In the crisis of her uttermost peril Jehovah has proved Himself the protector of Zion (Psalm 48:1-8): and the citizens of the rescued city are bidden to deepen their sense of His mercy by reflecting on the marvellousness of the deliverance vouchsafed to them (Psalm 48:9-14). The Ps. is the companion and counterpart to Psalms 46. There the Presence of God in the midst of Zion as the guarantee of her safety, here the safety of Zion which is the result of that Presence, is the leading idea. Reasons have already been given for believing that the Psalm celebrates the escape of Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s threatened vengeance. It is the work of an eyewitness of the deliverance: it appeals to those who knew from what imminent peril they had been saved. The parallels with Isaiah’s prophecies of the time, especially with ch. 33, written partly before (Psalm 48:1-12), partly after (Psalm 48:13-14) the destruction of Sennacherib’s host, should be carefully studied.

This Ps. is appointed as a proper Ps. for Whitsunday. Zion is the type of the Christian Church, and the Ps. which celebrates the glory of Zion and her safety under the care of her Divine protector is an appropriate Psalm for the festival which is the birthday of the Church.

Title. A Song; a Psalm of the Sons of Korah (R.V.). A Song is the general term: a Psalm further defines it as intended for instrumental accompaniment. See Introd. p. xix f. The LXX adds, “for the second day of the week,” and we know from the Mishnah that the Psalm was recited on that day by the Levites in the Temple Services. See Introd. p. xxvii.

1. greatly to be praised] The R.V. returns to Coverdale’s rendering (P.B.V.), highly to be praised. The same emphatic adverb occurs in each of the two preceding Pss. God has proved Himself to be an exceedingly present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1); by His triumph over the nations He is exceedingly exalted (Psalm 47:9); and therefore He is exceedingly worthy to be praised. Jehovah is the one object of Israel’s praise (Deuteronomy 10:21): Israel’s praises are as it were the throne upon which He sits (Psalm 22:3): the keynote of worship is Hallelujah, ‘praise ye Jah’; and the Hebrew title of the Psalter is Tehillim, i.e. Praises, Psalm 48:1 a recurs in Psalm 96:4 a, Psalm 145:3 a.

in the city of our God] Cp. Psalm 48:8; Psalm 46:4, note.

in the mountain of his holiness] R.V., in his holy mountain; i.e. Zion, which here and throughout the Psalm (Psalm 48:2; Psalm 48:11-12) denotes the whole city, not merely one of the hills on which it was built. Cp. Psalm 2:6, note. For another possible translation see note on Psalm 48:2.

1, 2. The theme of the Psalm: the greatness of Jehovah and the glory of His city.

2. Beautiful for situation] Rather, as R.V., beautiful in elevation. Cp. Psalm 50:2. “Its elevation,” writes Dean Stanley, “is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judaea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest tablelands of the country.… To the traveller approaching Jerusalem from the west or east, it must always have presented the appearance … of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the plains of Jordan, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with Jericho and Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness” (Sinai and Palestine: pp. 170, 171). May not the poet also have in mind that ‘ideal’ elevation of which the prophets speak? e.g. Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1.

the joy of the whole earth] Lamentations 2:15 combines this phrase with that of Psalm 50:2. “Is this the city that men called, The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?” Cp. Isaiah 60:15.

on the sides of the north] Thus rendered, the words appear to be a topographical description of the situation of Mount Zion to the north of the city; or, if we render, on the sides of the north is the citadel of the great King, a description of the position of the Temple. But ‘Mount Zion’ in this Psalm is not a part of the city but the whole city (Psalm 48:11-12); a merely topographical description would be frigid in the extreme; the rendering involves a doubtful construction; and it gives a very inadequate meaning to the phrase the sides of the north. This phrase occurs elsewhere in Isaiah 14:13; Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2; and in all these passages it means the recesses or remotest quarters of the north. In Isaiah 14:13 “the uttermost parts of the north” (R.V.) are mentioned as the locality of the sacred mountain, which according to Asiatic mythology was the abode of the gods. This mountain, corresponding to the Olympus of the Greeks, was the Meru of the Indians, the Alborg of the Persians, the Arâlu of the Assyrians and Babylonians. It would seem that the Psalmist boldly calls Mount Zion the uttermost parts of the north with reference to this mythological idea. According to this interpretation Psalm 48:1-2 may be rendered as follows:

Great Is Jehovah, and exceeding worthy to be praised,

In the city of our God is his holy mountain.

