Psalm 48 The LORD is great and worthy of much praise. In the city of our God is His holy hill, 2rising beautifully, the joy of all the world. Mount Zion is on the northern ridge; it is the city of the great King.
The LORD is great and worthy of much praise because He delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians. He brought them into the land and defeated Israel’s enemies. Such is a reason for the sons of Korah to write this hymn of praise. We also find Him worthy of much praise because He has delivered us from sin, death and the power of the devil by Him stretching out His arms on the cross and giving up His life for us. He destroyed death by His rising from the grave.
The LORD promised to be where His name was. He put His name on the temple Solomon built. The temple was built on Mt. Zion. It gave its glory to the rest of the city. Since the Name of the Creator of Heaven and Earth resided there, it indeed should have been the joy of all the world. The great King is the LORD Himself as He declared in the Torah.
Now we are the temple of the LORD, individually and collectively. As the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are His temple. When we gather together, we are living stones, making up the LORD’s presence on the earth for the purpose of the Gospel. This too should be the joy of all the world, for at this gathering Jesus promises to be with us and for us with His gifts.
3God is in her fortified palaces; He has shown Himself to be a mountain ridge. 4Indeed, the kings have gathered! They advanced together; 5then they looked and were amazed, and in a panic ran away. 6Panic seized them there; they were in anguish like a woman having a child, 7as when an east wind wrecks the ocean going ships of Tarshish.
When the king of Jerusalem and its inhabitants were faithful to the LORD, He was faithful to protect it. When they were not faithful, He often brought the foreign armies to discipline His people. God is not the mountain ridge itself there in the city. He is The Mountain Ridge, the true place of refuge. What the psalmist describes in the following verses are their experience witnessed in the book of Kings and Chronicles. Notably when the king of Assyria came upon the city and the next over a 100,000 men were dead the next day and the Assyrian king went back home with what troops he had left. On the Last Day when the kings of the earth come up against the Lamb and His Church, they too cast into a panic and will be utterly defeated.
Why do we fear the world? Why do we fear wicked men? The best they can ever do is make this life miserable, torture us and kill us. They cannot kill the soul. Jesus will raise us, body and soul, on the Last Day and give eternal life to us and all who put their trust in Him. He will cast all these wicked people into the Lake of Fire to be tortured forever while we inherit the earth and have eternal pleasure with our LORD. So when the world tries to stir you up, remember your God and your King and the destiny he have prepared for you.
Heavenly Father, when the wind and waves of this world foam and roar, grant us the sure and certain hope we have in Your Son Jesus Christ so we may marvel and praise You in Your temple and not fear what men can do to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.