; Heb. 12:18–24; Phil. 3:20) and rejoice that the Lord cares for us even as He cared for His ancient people Israel. The various speakers in this psalm deal with four important topics.
God and Their Worship (vv. 8–11) The speakers in this section appear to be a group of pilgrims going to Jerusalem after the great victory. They had heard about Assyria's defeat, but now they could see with their own eyes the great things that the Lord had done for His people. (It's likely that Ps. 126 also fits into this event.) The pilgrims immediately went to the temple to worship the Lord, to meditate on His faithfulness, and to joyfully praise Him. Worship is the proper human response to divine mercies. Note how the fame of the Lord spread from the city itself (v. 11a) to the towns of Judah that Sennacherib had plundered (v. 11b; Isa. 36:1) and then to the ends of the earth (v. 10). So may it be with the message of the gospel (Acts 1:8)! When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to defeat His enemies and establish His kingdom, His glory and dominion will be from sea to sea (Zech. 9:9–10), and the city of Jerusalem will be named "The Lord our Righteousness" (Jer. 23:6; 33:16).
God and Their City (vv. 1–3) In this first section, the people of Jerusalem speak about their city with pride and gratitude. David took Mount Zion from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:6–9; 2 Chron. 11:4–7) and made Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom. Ideally situated twenty-five hundred feet above sea level, the city was almost impregnable. Not far away was the juncture of the north-south and eastwest trade routes, important for the economy and for communications. David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, and this made Zion a "holy mountain," for the Lord dwelt there (2:6; 3:4; 15:1l 43:3; 99:9). Jerusalem thus became "the city of God" (vv. 1, 8) and the "city of the Great King" (v. 2; 47:2; see Matt. 5:35). The greatness belongs to the Lord and not to the city (47:9), for in His grace, the Lord chose Zion (78:68; 132:13). The Jews saw Jerusalem as a beautiful city (50:2), a safe fortress, and "the joy of all the earth" (but see Lam. 2:15). Spiritually speaking, the city has brought joy to all the earth because outside its walls Jesus died for the sins of the world, and from Jerusalem first sounded out the gospel of Jesus Christ. One day in the future, Jerusalem will be the center of Christ's glorious kingdom (Isa. 2:2ff.; 60:1ff.). Zaphron (niv) refers to the north, a mountain in northern Syria where the god Baal was supposed to dwell. (See Ex. 14:1, 9; Num. 33:7.) The safety of Jerusalem was not in her location or her walls (vv. 14–15) but in her God; for He was their fortress (v. 3; see 46:1, 7). It was in the defeat of Sennacherib's army that God "made himself known as a stronghold" (v. 3 nasb).
God and Their Future (vv. 12–14) After the worship was completed, perhaps one of the sons of Korah (see title) became "tour guide" for the pilgrims and led them around the city. He showed them the towers and the outer walls (ramparts), but he was careful to remind them that the city's protection was the Lord Jehovah and not stone and mortar. The Assyrian officers had counted the towers (Isa. 33:18) and calculated how to capture the city, but they hadn't taken the Lord into consideration. The guide told the visiting Israelites that it was their responsibility to teach the coming generation about the Lord, lest the nation abandon the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The greatest danger a nation faces is not the invading enemy on the outside but the eroding enemy on the inside—a people gradually turning away from the faith of their fathers. Each generation must pass along to the next generation who the Lord is, what He has done, and what they must do in response to His goodness and faithfulness (71:18; 78:4, 6; 79:13; 109:13; 145:4; 2 Tim. 2:2). God's plan is to make Jerusalem a joy to many generations (Isa. 60:15). To trust and obey a Lord who is "our God" and "our Guide" is to have a future that is secured and blessed.
God and Their Enemies (vv. 4–7) The citizens had been speaking about the Lord, but now they speak to the Lord about what He did to the Assyrians. Sennacherib and his huge army, plus the vassal kings of his empire (v. 4; Isa. 10:8), surrounded Jerusalem and hoped to capture it, but godly King Hezekiah, with the help of Isaiah the prophet (Isa. 14:24–27), turned to the Lord for help, and He came to their rescue (Isa. 36—37). The Lord fought for Israel just as He had fought against the Egyptians (Ex. 14:25). God sent His angel to the Assyrian camp and he killed 185,000 men. The judgment came suddenly, like the pain of a woman in labor, and the destruction was like that of a storm shattering a fleet of ships (Ezek.