Psalm 48 (NIV)
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the Great King.
3 God is in her citadels;
he has shown himself to be her fortress.
4 When the kings joined forces,
when they advanced together,
5 they saw her and were astounded;
they fled in terror.
6 Trembling seized them there,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
7 You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
shattered by an east wind.
8 As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the LORD Almighty,
in the city of our God: God makes her secure
forever.
9 Within your temple, O God,
we meditate on your unfailing love.
10 Like your name, O God,
your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Mount Zion rejoices,
the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
count her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
view her citadels,
that you may tell of them
to the next generation.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end.
Christ is risen!
ReplyDeleteThe city that is mentioned in this psalm is Jerusalem. The Lord has delivered it from the enemy so the psalmist sings about the city's glory and security. You might be wondering why is one city so important? Why does it deserve praise? I love Paris but I wouldn't sing its praises to God?
In verse 8, we read 'in the city of the Lord Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever.' God is present in the city. The psalmist says it clearly in verse 3.
In a message, Dr Tony Evans shared a story; one day his daughter was playing outside she was still young and he heard her screaming so he went to see what was wrong. There was a dog in the garden and his daughter was very scared of the dog, as she screamed the dog would bark. He picked up his daughter and started reassuring her after a short time his daughter was looking at the dog and making faces snickering at him. He brought his daughter inside. Later, he was thinking about the situation and was wondering what had changed for his daughter. He said the circumstances were the same, she was still in the yard and the dog was still barking but she went from being very scared to making fun of the dog. He shared that the only difference was his presence, he was there and he was holding her in his arms. Even thought the circumstances were the same her father made her feel secure forever.
I would like to invite you to read the psalm again and at the end of verse 8 put say your name 'God makes __________ secure forever.'
When Jesus died on the cross the veil in the temple was torn apart because we can have direct access to God now. God is everywhere! Amen