Your Praise Reaches to the Ends of the Earth

Psalm 48:1-14 English Standard Version

Just as modern-day authors use various literary devices to make their message memorable, ancient writers also employed various mnemonic devices such as alliteration, acrostics, parallelism, and asymmetrical form.

The author of Psalm 48 imbeds the four compass points within this psalm to help convey his message that God’s “praise reaches to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 48:10).

Psalm 48:title

1. A Song.

2. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

a. The double title (canticle, psalm), which is found in several other psalms (30; 45; 65–68; 75–76; 83; 87; 92; 108), implies that the two designations are not identical. The šîr is a song of voice and words, whereas the mizmôr is a psalm accompanied with the pizzicato of stringed instruments. Such a nomenclature is not restricted to the Korahite collection.[1]

b. The LXX adds “On the second day of the week”; the psalm was used on Monday in the daily service in the Second Temple.11[2]

God’s “praise reaches to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 48:10).

ONE: GOD IS TO BE PRAISED IN THE NORTH (PSALM 48:1-3)

Psalm 48:1-2

1. (v.1) Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised

a. Psalm 96:4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

b. Psalm 145:3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

2. in the city of our God!

a. Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

3. His holy mountain,

a. It is holy not because of moral qualities but because it is set apart (the concrete meaning of “holy”) by God’s choice (87:1–2; 132:13).[3]

4. (v.2) beautiful in elevation,

5. is the joy of all the earth,

6. Mount Zion,

7. in the far north,

a. the heights of Zaphon, which was Baal’s sacred mountain north of Ugarit in modern-day Syria. Verse 2, in effect, claims that Zion is the true “Zaphon” or holy mountain (lit. “Mount Zion, the recesses of Zaphon, is the city of the great king”).[4]

b. Verses 1–3, bringing together the names of Zion and Zaphon, the North Mountain, recall Psalms 42 and 43, whose author was up in the vicinity of Hermon looking longingly towards Jerusalem. As we saw, those psalms could well have been the starting point of a sequence of pilgrimage songs for one of the great festivals, when ‘many went up from the country to Jerusalem’.463 [5]

i. Psalm 42:6 My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

c. The poets of Ugarit, their colleagues, and their successors had formed and trained the prosodists of Israel. “The recesses” or “the peaks” of Saphôn were known as the dwelling place of the gods, high in the sky, above the clouds. They also appear in the mocking satire of the tyrant, who thought of himself as the “brilliant star, son of the dawn,” who coveted “a throne above the stars of God” and who was thrown down to the realm of the dead (Isa 14:11–15). This mythology contributed in later times to the personification of evil in the figure of Lucifer.[6]

8. the city of the great King.

a. Psalm 47:2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.

b. Matthew 5:35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

i. Verses 34–35 also contain OT allusions: to “heaven and earth [as] my footstool” (Isa. 66:1) and to “the city of the great King” (Ps. 48:2).[7]

Psalm 48:3

1. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.

a. Citadels - stronghold (keep) n. — a stronghold or a portion of a building which is especially fortified.

b. Psalm 46:7, 11 The Lordof hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

i. Verse 3 continues the description of Zion but shifts to the military sphere and echoes 46:7, 11 by using the same term for fortress. It is this description in particular the next section exemplifies.[8]

TWO: GOD IS TO BE PRAISED IN THE EAST (PSALM 48:4-7).

Psalm 48:4

1. For behold, the kings assembled;

2. they came on together.

a. Isaiah 10:8 for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings?

Psalm 48:5

1. As soon as they saw it,

2. they were astounded;

3. they were in panic;

4. they took to flight.

Psalm 48:6

1. Trembling took hold of them there,

2. anguish as of a woman in labor.

Psalm 48:7

1. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.

a. 1 Kings 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

b. The east wind summoned up by Yhwh (cf. Exod. 14:21; 15:10).[9]

c. At the same time the reference to breaking up Tarshish ships, substantial oceangoing cargo vessels perhaps named after the far-distant Phoenician colony of Tartessus in Spain,25recalls a more recent historical event (see 1 Kings 22:48).[10]

i. The land had been invaded and its capital threatened. As in Psalms 46 and 47, the kings who joined forces were probably Sennacherib the Assyrian and his vassals,467 attacking Israel in the days of Hezekiah. But then, as indeed on other occasions, God had rescued his city and destroyed its enemies, like the wild east wind which can wreck even great ocean-going ships.468[11]

1. Tarshish (v. 7) is almost certainly a place name. Where it was is uncertain (Spain? Sardinia?), but the phrase ships of Tarshish always denotes large vessels designed for long voyages.[12]

2. 2 Kings 19:35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

THREE: GOD IS TO BE PRAISED IN THE SOUTH (PSALM 48:9-11).

Psalm 48:9

1. We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,

2. in the midst of your temple.

Psalm 48:10

1. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.

2. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

a. See Martin Palmer, “The Cardinal Points in Psalm 48,” Bib46 (1965): 357–58; Israelites orientate on the east, so that the south is on the right and the west is what lies behind us.[13]

Psalm 48:11

1. Let Mount Zion be glad!

2. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments!

a. Psalm 97:8 Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O Lord.

