NOTES for Psa 48
1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. |
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. |
3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge. |
4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. |
5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. |
6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. |
7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. |
8 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. |
9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. |
10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. |
11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. |
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. |
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. |
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death. |
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The poetic form of the psalm makes it possible to describe figuratively what a person experiences within and what is often simply inexpressible. Beginning with the description of a real-life situation that took place in history, the psalmist gradually paints a very characteristic picture. It is extremely difficult to describe the state of a person who experiences an encounter with God and contemplates His majesty and His mercy. Yet the combination of wars and battles outside with complete peace where a person stands face to face with God perhaps defines most accurately the unfathomable difference between the external world and the Kingdom of Heaven.
Other notes
For
1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. |
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. |
3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge. |
4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. |
5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. |
6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. |
7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. |
8 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. |
9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. |
10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. |
11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. |
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. |
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. |
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death. |
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