Beautiful in elevation, a Joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion,

The uttermost parts of the north, the citadel of the great King.

The sacred mountain of our God is not in the remote recesses of the north, but in the very midst of the city of His choice. Zion is in reality all that the Assyrians claim for their fabled mount of the gods. Their king too may style himself ‘great,’ but Zion is the citadel of One Who is in truth the great King, for He is the King of all the earth (Psalm 47:2; Psalm 47:7). “The great king” was a title claimed by the king of Assyria (Isaiah 36:4); and the word for ‘great’ is not that used in Psalm 48:1 (gâdôl) but rab, which corresponds to the Assyrian title sarru rabbu (Schrader, Cuneif. Inser. p. 320). ‘City’ (citadel) is not the same word as in Psalm 48:1 (‘îr), but ḳiryâh, a word which does not occur again in the Psalter, but is found several times in Isaiah (Isaiah 22:2; Isaiah 29:1; Isaiah 33:20). To many commentators it seems inconceivable that the Psalmist should allude to Assyrian mythology. But a writer of Isaiah’s time might easily have become acquainted with the religious ideas of the Assyrians, and the author of the Book of Job does not hesitate to introduce popular mythological ideas. See Prof. Davidson’s note on Job 26:12 : and cp. Isaiah 27:1.

3. More exactly:

God hath made himself known in her palaces for a high fortress.

This verse is commonly connected with Psalm 48:1-2. But Psalm 48:1-2 describe the relation of Zion to Jehovah generally, while Psalm 48:3 first alludes to the recent deliverance, which is further described in Psalm 48:4 ff.

in her palaces] The stately palaces of Zion which the Assyrians threatened to plunder and destroy. Cp. Psalm 48:13; Micah 5:5. High fortress (A.V. refuge) is the same word as that in Psalm 46:7; Psalm 46:11.

3–8. Jehovah’s revelation of Himself as Zion’s protector in the recent discomfiture of her enemies.

4. For, lo, the kings assembled themselves (R.V.): Sennacherib’s vassal kings (Isaiah 10:8) met at their rendezvous (cp. Psalm 2:2): they passed over together; uniting their forces they crossed the frontier and entered the land of Judah. Cp. Isaiah 8:7-8; Isaiah 28:15. The rendering passed away (R.V. marg.) is possible but unsuitable, for (1) assembled themselves needs some further explanation, and (2) it interrupts the order of the description: it is not until they have seen Jerusalem (Psalm 48:5) that they disperse in confusion. P.B.V. kings of the earth is from the Vulg. Cp. Psalm 76:12.

5. They saw; forthwith they were amazed:

They were dismayed, they made haste to flee.

Caesar’s boast, Veni, vidi, vici, was reversed. They came to Zion, they saw it, they were smitten with panic terror. Cp. Isaiah 33:3.

6. Trembling took hold of them there:

Pangs, as of a woman in travail.

Cp. Exodus 15:14-15; and for the phrase though in a different connexion, Isaiah 33:14, “Trembling hath taken hold of the godless.”

7. With an east wind

Thou shatterest ships of Tarshish.

As he gazes upon the wreck of the Assyrian enterprise, the poet apostrophises God with mingled awe and thankfulness. The language is plainly metaphorical. God’s might is irresistible. He shatters the stately ships of Tarshish with a sudden storm: with equal ease He annihilates the vast Assyrian army. Cp. Isaiah 14:24-27, noting the phrase, “I will break the Assyrian in my land.” For the metaphor comp. Ezekiel 27:26, where the fall of Tyre is described as a wreck; and Isaiah 33:23, where Jerusalem in her extremity (or, according to some commentators, the Assyrian power) is represented as a disabled ship.

The east wind, notorious for its destructiveness, is often employed as a symbol of judgement (Job 27:21; Isaiah 27:8; Jeremiah 18:17); and ships of Tarshish,—the largest vessels, such as were employed for the voyage to Tartessus in the S.W. of Spain (cp. ‘East Indiamen’)—were emblems of all that was strong and stately (Isaiah 2:16). The alternative rendering of R.V. marg., ‘As with the east wind that breaketh the ships of Tarshish,’ is grammatically possible, but less suitable.