FOUR: GOD IS TO BE PRAISED IN THE WEST (PSALM 48:12-14).

Psalm 48:12-14

1. (v.12) Walk about Zion,

2. go around her,

3. number her towers,

4. (v.13) consider well her ramparts,

a. rampart n.— a small outer structure built to fortify the main defensive wall.

5. go through her citadels,

6. that you may tell the next generation (v.14) that this is God,

a. the next generation – following, back, behind

i. “behind,” a way of referring to the west, in v. 13.8 [14]

ii. See Martin Palmer, “The Cardinal Points in Psalm 48,” Bib 46 (1965): 357–58; Israelites orientate on the east, so that the south is on the right and the west is what lies behind us.[15]

iii. In brief, the psalm divides into four stanzas, verses 1–3 (north: left hand), verses 4–7 (east: in front), verses 9–11 (south: right hand), verses 12–14 (west: behind); ‘before’ also means the past, and ‘behind’ means the future; and verse 8 stands at the centre as a summary of the whole.461[16]

1. To think of the past being in front of us and the future behind us seems the wrong way round, but it is very logical! The past is what happened ‘before’, and so it lies ‘before’ us: we know what it contains. The future is what is coming ‘after’ us, and we can’t see it.[17]

7. (v.14) that this is God, our God forever and ever.

a. Psalm 48:3 Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.

8. He will guide us forever.

a. Forever – to death/to the end

Psalm 48:8 becomes the center of the compass.

Psalm 48:8

1. As we have heard,

2. so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts,

3. in the city of our God,

4. which God will establish forever.

5. Selah

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

Hebrews 12:23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

Hebrews 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

1 Corinthians 2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

In the history of Christian worship, Ps 48 was employed as one of the proper psalms for Whitsunday (or Pentecost); the psalm is appropriate for this usage, in that Jerusalem (Zion) was the location of the “birthday” of the Christian Church.[18]

[1]Terrien, S. (2003). The Psalms: strophic structure and theological commentary (p. 382). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. LXX Septuagint translation of the Psalms, as printed in Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Psalmi cum Odis (repr., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979) 11 See Trudiger, The Psalms of the Tamid Service, 75–87. [2]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2, p. 85). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. [3]Hubbard, R. L. J., & Johnston, R. K. (2012). Foreword. In W. W. Gasque, R. L. Hubbard Jr., & R. K. Johnston (Eds.), Psalms(p. 217). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. lit. literally [4]Hubbard, R. L. J., & Johnston, R. K. (2012). Foreword. In W. W. Gasque, R. L. Hubbard Jr., & R. K. Johnston (Eds.), Psalms(p. 218). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. 463 John 11:55. [5]Wilcock, M. (2001). The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God. (J. A. Motyer, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 174). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press. [6]Terrien, S. (2003). The Psalms: strophic structure and theological commentary (pp. 382–383). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. OT Old Testament [7]Blomberg, C. L. (2007). Matthew. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (p. 25). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos. [8]Hubbard, R. L. J., & Johnston, R. K. (2012). Foreword. In W. W. Gasque, R. L. Hubbard Jr., & R. K. Johnston (Eds.), Psalms(p. 218). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. [9]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2, p. 89). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 25 But Cyrus H. Gordon (“The Wine-Dark Sea,” JNES 37 [1978]: 51–52) argues that taršîš simply means “the open sea”; it has also been identified with Tarsus and located in Sardinia. [10]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2, p. 89). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 467 Is. 10:8. 468 Tarshish (v. 7) is almost certainly a place name. Where it was is uncertain (Spain? Sardinia?), but the phrase ships of Tarshish always denotes large vessels designed for long voyages. [11]Wilcock, M. (2001). The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God. (J. A. Motyer, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 174). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press. [12]Wilcock, M. (2001). The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God. (J. A. Motyer, Ed.). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press. Bib Biblica [13]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 8 See Martin Palmer, “The Cardinal Points in Psalm 48,” Bib 46 (1965): 357–58; Israelites orientate on the east, so that the south is on the right and the west is what lies behind us. Palmer links this point with a fourfold outline of the psalm, to which v. 8 is then central (cf. Leo Krinetzki, “Zur Poetik und Exegese von Ps 48,” BZ 4 [1960]: 70–97). [14]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2, p. 84). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. Bib Biblica [15]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 461 To think of the past being in front of us and the future behind us seems the wrong way round, but it is very logical! The past is what happened ‘before’, and so it lies ‘before’ us: we know what it contains. The future is what is coming ‘after’ us, and we can’t see it. [16]Wilcock, M. (2001). The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God. (J. A. Motyer, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 173). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press. [17]Wilcock, M. (2001). The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God. (J. A. Motyer, Ed.). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press. [18]Craigie, P. C. (2004). Psalms 1–50(2nd ed., Vol. 19, p. 352). Nashville, TN: Nelson Reference & Electronic.