8. Experience has confirmed what tradition (cp. Psalm 44:1) related of God’s marvellous works on behalf of His people, and justifies the confidence that He will never cease to guard the city of His choice. Cp. Psalm 87:5; Isaiah 62:7. But all such anticipations are conditional: Israel’s unfaithfulness made a literal fulfilment impossible.

9. We have thought on thy lovingkindness, O God, realised it to ourselves as manifested in this new deliverance, while we offered our thanksgivings in the Temple courts; for there, in the immediate presence of God, men learn the true significance of events (Psalm 73:17). It suits the context less well to render We thought on &c., and to understand the words to refer to prayers offered before the great deliverance, in which past mercies were recalled as a ground of confidence.

9–14. The lessons of deliverance.

10. According to thy name] As is thy name (R.V.). God’s revelation of His power and lovingkindness receives worldwide celebration. Cp. Isaiah 33:13. To other nations beside Judah the destruction of the great tyrant’s army was a cause for rejoicing. Cp. Psalm 46:8 ff.; Nahum 3:19.

thy right hand is full of righteousness] Ready to be exercised on behalf of Thy people in judgements on their enemies (Psalm 48:11). Cp. Isaiah 33:5.

11. The R.V. assimilates the rendering to that of Psalm 97:8, where the same words recur:

Let mount Zion be glad,

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice.

The daughters of Judah are not the maidens of Judah, though the fact that women were wont to celebrate victories with dance and song may have suggested the use of the expression, but the cities of Judah, which had been captured by Sennacherib (Isaiah 36:1), and therefore had special cause for rejoicing at his overthrow. Country towns are regarded as ‘daughters’ of the metropolis. Cp. Numbers 21:25; Joshua 17:11; Joshua 17:16; the word for towns in both cases literally means daughters.

12ff. The inhabitants of Jerusalem had been confined within its walls during the siege: now they can freely walk round, and thankfully contemplate the safety of the walls and towers and palaces so lately menaced with destruction. Cp. Isaiah 33:20.

tell] I.e. count, as in Psalm 22:17; Genesis 15:5. The retention of the archaism in R.V. is justifiable for the sake of the connexion with Psalm 48:13, where the same word is used for tell = narrate. But lately the towers had been counted with a very different object by the Assyrian officers reconnoitring the city in preparation for the siege (Isaiah 33:18).

13. bulwarks] The outer wall or rampart.

consider] Or, as R.V. marg., traverse. The word occurs here only, and is of doubtful meaning. But the rendering consider suits the context better. In either case the object is to convince themselves of the safety of the city. P.B.V. set up is derived from some Jewish authorities.

that ye may tell it] Cp. Psalm 22:30-31; Psalm 44:1.

14. For this God &c.] For such is God [Jehovah] our God for ever and ever. Jehovah is a God who has proved Himself the defender of His city and people, and will continue to be the same for ever.

he will be our guide even unto death] Beautiful as is the thought, He (emphatic—He and no other) will be our guide unto death (or, in death, or, over death), it cannot be legitimately extracted from the present text, nor would such an expression of personal faith form a natural conclusion to this wholly national Psalm. Possibly the words ‘al mûth (rendered unto death) should be read as one, with different vowels, ‘ôlâmôth, ‘for ever.’ So the LXX and Symmachus. Possibly the words are the remains of a musical direction like that of Psalms 9, ‘al muth labbçn, meaning ‘set to the tune of mûth,’ or that of Psalms 46, ‘set to ‘Alâmôth,’ which has been placed at the end of the Ps. (as in Habakkuk 3:19) instead of at the beginning, as is the rule in the Psalter, or which has been accidentally transferred from the beginning of Psalms 49. In this case the clause he will guide us seems incomplete, (though he will save us in Isaiah 33:22 offers an exact parallel), and we must either with Delitzsch suppose that the concluding words are lost; or, with Bickell, Cheyne, and others, transpose words from the first line to the second, and read For (or, That) such is God [Jehovah] our God: He will guide us for ever and ever. Cp. Isaiah 25:9.